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Sunday, October 17, 2010

Z-Man

Blogging about Flare got me thinking. His story would have been the first in a three-book series, and while I had a good handle on him and Sasha, his heroine, I didn't have that same grasp on the other two stories. This got me thinking further about how in all the series ideas I've had, I know less about each book down the line.

For example, I know Flare and Sasha. I know their history, I know their growth arcs, I know them. The second book would have had Gravedigger (also from Eternal Nights and Nadia. I know some stuff about them, but not enough to write them. I don't know either of them well and have no idea how either of them needs to change.

Which brings me to the third story. I knew five years ago that the hero was Z-Man (I know he's mentioned in The Troll Bridge, but I'm sure about EN). I had a very vague sense of him, but nothing strong. I have no clue who his heroine is. At all. Because I was working on his story as part of the overview I put together for proposals, I tried to give him someone, but she changed a couple of times while I was working on it and was never set. None of those women stuck, I'm guessing because they weren't the right ones.

So as I mentioned, Flare was talking. On Thursday, Z started, too. He's revealing his background to me. At least a little bit. Five years ago, he told me he was a sniper and that you couldn't do that job if you didn't have your head screwed on straight. (Which was about the sum total of what he passed along way back when.) Now he's telling me he grew up in northern California and that he's part Hawaiian and part Japanese, as well as having European ancestors.

And that's what's kind of funny. Five years ago, I went looking for pictures of my three guys and was never happy with his. Every time I looked at Z's image, I knew something was wrong, that it was close, but just not quite. It's cool to know I was right and to know why.

Unfortunately, this isn't the project I'm supposed to be working on right now. I hate to force Flare and Z back out of my brain, but I'm afraid that's what I'll need to do. Too many characters, too many stories, not enough time.