Grab The Photograph for a Buck!

I'm running a $0.99 promotion on my novel, The Photograph, this week (October 5-11) in the Amazon Kindle store. If you haven't picked up a copy yet, it's only a buck, so fire up your Kindle and load it. Find it here in the Amazon store.  Also, happy October. Eat something pumpkinish. :)

The Photograph 

On a quest for truth, one girl will find more than she bargained for...

Sixteen-year-old Rachel Brandt is excited about her six-month anniversary with her boyfriend, Brent, getting her driver's license, and competing for a district championship in her first season on the varsity basketball team.

But when Rachel stumbles across a photograph of her parents, she can't shake the feeling that she is meant to find her mother, whose identity is a secret her grandparents have closely guarded. All Rachel knows is that her mother disappeared around the time her father was killed in action in the Gulf War a few months after she was born.

Her discovery of the photograph sends Rachel on a search for her mother against her grandparents' wishes and propels her life into a tailspin. She never imagines her search will reveal a series of lies that jeopardizes every important relationship in her life and her success on the basketball court.

The Hero's Journey - A Character Study of Lebron James

Lebron James has always fascinated me. I love basketball–coaching, playing, and watching.  I grew up and have spent most of my life in Cleveland. Since I am the same age as Lebron (actually I am 8 months older than him), I grew up listening and hearing about him. I remember when my high school boys' basketball team played his high school St. Vincent St. Mary. His team obliterated my high school, led by Lebron who scored maybe 50 points. And my high school boys' team wasn't your average high school team. It's a big school with a great basketball program.  I say all this to let you know I've been paying attention to Lebron for years, and I am a fan of his, even when he left Cleveland four years ago.

If you are sick of the Lebron story, or simply the fact that a professional athlete is such big news in our society, I agree with that sentiment. But I think Lebron is big news because he's a great character, and his life is telling a great story. Here's a couple quick examples:

Good stories start with great characters. Readers love a character with a tortured backstory who rises above his or her circumstances to accomplish a goal.

• Lebron is a rags to riches story. He was born to a sixteen year old mother in a rough area of Akron, Ohio. He was introduced to basketball at age nine, and within a few years he was dubbed the next Michael Jordan capturing the basketball spotlight for the next fifteen years.

We resonate with a character who learns and grows through his or her mistakes. We want to read about a heroic character–a character who has a cause bigger than his or herself.

• Lebron has made mistakes throughout the years on the court and a few off the court. But, he keeps learning and growing so he can be a better basketball player, teammate, dad, and person. One of the reasons he cited for coming back to Cleveland was to bring home a championship to the city. He sees the hunger for Clevelanders to have something to celebrate. He wants that to be part of his legacy.

Lebron is one example of someone who makes a great character in a story. I love looking at real people and seeing what story he or she is telling. Usually it's the people close to me, but sometimes somebody in the spotlight catches my attention.

Do you know someone living a good story? Why is he or she a good character?