Today I am so pleased to welcome Addison Albright to Joyfully Jay. Addison has come to talk to us about her latest release, To Love and To Cherish. She has also brought along a great tour wide giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!
Character voice registers.
I enjoy trying to differentiate the voices of my characters. Not only do I try to give them distinct personalities, but I want their manner of speech to vary, at least somewhat. It should contrast with the voices of other characters, but just as importantly, I want to adjust each characterโs register depending on the situation and/or with whom they are speaking.
Registers vary from formal, through consultative and casual, to intimate. In To Love and To Cherish, Nash displays a repertoire of registers.
Nash is a nurse and speaks differently to his former future father-in-law whom he crosses paths with in the hospital elevator (polite and feeling a bit awkward: โI hope your familyโs well.โ)
โฆthan to a doctor he interacts with on the hospital floor (maintaining professionalism despite feeling heโs been unfairly criticized: โI assure you Iโm a very competent nurse. Your patient is in good hands.โ)
โฆor when heโs gossiping with a friend in the cafeteria (comfortably speaking his mind: โWhat? Seriously, where did you get that?โ)
โฆor chatting with his best friend and temporary roommate at home (no inhibitions: โI expect you to empty a can of Febreze in here before I get back. I donโt want to smell what youโve been up to. And if it involves that couch, please, for Godโs sake, put a tarp on it first. I donโt want to sleep in your funky wet spots.โ).
Nobody would expect Nash to speak to one of his patients with the same casual familiarity he used with his best friend. There might, however, be times he wants to ramp up the courtesy with his friend, since he feels like heโs overstayed his welcome, but would still stay on the casual end of the scale.
I guess I canโt speak for other writers, but my own predisposition is to give characters my own voice. From there I have to consciously think about how particular characters would express themselves differently from how Iโd do it. So itโs a battle, especially at the beginning of a story when the character is just developing. It gets easier as the story goes on and I get familiar with the character.
Dialogue wording is one item on my list of things to focus on when going back over a story. As a reader I appreciate it when a characterโs dialogue suits the situation so I strive for that.
Blurb
Will Nash find love again? Of course he will. Will he go about it in the usual manner? Now thatโs another story entirely.
Jilted by his fiancรฉ two weeks before their wedding, Nash Marinoโs outlook on life in general, and love in particular, is jaded. After months of couch-surfing, Nash is fed up. Heโs sick and tired of his living conditions, worn out by the demands of his nursing job, and despairs of ever finding love again. In fact, he doesnโt think heโs capable of true love. Monogamy, commitment, companionship, and regular sexโฆthatโs all he wants, and the sooner, the better.
When Nash crosses paths with a like-minded man whoโs also in need of a live-in nurse for a beloved relative, Nash figures all his problems are solved. Matters are complicated by a freak accident and amnesia. When Nashโs marriage of convenience scheme is muddied by notions of love after his memory reboot, will their plans go awry, or will Nashโs new outlook on life be just what the doctor ordered?
Buy Links: JMS Books | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | All Romance | OmniLit
Find To Love and To Cherish on Goodreads
Find the Vows series on Goodreads
Bio
Addison Albright lives in the middle of the USA with three peculiar cats. Her stories are gay (sometimes erotic) romance, and tend to be sweet man-love in contemporary settings. Her education includes a BS in Education with a major in Mathematics and a minor in Chemistry. Addison loves spending time with her family, reading, popcorn, boating, french fries, “open window weather,” cats, math, and anything chocolate. She loves to read pretty much anything and everything, anytime and anywhere.
Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Giveaway
Addison has brought aย tour wide grand prize that includesย 1 signed paperback of To Love and To Cherish, 1 signed paperback of โTil Death Do Us Part and a $25.00 Amazon Giftcard. Just follow the Rafflecopter below to enter.ย
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Hello from Indonesia,
Congrats on your latest title, Addison and thanks for this interesting post. As a reader, differentiation between character’s voice help us to get into the story. And this looks like one I’m going to enjoy!
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed to post. ๐
Different voices for different characters is important to really get a feel for their personalities. And to adjust the voice depending on the situation or dialogue partner shows the personality of a character, his social behavior ๐
Agreed! Thanks for reading. ๐
I enjoyed hearing about the different shades of speech you choose for your characters; it’s not something I’d spent time thinking about but your examples illustrate your point well. To Love and to Cherish sounds like a book I’d like to read. Congratulations on its release and best wishes with your next writing project.
(Sending this comment from the Pacific Northwest.)
Thank you, I appreciate it. <3
Thank you so much for being a part of the tour ๐
Kia ora all the way from NZ!
I got so pissed at Nash in the first book. Can’t wait until I can read this one.
LOL. Poor Nash, he was under a bit of strain. Maybe you’ll forgive him?
Good luck with the release from this northern Californian!
Thank you very much! ๐
Best wishes from Texas. ๐
Thanks, Barbra! <3
Thank you so much for hosting me here today and being a part of my tour! ๐ <3
Great post! Thank you from Texas!
Thank you! Good luck in the contest. ๐
Thanks for the post. I think it would make a character seem more real that he would speak differently to different people; after all we do that in RL. Sending this from Ohio
Thanks for reading, Lisa! ๐
congrats on the release ..i am in nj
Thank you! ๐
Congrats and thanks for the post. I’m from Chicago now, originally Big D.