I’m going back to Hollywood for my next contemporary romance novel. This time my lead character is a musician whose dream is to become a recording star.
The Harvey Weinstein story broke while I was in the early planning stages for my contemporary romance novel, The Scandal. The story was about Lauren, a soap opera star who wants to advance her career. Needless. to say, this story would have to take place in Hollywood. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, the real-life Weinstein scandal really threw a wrench into my plans. The original storyline was for the lead antagonist, studio head Calvin Michaelson, to be a sexual manipulator.
The Weinstein scandal also brought along the #Me Too movement. I keep politics out of my novels, and the last thing I wanted was for my book to become politicized. So, after many, many revisions and rewrites, Cal ended up becoming a redeemable character. I had to place most of his negative traits into another antagonist, tabloid journalist Randy Hall.
This time around things are different. Weinstein is now serving a long prison sentence, as well he should be, and the #MeToo movement seems to have run its course. Now I can finally create the villain I wanted to create in The Scandal. His name is George Monroe. He’s a high-level executive with a record company, and he’s going to be like the devil incarnate. Charming, compassionate and caring on the outside, but underneath the mask is a manipulative control freak who micromanages the lives of those around him for his own narcissistic pleasure. The title is, Aquamarine, and it’s going to be fun novel fun write.
Marina Martindale
Update! Aquamarine is now available on Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com, and other online booksellers.
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