A Quick Note

Hi guys! Hi Shawn!

I'm writing for the first time since the weekend. Things have been NUTSOLA at the day job. All the beginning of the year stuff combined with my being sick for a few days made me get really behind!!!

Got one of the big scenes done on the new book. First big confrontation. Heroes first run-in with real magic. Lotsa fun. Makes me happy!

Did an interview with a friend on RWA Online about creativity. It was a lot of fun. Made me really examine things like how I feel about my characters. (As weird as it sounds, they're as real to me as the people sitting next to me on the bus -- and I have no more right to change them than the guy I don't like at the fast-food restaurant). I also got a chance to post my views about how "just because a character is a certain way doesn't mean the writer is. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." I can't tell you how many times I've heard rants about how some author wrote about a zealot or a person from a terrible background and that must mean THEY are a zealot or come from a horrible background. The truth of the matter is, NO. You can observe how a zealot acts and write about it (or GASP use your imagination) without being one. And honestly, happy backgrounds are relatively common, but you know what, they SOUND boring on paper. Don't really give your character a lot of motivation either. Angst just plays better. (Sorry Mom). So it's much easier to give your character some familial angst whether you've had any or not.

ANYWAY, gotta get back to work. Life is calling on the red phone.

Later!

Cie