Old Characters and New Ideas

I was looking through my vast collection of unwritten and partially written novels, movies, etc. looking for a specific file and ended up browsing through projects I'd sort of forgotten about. One in particular caught my eye - Hero for Hire. It was conceived as a short episodic TV show for SFF that would air on youtube. The main character is one of the last in a long and illustrious line of classic villains, but she hates her family and decides to go rogue as soon as she can. She trains to be the best hero ever, but it costs money and so she is forced to charge a fee for rescuing people. There's a lot more too it than that, but that's the basic gist of it.

What really struck me as amusing while reading over my notes for this was the education on her resume: Masters degree in General Heroics with a duel emphasis in Impossible Escapes and Thwarting Evil Plots from the Medea School of Melodrama. Clearly I was having fun with this. I also love the last line on her business card: Witty banter costs extra.

I think I stopped working on it to focus more on State Line Road, and because I had the basic concept and some bits but not much more than that. However, since Annamarie has expressed a desire to play a total badass action hero I may think about working on it again. We'll see.

Also I was working on another idea recently (mostly just jotting down dialogue bits that were running around in my head) about a sort sketch (or sketches) sort of making fun of the concept of Wife Swap - swaping Superheroes and Supervillains so they have to see what it's like on the other side. I'm calling it Super Swap. I have no idea if I'll ever film it, but I think I might finish writing it because it's kinda fun. Here's an excerpt:

VILLAIN: For god’s sake woman, I’m in the shower!

HERO WIFE: Why are you wearing your cape?

VILLAIN: It’s how I get the wrinkles out!

HERO WIFE: Have you ever tried a hot iron?

VILLAIN: Not on clothes.

(later that night)

HERO WIFE: Are you enjoying your stay?

VILLAIN: Not really. The homecook meals are nice though.

HERO WIFE: You’re wife doesn’t make you dinner?

VILLAIN: I married the Mistress of Darkness. She doesn’t cook. I had to steal a second car so we could go though the drive through.

HERO WIFE: What was wrong with your first car?

VILLAIN: It’s 8 feet tall and covered in spikes.

HERO WIFE: Oh.

(obviously I haven't named anyone yet)

I probably shouldn't throw plot ideas out onto the internet like this in case someone decides to steal my idea, but it's not like they're amazingly original ideas (the wording and spirit is unique but it's hard to steal that) and I know there's only like one person who reads this. But just in case an executive in the entertainment industry happens to read this I'll just add that all of the above it officially under common law copyright (and if said exec is reading this could you give me a job please?

Okay. Enough goofing off. To dinner!

Kid Therapy

So for the first time ever I actually have a therapist I like. She even suggested an occupation that I never knew existed: play therapist. Basically you interact with children who have been tramatized in some way by playing with them and helping them use their imagination and creativy. That totally sounds like something I can do - and it wouldn't be as voltile a job market as video editing! So I'm gonna look into it. We'll see...

We were also talking about personal medicine and natural, easy ways to help me manage my symptoms and I've learned the thing that keeps me grounded in reality the most is the kids. It may sound weird, but even when I'm playing "space ship" or "submarine" with them and encouraging their imaginations I'm still very much grounded in the reality of them -- of being with them, interacting postively with them, guiding them and having fun with them. So the three little ones (five if you count the Johnston kiddos) keep me saner and more stable then anything else, I guess because I love them so much and want to be there for them that it makes me fight the symptoms harder then anything else could. Not sure it this makes sense, it's just something I've been thinking about lately.

And now for a cute story about my almost 4 year old niece and my 2 year old nephew:

We were talking about cars and Grace said she would have one when she was older, so John told he that she had to save up lots of money to buy one of her own at which Henry said "I buy you pink car Grace". (or more like "I bwuy you pink cawr gwrace). So sweet, and so adorable!!!

State Line Something

I'm still blocked on Destiny because the only thing really left to write is the beginning chapter and I'm still not sure how best to write it. Everything I come up with just isn't really working. So I'm using the drive to write to work on a project that's been squatting in my brain for far too long: State Line Road.

I'm writing it in novel form at the moment and there are some key differences between the book and the series. 1) Becky is 18 in the book and 25 in the series, and 2) I have an unlimited budget for set, props, costumes, etc. in the book and no budget for the series. I don't know how far I'll get but hopefully I'll write a few chapters at least. It just feels good to write something again! I worked hard on the opening paragraph so please read it and answer this question with complete honesty: If you opened the book and read this paragraph would you want to keep reading?

On the day Becky Flynn turned eighteen she argued with her mother, got detention, and ate cake. Then she went ghost hunting with her friends, broke her neck, met Death, and went to Hell. Worst. Birthday. Ever. Except for the cake. The cake was delicious.

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 30

30. Final question! Tag someone!

And tell us what you like about that

person as a writer and/or about

one of his/her characters!

I tag melydia because she's the only person that I know reads this blog! Seriously though, Melydia is one of my favorite writers (and people) because she actually writes - and often finishes what she writes! Unlike most of us she's not pretending to write an award winning epic novel, she just writes for fun. I admire her talent and creativity and her just wonderful and random sense of humor. When I read her work it has a fresh feeling, like she just jotted it down or took a picture and posted it inside your mind (wait, what?).

I think the humor is the best thing about her writing in general (though she does serious well too from what little I've read). Her story Kittens is freaking hilarious! She is so good at mixing a feel for the everyday with a flair for the fantastical or melodramatic. Most of the stories I've read of hers recently have a sense of daily life being interrupted by something extraordinary happening, which then gets incorporated (or in one case ignored) into their every day world. I don't know if I'm explaining it right.

