Ok girls and boys get comfortable because today on the blog I'm welcoming award winning author and creator of The Character Couch, Tracy Tappan. Her guest post will introduce you to what exactly The Character Couch is all about.
Tracy the couch floor is yours!!
Brad
Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the action-packed movie “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” are a
husband and wife who don’t know each other are assassins. The movie opens with
these two sitting in front of a therapist, squirming with discomfort; we guess
this is as much from the possibility of having to bare their souls—something an
assassin can’t do—as from the idea of talking about a marriage that has
obviously been filled with lies. Either way, it’s going to be entertaining.
And, oh, yes, the therapist kicks off the session with a bang.
“How
often do you have sex?” he asks.
“I don’t
understand the question,” Angelina Jolie returns, dead-pan.
“Is this
on a scale of 1 to 10?” Brad puts in.
“So is 1
very little,” Angelina continues, “or is 1 nothing? Because, technically
speaking…zero would be nothing.”
So it
seems that Bran and Angelina haven’t been having sex for a while.
We can
hardly believe it.
The
episode is funny, touching, and intriguing, which is exactly the tone of my
reader-focused website, The Character Couch (www.charactercouch.com), where
fans can suggest their favorite romance couple to be brought into a therapy
session. Yes, this is therapy, but these sessions are anything but
angst-ridden. They are written in the same spirit as “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,”
drawing us in to be a fly on the wall and peek at something we normally
wouldn’t be able to see.
Will
there be amusing bantering in these sessions, a sense of firm, quiet resolve,
poignancy? Sure. All of it. Every session is different, but always
attention-grabbing.
Don’t
you find that the best books always stick with you long after you’ve turned the
last page, leaving you hungry for more? I know I go crazy waiting for the next
novel in a series to come out, and I figured other readers felt the same. So I
came up with an idea that would combine my two loves—of doing therapy and
writing romance—in a way that would provide innovative, free entertainment for
fans.
Today, I
share about my unique endeavor.
What could we expect to see if you had “Mr. and
Mrs. Smith” on The Character Couch?
LOL.
Well, I think first you’d see the therapist secretly getting moon-eyed over
Brad Pitt! And could we blame her?
Therapist
Regan Malloy has been an exciting character to create. I’ve already morphed her
to fit a multitude of romance sub-genres. She’s been a French ex-pat from a
time travel romance, a bespeckled Brit from a contemporary romance, a saloon
mistress in America’s old west, a wizened crone facing down a couple of vampires,
and more.
Regan
also brings her own struggles into the session, whether that’s fear or
uncertainty, confusion about her clients, or maybe just a verbal blunder of
some sort. Each month the therapist is as different as her clients.
It’s all
about keeping the site dynamic and entertaining!
That does sound like a great deal of fun for
readers.
Oh,
definitely. I always pose questions at the end of the session, too, because fan
involvement adds an extra layer of enjoyment to the experience. Readers get a chance
to join the “analysis” and tell me and the participating author what they
think. This month for USA Today and NY Times bestselling author Krista Lakes’
contemporary romance, SALTWATER KISSES, the debate is flying about the
sacrifices people make for love—how much is too much? I’m impressed at how
thought-provoking and insightful people’s comments have been.
It’s a
fantastic time.
It seems that this site also benefits authors.
Without
question. The Character Couch is an innovative way for authors to market their
books, and they’ve been really creative with their use of it. Many authors run
contests, where fans are asked to vote on which couple from one of the author’s
romance series they’d like to see go into therapy. Several lucky participants
win prizes, and the book with the most votes earns a session on The Couch. This
kindles fan enthusiasm even before the session is posted!
The
procedure for readers is very user-friendly: people just click on the “Suggest
A Book” icon in the side bar of the site and input their choice—anytime!
Readers
don’t have to wait for a contest to make a suggestion!
This
month author Krista Lakes is planting the seeds of interest in her Billionaire
Love Story series with this taste of SALTWATER KISSES. I track numbers through
Google Analytics, and the response to authors is always really good.
You write the sessions, though, don’t you?
I do.
It’s a process that requires a great deal of attention to detail on my part in
order to represent absolutely correctly another author’s characters. No
pressure, right? Not one word goes onto the site without an author’s full approval
(there’s a “FAQ for Authors” section on the site).
And so
far, so good! The testimonials page glows with the praise from alumni authors.
This has
been one of the most satisfying parts of this endeavor for me; it means I’ve
succeeded in honoring their stories, and that feels terrific.
How does a session typically end?
Oh,
there isn’t a “typical” with these sessions, except that the happily ever after
is assured. Every month it’s a new journey, and you never know at what point
you might laugh or get a clench of emotion in your chest. Or where a surprise
might pop out at you.
Like the
ending to “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”
During
the course of the movie, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have discovered that each
other are assassins. With the truth out, there’s hope for their marriage now.
They end up in front of the therapist again, recapping, still spouting off to
each other, but in a way that makes us chuckle; we know they’re going to be
okay. The therapist seems to agree, talking about how marriage takes work, but—
Brad
interrupts to say, “Ask us the ‘how many times did you have sex this week?’
question again.”
“John,” Angelina Jolie scolds quietly, while
Brad Pitt proudly flashes ten fingers outside of Angelina’s sight lines.
Oh, yes,
expect fun surprises!
* * *
Tracy
Tappan is the award-winning author of gritty romance, her books
spanning genres across paranormal (The
Community series), military suspense (The Wings of Gold series), and Historical
(The Baron’s War trilogy). During nearly twenty-five
years spent as a military wife, she lived all over the United States and in
Europe, enjoying seven years overseas in the diplomatic community, first in
Rome then in Madrid, until she settled back in San Diego. Tracy holds a
master’s degree in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling, and has used this
background to create a fan-based website called The Character Couch, where
romance’s favorite couples are brought into a fun session with therapist, Regan
Malloy. 
Tracy
loves to keep in touch with readers. You can follow her on Twitter at
@TracyTappan, Facebook at Tracy Tappan Romance Author (http://on.fb.me/1hs0Z3L) or write to her at
Tracy@TracyTappan.com.
Character couch- http://www.charactercouch.com/
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This does sound like a lot of fun, what a fabulous idea, I love it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kindlemom, I've seen her interview a few of my fave authors too!
DeleteI love it, what fun. Fabulous post I will check out her site!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kim I love her cc interviews
DeleteOh how fun! I bet that can be an absolute riot. I did enjoy that bit of the movie. lol
ReplyDeleteThey are entertaining :)
DeleteThis sounds like fun, and I absolutey adored the Community series by Tracy Tappan :)
ReplyDeleteHi Red yes her interviews are really good! Thanks for the comment!
Delete