Learning to love a character you initially hate

I've mentioned that I didn't really like Miss Rhea in my books - don't know where that miss came from, but she probably made me type it - and there wasn't really a logical reason for the dislike. Whatever the reason, I ended up making her just a tad word that rhymes with witchy at times. I was afraid when it came to her turn for a book I'd carry over that attitude even from her perspective, but I think I was successful in making her more approachable. Oh yeah, I finished her book just the other day and have gone through the initial edit - way to bury the lead, huh.

One of the things you have to learn as a writer is putting yourself in each of your character's shoes. I learned a lot in Rhea's. Beside them being a bit of a tight fit, I learned it's hard to keep a positive attitude when you know you're meant to be with a guy and he keeps bringing his girlfriends over to meet you. Show me a woman that doesn't go a little bit nuts from that and I'll stand on my head for five minutes.

If you can't tell, trying to figure out why a character makes a certain decision is fast becoming one of my favorite things. In my early books, my characters had a part of me in them. Avery was pretty much me in a make believe reality and Nyx was me in a world where I didn't get in trouble for shooting people that disturbed me and didn't think my tongue would fall out for saying a curse word. The goddesses in Unlucky in Love are really the first characters that I don't draw totally off me, which has made my imagination grow to take on the new roles. It's been a lot of fun seeing how the new characters work and I can't wait to see how Hermia and Desma go.

I've got to run, lots of errands today, but I worked on the synopsis for Rhea last night and wanted to share it. This is what I've come up with...

Unlucky in Love is more than just a name of a dating service started by five friends. Until recently, it also accurately described each one of their personal lives. Whatever abilities the ladies have that ensure their clients find their perfect matches don’t work for them, so even after living for centuries they are still searching.

Unlike the rest of the goddesses in the group, Rhea has known love for as long as she can remember. It's never been reciprocated to the level she'd like, but she still believes one day her dreams will come true. As babies start popping out of her closest friends, Rhea starts wishing those dreams would be answered sooner rather than later.

Thad has always known how Rhea feels about him and has had a hard time trying to figure out what exactly to do about it. Most would think he didn't care for the goddess, but that is anything but the truth. Still recovering from a rough end to a long relationship, Thad wants to move forward and start a family of his own. Before he has a chance to float the idea by Rhea, an unexpected visitor shows up in town and things start spinning out of control. An incubus, a jealous ex and an unplanned trip to the Underworld all get in the way of Thad's plans and by the time the dust settles both Thad's and Rhea's worlds have been altered.