FATHER CYRUS THE MOSTLY UNWILLING

What a puzzle, what a dilemma.


Oh, dear, what shall I do with Father Cyrus Payne-the-Mostly-Unwilling?

I have just started writing the next book set in Toussaint, on Bayou Teche in Louisiana. Needless to say, there’s stuff going on. STUFF. A dangerous dust-up. Love, lust and need. A hero who already has my fingers rushing, and a heroine (she’s Madge Pollard’s cousin) who may seem demure, but, well, haha, she’s a bit of a chamaeleon. However, all of that is not what is scrambling my brain. Father Cyrus Payne is the cause of a growing headache.

He has to be dealt with and I’m not completely certain what will happen when I confront him. What am I talking about? It’s Madge who has to confront him and I think that’s going to make me want to title the book, Double Dust-Up. If you know Madge the way I know Madge, we also know what a mouthy minx she can be on occasion. I just don’t know what Cyrus will do if she breaks into that "Upper Room," as Lil the housekeeper likes to call it, and says, "Stand and deliver! Gimme everything you’ve got. No, it’s not your money I want."

We know all the unattached women (yes–also some who aren’t unattached) in Toussaint pine after Cyrus. I don’t think they go to St. Cecil’s to hear the sermons, do you? One or two of them make nuisances of themselves but they’re no match for Madge. And Cyrus is good at diverting inappropriate and unwelcome advances. Madge’s almost destructive love of this man, however, is another matter. And Cyrus’s love for her is such a conundrum when we’re trying to figure out exactly what he wants from her and whether he might want to . . . advance the situation. Is that a good way to put this?

What do you think about Cyrus and Madge? How do you see their futures? And what would you most like to see happen between them?

Desperate,

Stella

Next time I’m going to write about the making of a hero like Nick Board in TARGET. Now there’s a piece of work to deal with–nice work:)