Lee Ann Ward Talks Characterization

Is the Color of a Character’s Eyes Really THAT Important?

Characterization. It can make or break a novel. Truly. If a reader can’t see into a character’s soul from practically page one, then what is their motivation to keep those pages turning?

Well, nothing. So, here’s my two cents on characterization that should resonate with fellow authors, and let readers know what to expect from my novels. **Hint: I fully flesh-out my characters, and it has nothing at all to do with their physical characteristics.

“He was a handsome man, blond hair and deep blue eyes that melted my insid–” Blah blah blah… Honestly, who cares? Even though it is nice knowing that our leading man has blue eyes, I am more concerned with what I feel when I look into those eyes. And, so are my readers. In every novel, the readers must see the souls of the characters.

No one is going to fall in love with looks alone. Okay, I know, I know… Yes, I have seen Jamie Fraser (shout-out to my fellow Outlander fans), and he is a gorgeous piece of man-flesh, no doubt. But, if he were not also devoted to Claire, and his family, and his beloved Scotland–if he were not the man who never compromised his principles of love and country, well, we wouldn’t love him nearly as much.

Show me a gorgeous character and I will say, “Okay, he/she is gorgeous,” and leave it at that. But show me the beauty of his/her soul–make me fall in love with the true person–and I will follow them into the devil’s hell and back until the last page is read (or red, depending on the amount of carnage). With all the Feels…

See by Lee Ann Ward
Genre: YA Paranormal

Synopsis

**SEE was voted The TBR Pile Review Site’s Book of the Year for 2017!**

Carlie Henson is pretty, popular, and an All-American girl. She has a gorgeous boyfriend and a mother who lives to keep her safe. Probably because everyone is drawn to Carlie…including the murderers she has the ability to identify when she looks in the eyes of their victims.

Keeping Carlie’s secret is pretty simple when all she has to do is avoid dead people. But when a cheerleader at her high school is murdered and the killer seems to have gotten away with it, Carlie knows what she has to do. With the help of her boyfriend, Dillon, she devises a plan to see what she must, no matter her personal safety.

But when Dillon is the one who’s injured in the showdown with the killer, Carlie vows to never help anyone again…until the next young woman attacked is her best friend, Jenna.

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About Lee Ann Ward

Lee Ann Ward is an award-winning fiction author with a background in journalism and mass communications. She is also the former Senior Editor of Champagne Books. Her love of books started at the age of three, and she’s been addicted ever since.

She’s published six novels with her seventh and eighth on the way (See a YA paranormal by Evernight Teen in June 2017 and Glimpses Of Wilderness a YA romance by Inkspell Publishing in December 2017) and has written several more.

When she’s not writing, she’s reading, singing, baking designer cakes, bowling and dreaming. She’s married to Joe (who also happens to be her publicist) and they have 4 sons whom they adore, and a granddaughter who is the love of their life. They make their home in the small fishing community of Bayou La Batre, Alabama.

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