One of the interns at work forwarded me a link to a really fun animation. And as I watched it, I thought, wow, I could blog about characters coming to life. :-)
When my characters show up, they are fully alive, real people. Okay, I know, you're thinking but they're not real. This is where I confess that they are completely real to me. :-) They're stubborn, their personalities are already completely apparent to me, and all I need to do is listen to them and get to know them.
I swear, I took one look at Deke from In the Midnight Hour and I knew he was a smart ass. It was that damn smirk of his. :-) I also knew how intense and serious Ryne was and that he was going to make her crazy. I admit that I nearly rubbed my hands together in glee at the thought of the way they'd torment each other--for a while at least. After all, they take huge pleasure in tormenting me while I'm trying to tell their stories, so it's only fair.
While I was writing one of my learning books--that's the book where an author is learning to write and hasn't quite mastered how to put all the pieces together to tell a salable story--I was flipping through a mail order catalog. I saw a novelty tie and my first thought was, Michael would love that! Um, it actually took me a few seconds to remember that Michael wasn't a real person, and while he would indeed love the tie, I didn't need to order it for him. ;-) Okay, maybe I wasn't really thinking about ordering it, but I was thinking that I had to show it to him.
For the 18 months that I spent writing Ravyn's Flight, Ravyn and Damon were with me 24/7, talking away and showing me scene after scene. Honestly, it was like having invisible friends. I knew what they were doing all the time and even had dreams about them. When they left, I mourned the loss. And it was a loss. I felt like my best friends had moved across the country.
Actually, I feel that way after I finish every book and I know the characters have moved on. It's one of the reasons why I like to reread my books once I have a real, published copy in my hands--to spend a few hours with my friends.
Right now, I'm waiting for revisions for the book I turned in July 1 and I'm becoming eager to get them because I want to spend more time with Shona and Logan. At the same time, once I finish revisions, they'll be moving on, too. Sigh. The price of finishing a book.
