Creating the Perfect Escape

When I sat down to write Perfect Escape my mind was in a different place. I had it all outlined and took out parts of the scripts to include in the book (The Family Portrait series was originally written as a television series. For more on that check out the fun facts page http://familyportrait.plaintalkbm.com/fun-facts-about-the-series/)

While writing the characters interaction with each other, the story took on a life of its own. I’ve known these characters for years but putting them together in the book was much different than in the television series.

Perfect Escape revolves around the life of singing sensation Leighann DaCosta and the aftermath she faces from walking out on a successful singing career in favor of high school. Leighann experiences her first crush, has her first encounter with mean girls, and gets a glimpse of the politics behind the prestigious Westwood Academy of Higher Learning… I’m glad I’m no longer in high school!

Paring Leighann, Joel and Zax came much later in the television series but I bumped it up to book 4. To do that, I had to make sure that storyline wouldn’t unravel the other stories later on. So I got creative and focused on their relationship. I let them tell me what they wanted to do in this new situation. It took me a longer than usual to write Perfect Escape because the dynamics were different. I also had Leighann interact more with her estranged father. In the past, readers had only heard about him from her mother’s skewed point of view. In Perfect Escape the audience gets to know him the same time Leighann does.

On a personal note this book also helped strengthen my relationship with my own father. When I started the book he was alive and well and by the time the book was ready to be published, he died suddenly. So in more ways than one my world has changed from the beginning to the end of this book. I hope you will give this book a chance and see the bigger picture behind the drama.

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