A warm welcome to author Kaje Harper , who joins us today to talk about her new upcoming release.

On Jan 9th Kaje releases her new novel “Tracefinder: Contact” ,book 1 in the brand new series “Tracefinders”.

Kaje brought with her a fantastic giveaway!

Welcome Kaje 🙂

Non-Fatal Flaws

As a writer, one of my more interesting jobs is to discover— as I get into the writing of my story— what my main characters’ flaws are. There are some (enviable) writers who plan that out in advance. They make character bibles and list everything about their MCs, from favorite colors to the annoying way they crack their knuckles. I’m sure that gives the characters wonderful consistency, and balance. But for me, finding out those details is part of the ongoing writing process.

In some cases, a flaw is pretty obvious. When Tracefinder: Contact opens on the story of Nick and Brian, you’ll meet Nick, a cop, in the middle of a bar fight. And he’s loving every minute of it. Nick has a temper; that was clear from the start. He also makes big decisions based on instinct, and only thinks them through later. I found out a lot about Nick as I wrote this first book in the series, but there are other issues I feel are still hidden, which will hopefully emerge as I write the next one later this year.

And Brian’s self-image, his divided loyalties, and his mental health issues, create cracks all though his personality. Yet those cracks reveal the sweet warmth underneath. There’s a lot going on under the surface with Brian. I do love discovering my men as I write.

I try for realism in my stories, but also try to create guys a reader can relate to and empathize with. I like my good guys not too perfect, and my bad guys not all-bad. I want sweet hope, but without too-pretty neat bows on it. So I watch for the moments when my main characters are short-tempered, or petty, or jump to conclusions, or doubt themselves. Those moments, as much as the love and the kind words and the courage, define them as real men. (Well, as real as guys living in my head can be.)

I’ve come to see that there’s also no absolute dividing line for what constitutes a fatal flaw for a main character, versus a minor flaw that adds interest and realism. For most readers, there are no-go zones. That might even be as benign as a sexual kink, or cheating, or smoking, or using too many pet names. Most of us have something that makes us pull back and say, “He’s never going to be a romance hero to me.”

I once figured deliberate murder was my limit. And yet… there’s a huge, free, wonderful, messed up story called Special Forces by Aleksandr Voinov and Marquesate. In that book, when you first meet Vadim, one of the MCs, he’s a rapist who shoots children in the head for his commanders. Yes, really. If you asked me cold, I’d say I could never, never care for a guy like that. But the skill of the authors shows you the cold blank spaces inside Vadim, that become slowly filled with a warmer better man who loves Dan. And I came to care about him, a lot. Never quite trust him, but care.

That book taught me that there are, in fact, very few truly fatal flaws that can never be redeemed. That it’s up to the author to write us into the heads and hearts of the characters and make us care, so their flaws hurt from the inside rather than repelling from the outside.

Of course, the trick is that it doesn’t work the same for all readers. What one person loves, another really never will forgive. So in the end, we have to write for ourselves. My men are people I’d want to know, guys I’d like to have as neighbors or friends, or at least ones I want to watch and wish all the best for, as the story ends.

So far I haven’t written a guy like Vadim, a real murderer, or rapist, or even a cheater. But in this book, both Nick and Brian are torn between bad choices. Both betray a trust. How do you pick a course between sworn duty and love? How do you choose between letting hurt fall on your family, or on strangers? What do you do when there are no right answers?

I hope readers will empathize with my guys and the challenges they face. I’m sure some readers will find their decisions unacceptable. For some, there’ll be no excuse for the personal choices Brian and Nick make. But I hope that I can pull most people into the guys’ lives with empathy and understanding, to show the pain and the dilemmas these men deal with, as best they can. I had great fun, as I wrote, discovering who Nick and Brian are. I hope you’ll come to love them too.

 

 Blurb:

What could an undercover cop and a drug lord’s pet psychic have in common?

Brian Kerr has spent years hiding behind a facade of mental slowness. His brother and sister got all three of them off the streets and into a cushy life, under the protection of a dangerous criminal. But to keep that safety, Brian has to use his Finding talent to track down the boss’s enemies. Although he pretends not to know what he’s really doing, each Find takes its toll, and he’s trapped in a life he hates, losing touch with his true self. Nick Rugo’s job is to protect and serve the people of Minneapolis as an undercover cop. He isn’t closeted, but he isn’t out at work, and there’s a wild, angry side to him that he’s managed to keep hidden until now. When he’s assigned to bring Brian’s boss to justice, he intends to use anything and anyone it takes to do that. Nick initially sees Brian as a pawn to be played in his case, but he keeps getting glimpses of a different man behind the slow, simpleminded mask. As the two men get to know each other, it becomes clear they share secrets, some of which might get them both killed.

Kaje Harper grew up in Montreal, and spent her teen years writing, filling binders with stories. But as life got busy, the stories began to just live in her head. The characters grew up, met, endured, and loved, in any quiet moment she had, but the stories rarely made it to paper. Her time was taken up by work in psychology, teaching, and a biomedical career, and the fun of raising children.

Eventually the kids became more independent and her husband gave her a computer she didn’t have to share. She started putting words down in print again, just for fun. Hours of fun. Lots of hours of fun. The stories began piling up, and her husband suggested if she was going to spend that much time on the keyboard she ought to try to publish one. MLR Press accepted her first submission, Life Lessons, which was released in May 2011. Kaje now has many novels and short stories published, including Amazon bestseller The Rebuilding Year, and a selection of free short stories and novels available on Smashwords and elsewhere. She currently lives in Minnesota with a creative teenager, a crazy omnivorous little white dog, and a remarkably patient spouse.

Website: http://kajeharper.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KajeHarper

Goodreads Author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4769304.Kaje_Harper

Books by Kaje Harper:

The “Life Lessons” mystery series (novels from MLR Press): Life Lessons, And To All a Good Night, Getting It Right, Breaking Cover, Home Work, Compensations, Learning Curve The “Hidden Wolves” paranormal series (novels from MLR Press): Unacceptable Risk, Unsettled Interlude, Unexpected Demands, Unwanted Appeal, Unjustified Claims Contemporary novels from Samhain Publishing: The Rebuilding Year, Life Some Assembly Required (Rebuilding Year #2), Sole Support Free books on Smashwords and other retailers: Into Deep Waters, Like the Taste of Summer, Nor Iron Bars a Cage, Lies and Consequences, Show Me Yours, Laser Visions, The Family We’re Born With, Chasing Death Metal Dreams Self-published novels: The Family We Make, Second Act, Tracefinder: Contact

And more…

A complete list with links can be found at http://kajeharper.wordpress.com/books/

Kaje brought a wonderful giveaway to Love Bytes!

Leave a comment to have a chance to win a copy of this brand new release 🙂