Writing in Alternating POV’s

by Chris T. Kat

Hello, I’m Chris T. Kat, visiting The Blogger Girls again. 🙂 I’m here to talk about my new release, Despite the Odds (Odds Are: Book One). Despite the Odds is the first book in the Odds Are series, and was published by Dreamspinner Press on June 3rd.

Usually, when I start a new story, I know the POV I want to use. Most of the time, it’s first person or third person limited because these are the POV’s I feel most comfortable in. Despite the Odds started in first person, but after the first chapter I realized the story wouldn’t work for me. I needed to show the thought process of Michael and Joshua. I’ve written a couple shorter pieces in alternating POV’s, but found them hard to pull off. Therefore, Despite the Odds is my first published work in that style.

As I worked on this story, I quickly realized a few things:

• My writing is pretty straightforward, so I needed to do the same here. The result is that I used a simple approach. The first chapter is from Michael’s POV, the next from Joshua’s POV, and that’s how it goes throughout the book.
• I’ve read books with alternating POV’s and absolutely hated when the same scenes were recapped from a different POV. In Despite the Odds, I avoided recapping as much as possible, and tried my best to have each scene advance the story.
• The characters need to have distinctive voices, otherwise they just flow into each other and it gets confusing. I hope I managed this. For example: Michael often puts his foot in his mouth, because he blurts out what he thinks.

Do you care about POV at all? Is there one you prefer?

About Despite the Odds

Never judge a book by its cover.

Michael Campbell can’t hold a job for more than a few days. He’s lucky his foreman is giving him another chance with the solar panel project at a primary school in Atlantic City. When he spies a man walking strangely in front of the school, Michael laughs, assuming he’s drunk or high. Little does he realize that Joshua Stone, a teaching assistant, has cerebral palsy, and he’s having a bad muscle control day. Taking a tumble right in front of the handsome construction worker is just his luck.

When Michael learns the truth, he feels badly for his cruel behavior. He offers to give Joshua—and his tricycle, the Racing Rhonda—a lift. Joshua accepts the help, and suddenly there’s a gorgeous man breezing into his life, turning his world upside down. But Michael has more issues than his inability to hold down a job, and neither man is sure if they’ll be able to overcome their fears in order to be together.

Don’t forget to check out Nikyta’s review of Despite the Odds to see what she thought of it!

Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon

An Excerpt from Despite the Odds

At first, the walking went fine. The occasional lurch to his weak left side, but nothing out of the ordinary. When he stepped out of the cool school building, the heat was scorching. The construction workers had already left a while ago. Only the guy who’d laughed at him was still there, busy putting away tools. Joshua stared straight ahead, even though he could feel the guy’s gaze bore into his back. Stupid prick!

Why did all the good-looking guys have to be such assholes? Not that he’d ever stood a chance with such a hunky guy—or anyone really—but why did these guys have to make fun of him? They already had the looks and a fantastic, fully functioning body, so why did they have to sneer at his grotesque figure?

Joshua paused at a bench, clutching the edges with his hands. His heart thundered in his rib cage while sweat ran down his back in small rivulets. Why was he so out of it? That wasn’t normal. He gulped in more of the hot air and took in his surroundings. Only a couple cars stood in the school’s parking lot. His trike gleamed in the sun like a small, silvery stone. Damn, the saddle would be flaming hot. Next time, he’d just drive it onto the walkway.

When he glanced toward the guy who’d mocked him, he couldn’t help but notice the way the shirt clung to his heavily muscled body. The jeans hugged his butt and long limbs like a second skin. Joshua’s gaze darted away as he licked his bottom lip. Fine, the guy was hot.

With new resolution, he pushed himself off the bench, staggered the first couple of steps, and then trudged along the walkway toward his trike. Fantasizing would get him nowhere other than in a world of trouble, so why bother? He had his porn collection at home, and that’s all he’d ever have.

Balling his hands into fists, Joshua fought against the anger coiling inside him, the urge to scream or cry at the unfairness of it all.

His steps faltered as exhaustion took its toll on him. His left side felt like unwanted ballast he had to drag behind him. Why did his body have to be like this?

He coughed to dislodge the lump in his throat. Self-pity wouldn’t get him anywhere either. At least not closer to his trike and his home. He’d stop by the bakery, get some of his favorite treats. Later he’d curl up in bed with one of his favorite romances. Since that would be the only way he’d ever experience romance….

About Chris T. Kat

Chris T. Kat lives in the middle of Europe, where she shares a house with her husband of many years and their two children. She stumbled upon the M/M genre by luck and was swiftly drawn into it. She divides her time between work, her family—which includes chasing after escaping horses and lugging around huge instruments such as a harp—and writing. She enjoys a variety of genres, such as mystery/suspense, paranormal, and romance. If there’s any spare time, she happily reads for hours, listens to audiobooks or does cross stitch.

Find out more about Chris on her Blog, Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook or Amazon Author Page.