Romance Writers Weekly 4/7/2015 #WIP #amwriting #paranormal

Meet Nick and Beth

So Victoria Barbour wants to know about the characters in our work-in-progress. If you're visiting from Beth Carter's blog, come on it and make yourself at home! If you missed her, you've got to meander back and check out her cast of characters.

My work-in-progress, tentatively titled just "Ghost Story" until I settle on something better, is the first in my Back in the Boondocks series based on a few small counties I've lived in. I grew up in a very large county with a small, rural population where everyone knew everyone else and most likely were related in some way. It mattered if you were a "come here" or could trace your roots back to the original colonists. If you grew up in the rural South, you're probably nodding your head right now.

Don't get me wrong, I love the simplicity, the groundedness of growing up in such a small community but there are certain realities you have to accept, live with or fight against. One such issue is gossip. Everyone knows your business. Or will as soon as Miss Smith lunches with Mrs. Jones. Or Cousin Emma Jean picks up her prescription for her nerves from Mr. Anderson at the pharmacy, bless her heart.

Nick Serafini doesn't want to deal with the Women's Club ladies trying to "help" him by setting him up with their daughters. In fact, he doesn't confide in anyone except his mother that he's left the priesthood. The only reason he's returned to Yates County is to help save the family business following his father's recent death. He can't wait to get out of town to figure out the rest of his life and get away from the cursed location of a teenage tragedy that's haunted him every day since.

Widow Beth Strickland returns home with her young daughter, finding a new purpose as she's inherited her aunt's historical home. Requiring new electrical, plumbing and, for the heat of Tidewater Virginia's summer, central air conditioning. Undaunted by the ghost stories she's heard all her life, she hires Serafini Construction to renovate the property, unaware that her foreman will be her high school love, Nick.

Will the renovation reawaken passions between Nick and Beth while spirits renew their attacks? Can they unravel the mysteries tied to founding families or end up like other poor souls who've underestimated the power of conjured spirits?

My goal is to finish this first installment this summer. Meanwhile, I have two Wiccan Haus novellas releasing this summer and a contribution to a box set. Busy year, but I can't wait for you to meet these characters, each who has a little piece of me.

Time to meet PJ Fiala's characters. I'll see you over there!