Two Views to Creating Main Characters

Some readers complain if a main character has flaws to overcome. Others complain if a character is too perfect, saying they aren't believable. Writing can sometimes feel like a balancing act. Although I know it's impossible to please all my readers, I still want to stay true to my craft and produce the best books possible, so I read and carefully consider each review.

In Mountain Storms, the first book in my In from the Storms trilogy, one reviewer and I were just not on the same page. In the story, Ian MacGregor has been badly scarred in the Civil War and becomes a recluse in the Rocky Mountains after his fiance rejected him, ran, and refused to look at him again. This reviewer writes, "For such a believer, it was a bit ridiculous his scar affected his self worth so bad, but that was the main thread throughout the whole story."

Link to Mountain Storms -https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R9X3PT1

First of all, being a believer doesn't mean we are perfect people. Look at the fathers of the faith in the Bible. Abraham lied about who Sarah was and didn't wait on God's timing to have a son. Jacob deceived his father, Elijah ran away when Jezabel threatened, Moses didn't obey God on how to get water from the rock, Jonah thought he knew better than God and ran from the mission God gave him. Peter denied Jesus, and Thomas and others doubted that He had risen. The list could go on and on.

Secondly, I think it was a normal human reaction given Ian's circumstances. He had just come back from the war where his father had been killed and he'd experienced horrible things. He and a younger sister were all that was left of his immediate family, so he took Jeannie and left after Rhona's rejection. He does change by the end of the book, too.

Another misunderstanding came with the standalone novel set in 1797, It All Started at the Masquerade. I consider this compelling book as one of my hidden gems. It has all five-star reviews but slow traction. However, one reviewer wrote: "My only complaint is that the main character was so meek and submissive. I don't enjoy reading about women who allow men to abuse them and use the Bible and it's [sic] teachings as their excuse. I'm sure that's how women were viewed back then, but still - it bothered me. It did have a happy ending though so it was entertaining."

Link to It All Started at the Masquerade - https://www.amazon.com/All-Started-at-Masquerade-ebook/dp/B078FQ38JK

I wonder how carefully this reviewer read the book because she got a lot of her facts wrong. Melanie was only meek and submissive to God, and she was depending on Him. After all the Beatitudes say, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth" (Matt. 5:5). Lott never abused Melanie, although he did have a nature to do so, and she was concerned that he would if she married him. She didn't have much choice at first because her older brother and guardian was pushing the match. Women had few options in 1797. Apart from a position within the family, a single woman couldn't go out and get a job as we do today. Perhaps this reviewer changed her mind, however, because the review has since been removed.

I try to be logical in my plots and true to my characters. Readers get to know my characters well in the course of a book, and most of them tell me they fall in love with the main ones. I take my calling as a Christian writer very seriously. The theme in It All Started at the Masquerade is about depending on God and keeping your focus on Him, even when circumstances look dire. At least all the reviewers, except this one, have fallen in love with the novel. I am blessed and pray that my writing blesses others.

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