The Story Behind Kicking Sideways

Sometimes a minor character isn’t content to give the spotlight to a protagonist or antagonist in a book. That character may whine and beg until a writer turns him loose in his own book, or he may flatter and cajole until he has his way. Occasionally, a character will bully his way to the forefront of a writer’s mind, spouting death threats in the form of nightmares until the last word is scribed. Then there are the quiet ones that wait patiently in the dark, always there, demanding that they, too, have a chance to explore two-hundred empty white pages.

Michael Sullivan is such a character.

In Charlesgate, Mike served as a catalyst for the heroine to get a clue and get a life but receded quickly to the background, allowing the hero to get the girl. At the end of that book, Mike was a little lost in the shadows, not sure about who he was or what he wanted, but he sure as heck didn’t wantto be forgotten.

And who could forget him, really? Quiet, certainly, but not shy, he’s gorgeous, intelligent, has a great sense of humor, and he’s itching for an adventure. So he packs his Harley and heads off to Santa Cruz, mainly because his vessel to the great white page – ahem, me – could not get enough of the Boardwalk when she thrice visited the northern climes of California.

That’s all well and good. We have a character and a setting but no story. Sure, Mike is itching to tell his own story but it’s not all about Mike, is it? Some of it is about me, the, er, vessel, at least temporarily.

About the same time, Mr. Sullivan took up constant residence in the far left corner of my mind, a catchy bluegrass song kept two-stepping over the front right corner of my brain. Over and over and over again.

It’s a great song. My husband and I used it for our first dance as a hitched pair and it is all the more special because our friend Bow Thayer wrote it. It’s called “Blue Lightning” and it was my muse for Kicking Sideways.

The song, my interpretation of it anyway, is a condensed romance novel about a man who travels all around the country only to wind up right back from where he started–right back into true love’s arms. There’s a great metaphor of a mule runs up and down as he falls through life, kicking sideways at nothing. Or at fate. Or maybe even at a ghost. Who knows? The point is the mule gets nowhere, but the man luckily finds happiness by the end of the song.

Now Bow may heartily disagree with me about the meaning of his song, but this is how I interpreted the lyrics and for the purposes of Kicking Sideways, it’s my interpretation that counts. Anyway, decide for yourself. The Benders perform the song and their CD can be purchased here.

Bow’s mule turned into a human character, the heroine in fact, for Kicking Sideways. Lucretia Cabot, our stubborn, brooding, brave heroine who wants to save the world so she doesn’t have to save herself. She has a mule, too. His name is Crumble. Like in Bow’s song, Crumble is her own personal metaphor. And although Mike will try to save her, like the hero in the song, Lucretia
will have to figure out how to save herself.

Happy reading!