In August, I’m preparing for working on a new project this fall by doing a character building challenge on Instagram. I will be starting the first book in a contemporary mystery series set in St. Augustine Beach, Florida. The sleuth is twenty-something Sadie Lennox, who moves home to the beach to help her uncle run his diner. Her father, who worked as chef at the diner, is recently deceased, leaving his wife and daughters to grieve him. Sadie is a recovering social media addict, and she’s trying to build a better life for herself while also trying to mend her broken relationships with her family.

The point of the challenge is to get to know the character better, and since Sadie is brand new to me, she’s a perfect candidate.

Day 1: Who are your MC’s enemies and rivals?

As part of her social media addiction recovery, Sadie is learning how to develop positive relationships and avoid toxicity. Part of this is letting go of past grudges and negative influences. After graduating from college, Sadie used her marketing degree to go into advertising, but she eventually found herself a small amount of fame as an Instagram influencer. Many of the relationships that Sadie established during this time ended up having detrimental effects on her. One of the first things she did in recovery was to sever all ties with the majority of the people she’d once considered her friends. She now realizes that SHE was the one that most people would have considered an enemy or rival, and she intends to learn how to be a better friend going forward.

I can’t reveal much about the enemies that Sadie will make over the course of the series — they’re mysteries, after all! I plan for the series to be eight books, so that means that Sadie will encounter at least eight murderers who will definitely consider her an enemy by the time she’s done with them.