Character Inspiration: Yates
Check out my Pinterest board for Yates by clicking here.
The original idea for Saving Maddox came from the song “Marry You” by Thomas Rhett. I listened to the lyrics and pictured a guy who was totally tortured and heartbroken sitting in the back row watching the woman he’d loved for basically his whole life marrying someone else.
Just imagine the level of heartbreak. It was deliciously angsty.
I’m not typically an angst writer, but I wanted to dip my toes in and this book gave me the perfect story to do it. And as you can imagine, when faced with watching the woman you love walk down the aisle to marry someone else, that guy needs to be a tool.
That’s right: A grade-A douchebag.
Why? Well, you don’t want to feel bad for the guy she’s marrying. You want to hate him. Enter Yates.
Right off the bat, I knew I needed a guy who had a name that made me cringe. He had to be old money. Snobby. The kind of guy who looked down his nose at pretty much everyone except his equally stuck up friends and maybe his mother.
To find his name, I literally googled, “Ivy League Names for Boys,” and picked the worst one I could find. If your son is named Yates, I realize I’m being a bit of an asshole but well… Yates.
Anyway, I wanted him to be a guy that at first seemed like he was at the very least okay if not sort of good. He’s attractive and charming. He swoops in to help Ryan with her biggest problem when she thought she had nowhere else to turn.
The problems start when Maddox walks back into the picture and Yates’s plan is threatened. See, he’s a shady, shady guy and he’s determined to get what he wants at all costs. He’s tenacious and an asshole which doesn’t make for a great combination.
And when someone messes with Yates, he doesn’t just take it. He fights back and he fights dirty.
I actually had a lot of fun writing his character. On days when I was frustrated or not having a great day, I’d write a Yates scene and have the other characters give him a hard time. It always made me laugh and for that reason, he’ll always be one of my favorites.
If you want to see what becomes of Yates, check out Saving Maddox.