It's March

Wow. Not November? Because I swear to all that's good and holy I've lived three lifetimes in these three months. Not in a good way.

Will publish "Canary: Out of the Shadows" today. Entirely excited about it. 

I wrote the Canary series as a trio. I never meant to take it further or continue with the characters.

Small problem. I LOVE these characters. I loosely based my protagonist on Lisbeth Salander in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". The will to survive. The compartmentalization. The need to protect, though damaged.

Serena, Lace, John, Stella, Dale, Nessa, and my favorite mutant mortal--Cody. That boy grew on me and Ray at the same time. 

And that's it for me. When the book is finished. When I type "The End" and date the last page, the characters don't go quietly into the night. They still live inside me. Another wonderful thing about being an author. To paraphrase Patrick Swayze to Demi Moore in "Ghost"...you take them all with you. It's quite beautiful.

Is it maddening?

If Chris Evans isn't telling you, I've nothing left to say.

That's why I reference my Mind Cabin. But a nice one. Not one of those serial killer hideouts.

And that's where my characters stay and play. They book their respective room, and we calculate when is the best time for them to visit me.

Does this always work?

See Chris Evans gif again, please.

Truth is, I don't know if I'm ready to let the Canary crew retire silently to their rooms. I'm not sure yet. I wanted a crossover, maybe, but that doesn't vibe yet, either. 

Writers are weirdos.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

Characters welcome

I write character-driven stories.  Their voices are what I hear first when a story is forming.  Little pieces of dialogue filter through and root.  I jot them down.  

But when I'm working on a book series, I hear all sorts of voices from the characters.  Not only the piece I'm working on at that moment.  

And characters can be impatient literary souls.

They are innately selfish.  Isn't that understandable?  They're aching for their perspective stories to be told.

But the best characters?

The ones that stick with me and find a home in my head and heart?

The damaged ones.

Oh, you KNOW who I'm referring to.  The Doctor and Sherlock.  Christian Wolff in The Accountant. Hell, literally ANY superhero out there, both male and female.    

But my two favorite characters are The Doctor and Lisbeth Salander.

Don't get me wrong.  I have several characters that I absolutely love.  Jo in Little Women.  R. P. McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  David Haller in Legion.

But The Doctor and Lisbeth?  They touch my soul.  

They are survivors.  They've been through the unthinkable but still rise.  How can you not cheer for those who not only faced the fire but danced in it?

Who do you love?

The comics?  The love interests?  The heroes?  The anti-heroes?

Let me know.

Always writing*