I’ve created a person. A man. A cop. The hero of the Adam Kaminski mystery series is a good man who wants to help people. He is thoughtful, well read, considerate, a little emotional at times. He exists in my imagination and that of my readers. But what does Detective Adam Kaminski look like?

Describing my characters is always a challenge for me. Catching that element of their person, their personality and their physical appearance, that best lets the reader imagine them. Put a face to a name.

Adam Kaminski has been one of my biggest challenges when it comes to descriptions. Part of the challenge is how he’s grown over the course of the series. From his first trip to Poland to his most recent visit to Galway, Adam has become a more serious, perhaps angrier, man.

Part of the challenge is that Adam exists not just in my mind, but in my readers’ minds as well. I’m reluctant to put too fine a description on him. Haven’t we all had that experience of seeing a movie based on a book only to be confronted by a hero that looks nothing like we imagined based on the text?

With each book, I find new elements of Adam’s personality that I hadn’t quite captured before. Different ways of looking at him, of seeing him, of describing him. It’s frustrating at times, sure. But it’s also a pleasure, in a way. Seeing my character grow and change.

What do you think, do you prefer to have your literary characters described in physical detail so you can picture him or her the way the author intended, or do you prefer to get a little leeway to imagine a character just the way you want him to be?

If you’d like to meet Detective Adam Kaminski, now’s your chance: sign up now for the Goodreads giveaway of A Blind Eye. Giveaway ends on July 1.

Learn more about Jane Gorman and the Adam Kaminski mystery series at janegorman.com

Beginning writers face the challenge of finding their voice. Finding that way of writing, that way of expressing, that is uniquely theirs.

I spent many years studying and practicing to find my voice (and I’m still working on it!).

Voice is important. There’s a reason writers are encouraged to focus on it early on, as they learn their craft, hone their skills.

There’s another, completely different kind of voice for which authors don’t get much training: the dreaded social media voice.

We all use social media one way or another in our daily lives. I love using Facebook to stay in touch with out of town friends and family. I find Twitter valuable for staying on top of breaking news or tracking trends in the publishing business (and yes, wine).

But using social media to build an audience for a mystery book? That’s been a new adventure for me. One I’ve thrown myself into whole heartedly, though perhaps with less skill than I would have liked.

Until a few months ago.

My husband and I love to travel. I use these trips to gather ideas about people, places and histories that I can use in my books. My husband takes pictures.

His passion, his creative outlet, is photography. As we travel, he captures images of people, places and things that evoke emotions, that draw you in to a foreign place… images that tell a story.

Thanks to the wonders of digital photography, we return from trips with 4,000, 5,000 even 6,000 photos. Phew! Remember the days when the cost of film and the cost of developing meant taking fewer pictures but making each one count?

So there we were, me writing up notes and ideas from our travels, my husband organizing thousands upon thousands of photos. And both of us thinking of ways to use social media to reach a new audience for my books.

Which is when we discovered Instagram.

Instagram has been a great tool for us. My husband has a blast going through all his photos and pulling out the best shots to share. I write up a little description, occasionally throw in a book cover or a quote.

We’re having fun, using our particular interests and skills.

I’m no social media expert. I’ve definitely struggled with it. But perhaps that’s because I simply hadn’t found my social media voice.

Learn more about me and my books at JaneGorman.com or find me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Vivid. Believable. Atmospheric.

I see words like this — words used by readers to describe my books — and I’m blown away. I can’t express how grateful I am for these reviews. I hope that I can keep producing books that meet these standards. It’s for this reason that much of the time I spend “writing” each book in the Adam Kaminski mystery series is actually time spent researching.

I spent many years studying Polish history and the Polish political system. I use knowledge I gained in my years at the State Department and National Park Service. I talk with friends and colleagues who are archaeologists, to make sure my recollection of archaeology from my graduate school days is accurate. And I read. A lot.

All of this is to ensure that my stories, while completely fictional, are also realistic and believable.

Yet I hit those points occasionally where I have to stop writing and say wait, what? (I try to say this silently in my head, but I don’t always succeed). That point where I’ve written myself into a corner and I need to come up with a realistic reason why a Philadelphia cop would be sent to Poland. Or how a religious leader could help investigate a murder. Or why a statistician, archaeologist and mathematician might be collaborating. Just for example.

Sometimes there is no way. As Lisa Cron points out in this insightful article at Writers Unboxed, it’s rarely a good idea to try to create an internal logic to your story when one doesn’t exist.

On the other hand, sometimes it just clicks. Like when I open the New York Times to find a fascinating article about how statisticians, mathematicians and archaeologists collaborated to determine literacy rates in ancient Judah. Eureka!

I love it when all the puzzle pieces somehow fit together perfectly. (And, yes, hate it when I have to delete an entire plot thread because, in the end, it just doesn’t work.)

I actually enjoy research. Learning about other people, other places, other skills. It’s part of the joy of writing for me.

But in some ways, the fun part is when I get to make stuff up. Come up with creative and unexpected motives for murder, or alibis that seem strong but have an almost invisible loop-hole. For while the scholars studying ancient Judah may have been working together on a history-changing exercise, I’m fairly certain none of them is plotting murder.

That’s all on me.

How about you – when you read or when you write, how important is it that the storyline be believable?

Find out more about me and the Adam Kaminski mystery series at janegorman.com