Paul Lonardo | Getting Inside a Character's Head and Heart

First off, I’d like to thank everyone at Fresh Fiction for allowing me to share a few thoughts with you all and for helping me announce the debut of my first romance title, REUNION OF SOULS.

While I have spent much of the last decade writing nonfiction, a majority being collaborative works, prior to that I wrote fiction, novels, and short stories.

Over the years, people would often ask me if it is difficult to transition back and forth from fiction and nonfiction. While much can been written on this topic, the most obvious difference is the expository writing you find in nonfiction, particularly the stories I co-authored, where you have to be clear and concise with the information you pass along. This contrasts sharply with fiction, which requires much more flexibility and creativity. Two entirely different approaches to writing. However, having done both for so long makes it easier for me.

A more interesting question that I invariably get asked when people find out I’ve written a romance is something along the lines of, “How were you able to write for a woman?”

Whatever you’re writing, as an author, you need to get inside a character’s head to make them real and have their story be believable. In romance novels, you must get deep inside someone’s heart, as well, and be able to intimately express what the character is feeling. For a male author, this can be challenging when your protagonist is female.

In my case, the nonfiction books I co-authored have been predominantly with females, working alongside them to express their personal stories in writing. This has given me a unique perspective in understanding how a woman relates to a topic and how differently they externalize their experiences compared with that of a man. In REUNION OF SOULS, I drew from these previous nonfiction writing projects, in which I collaborated with women, in order to tell the fictional story of a young woman who does not want to let the festering love she has for a former high school classmate wither on the vine without giving it a chance to grow into something beautiful and lasting.

It was surprising to me how natural it was to write for woman. I found that the emotions of love, and how love is felt, are the same for both men and women, but how they are expressed is where the difference lies. It is no small distinction, but the gap is traversable.

GIVEAWAY

Readers, do you read both fiction and nonfiction? Leave a comment below and be entered for a chance to win CAUGHT IN THE ACT, a true crime nonfiction collaboration between Paul Lonardo and Jeannie McDonough, plus a $25 B&N gift card!

About Paul Lonardo

Paul lives in Lincoln, RI with his wife, Janice, and their son Jake.

Paul earned an A.S. in mortuary science from Mt. Ida College and a B.A.in English from the University of Rhode Island. He studied screenwriting and film production at Columbia College in Hollywood, CA.

He has had numerous short stories published. His first novel, The Apostate, was published by Barclay Books, LLC in 2001. A second novel, Monstrosity, was scheduled for release in 2002, also from Barclay, before the publisher became defunct.

Paul has since shifted his focus onto non-fiction projects. Most recently, Life, with Cancer: The Lauren Terrazzano Story (HCI Books, October, 2012). This biography, co-authored with Frank Terrazzano (Lauren’s father) tells a tragic but inspiring story of an award-winning social journalist who was diagnosed with lung cancer at age 36 and began writing about her experiences with the disease in a weekly Newsday column, titled, “Life, with Cancer”

Caught In The Act, A family’s Fight to Save their Daughter from a Serial Killer, (Berkley Books, 2011) is a true crime book collaboration with Jeannie McDonough, the mother of a 15- year old who was attacked by a knife-wielding serial killer who entered their home in the middle of the night. Miraculously, Jeannie and her husband managed to subdue the intruder, who was arrested and later found to be responsible for two murders and another attack on a woman who survived her injuries.

From the Ashes, a book collaboration published in January 2010, describes the experiences of Gina Russo, who survived the Station Fire, a disaster that claimed a hundred lives at a West Warwick, RI nightclub on February 20, 2003. Paul assisted Gina Russo in writing this book about her survival from the fire and her long road to recovery as she came to terms with her injuries and the loss of her fiance.

From the Ashes is the source of a web series and documentary film project, THE STATION, with a release date beginning in February 2013, the ten year anniversary of the fire. Paul wrote the treatment for the project and helped in the production of THE STATION

November 2009 saw the publication of Strike IX, a chronicle of the plight of the 1999 Providence College Friars baseball team, which played out their last championship season after the school terminated the sport in order to conform to gender equity standards, as dictated by the TITLE IX federal sex discrimination law.

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About REUNION OF SOULS

Jodi and Nick’s chance for romance was never realized while they were in high school. Now, five years later, they meet again. Will a class reunion be their first— and last—chance at love? Paul Lonardo pens a sweet, contemporary romance about risking it all for love in REUNION OF SOULS.

Saddened by the recent loss of her mom and disheartened by a stalled career and unfulfilled personal life, Jodi feels that life is passing her by. But then she receives an invitation to her five-year high school reunion.

Nick Ryan was always around in high school, but Jodi never thought of him in a romantic way. Lately though, she’s found herself thinking about him more and more, and wondering if she should have paid him more attention in high school. Upon learning that Nick will be attending the reunion, Jodi can’t help but think it’s a sign.

The night of the reunion, Jodi and Nick meet and sparks fly, but Nick’s insecurities threaten to undermine everything before they even have a chance to get started. Can Jodi convince him that they belong together, and that their first chance at love may also be their last?

Content Notes: Sweet, Contemporary