Female Friendship And Too Many Tears: a Guest post and Giveaway by Toni Anderson

I was a little worried that the heroine of my newest Romantic Suspense Cold Blooded comes across as a little overemotional at the start of the story. The readers meet her under duress, and then it gets worse. Pip West finds her best friend face-down in the lake and spends an hour trying to revive her before paramedics arrive and pull her away. Naturally she’s devastated, but there’s a certain dispassion to a book’s audience, especially when the reader has only just met the heroine.

“Don’t make her a whiner.”

In the back of my mind, I hear former editors’ comments about how “no one likes a crier.” And “not to overuse tears.” So, I allow Pip to cry for a little while but then I force her to get a grip and pull herself back together from those million, non-orgasm induced, shattered pieces.

It got me thinking about friendship. About women. Those deep ties that last for decades with only sporadic visits and infrequent phone calls. The long tentacles of emotional attachment that adhere and endure when it would be easier to move on and forget.

How do you forget those you truly love?

I’m blessed with my friends. So blessed! I am going back to Scotland in July and meeting up with some ladies who did their Ph.Ds. with me, thirty years ago (child prodigies, obviously). I’m also catching up with my best friend from school—we met age eleven. She saved me from being a social outcast and I love her. Then there are my very special “in real life” friends who live nearby and forgive me for not knowing what day it is because I’m deep in a book. And then there are those incredible author friends who just “get it.” They know that trying to balance writing and publishing can be a huge challenge. My day can go from deeply contemplative to borderline manic, often within the space of an hour.

So I’m hoping readers can forgive Pip for her tears—be they too many or too few. And I’m hoping I never have to go through what she goes through.

If you want to read Pip’s story check out Cold Blooded. I’m going to give away five copies of the novella previous in the series (they all standalone) where I set up the suspense for this book (A Cold Dark Promise).

Just tell me about your best friend and I’ll chose from one of the commenters.

Find out more about Toni Anderson’s books on her website.