I really would love to see melydia do this 30 Days of Writing because I don't know that much about her writing these days beyond what she's posted on her website or in the Write Now closed group on Facebook. So I think this meme would be a great way to learn more about her writing and the universes she creates.

However, I know that she is rediculously busy this summer so I don't expect her to do it anytime soon. But maybe someday?

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 29

29. How often do you think about writing?

Ever come across something in real life

that reminds you of your story/characters?

I think about writing all the time - actually do it is the problem! I almost always have a part of my mind somewhere working on a character or plot or kingdom or something connected to my writing. Random bits of dialouge will pop into my head while I'm shopping or doing dishes or whenever, so I keep a pen and notebook handy (I always have one of each in my purse) so I can write down ideas as I get them. Coming up with ideas has never been a problem for me. I just can't seem to take them anywhere. Someday... Someday... Sunday?

As for coming across something in real life that reminds me of my writing - that happens all the time. I seem to be on the cutting edge of ideas for one thing, basic ideas I have that I love I'll find out someone is coming out with a movie based on a similar theme or idea (like Megamind). I know no one is out there secretly coping my work because I draw so much on mythology that I know what I am taping into is something other writers tap into to. It's sort of a collective mythic subconcious.

And of course there are the characters that are heavily inspired by people I know in the real world - primarily, of course, Molly and May (Kate and Rachel) who have such lively, random, and fun banter that I've actually written snipets of conversation on a placemat while eating out with them at a restaurant.

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 28

28. Have you ever written a character with

physical or mental disabilities? Describe them,

and if there’s nothing major to speak of,

tell us a few smaller ones.

Well, considering I'm bipolar there's a lot of crazy characters in my stories. I don't always mean to go there, but yay there are quite a few "ecentric" characters. Balthazar is great example of someone who is totally nuts but honestly thinks he's sane. The guy has so many issues, it's not even funny how messed up he is. Which is why he would totally and painfully kill me if he ever met me in person. Also in Destiny (the novel) "King" Gergio is pretty far gone mentally by the time Ketlan actually meets him, and he's actually partially responsible for becomming crazy because Gergio is punishing himself for what he did by very slowly poisioning himself. And France Wah in Pandora's Box is pretty crazy too. I'm not entirely sure what it is, or what happened to her but she doesn't really make sense, likes to blow things up, but she does also have lucid moments.

Then I have characters who seem crazy but aren't. Molly and May seem totally and completely bonkers to everyone, but as the reader gets to know them we realize that M&M are perfectly sane and extremely intelligent and crafty. They act goofy to throw people off. The same is true of Minerva Silverstone, who seems a little off in the head because she often acts bizzare and random, but she just has no problem being herself and enjoys freaking out people who are stupid enough not to know the difference being having fun and being crazy.

I don't have a lot of physical disabilities among my characters, mostly because I don't really know what it's like to only have one leg or be deaf or mute, so I don't think I can accurately portray it. The closest I come is a character from State Line Road - Cecelia C. Montgomery (aka Cece). She's a blind seer who can only see auras, but once she sees a person's aura she knows everything about them including how when and where they die. She had other abilities but I simplified it. Seeing how someone dies, but not being able to say anything (she tried that, it didn't work, and Death got pissed off at her) makes life difficult - far more difficult than not being able to see the world around her. I think I'm doing okay with her character, but I do a lot of walking around with my eyes closed to get a feel of her world when I work on her character.

Some of my characters have phobias and/or allergies that pop up as quirks and randomness, but sometimes end up as big plot points. Turlo, in Pandora's Box, is allergic to mushrooms - especially the hallucinegentic kind, which leads to a seriously bad reaction to a mushroom based hallucinegenic drug that drives him temporarly insane. Balthazar, in Destiny, has a very powerful (almost dibiliating) fear of fire (arsonphobia), which is the only way the heroes can get past him/defeat him, if only temporarily. I know there are other characters with phobias or allergies but I can't think of them off the top of my head. I think someone was allergic to carrots, but like I said I can't remember.

And now I'll leave you with a mini-collage of Cece Montgomery from State Line Road (a part that will hopefully someday be played by Kate Weber):

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 27

27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a

big role in your stories? How do you go about

designing your characters?

Appearances are a huge part of getting started for me. I need to know what a character looks like and what they're wearing or what they like to wear in order for me to picture them in my head. When I'm writing, I pretty much write down the movie I see playing in my mind so the characters have to be well defined enough for me to picture them. I try to design at least minimally all characters no matter how big or small their part. Besides, designing is the fun part!

I'm the daughter of a costume designer and so I grew up with costumes all around me. I LOVE costumes! I can't get enough of them. So I take great care, and joy, in designing a character's wardrobe. If it's a modern character I'll usually go to a website like meez.com or dollwizard,com and use a character/avatar generator to help create that characters look. Most important to me is always hair color and eye color. I just like to know that right away.

If it's a historical or fantasy based character then I'll draw him/or on paper first and then maybe do a digital work up later. If the characters have multiple costumes in a book then I will design each one.

This caused a problem in the first draft of Destiny because I took at least one paragraph to describe what each person was wearing every time they changed their clothes. That really slowed things down. The princess is wearing a dress - that's all we need to know! One of the first things I cut from the rough draft were the costume descriptions. The only ones I kept were the descriptions neccesary for character development or plot, and I shortened those considerably.

Here's the original description of Queen Catherine when Ketlan first meets her:

Ketlan looked at the Queen, sitting imposingly in the huge throne. A good sized woman, powerful and strong, she was not young , though not distinctly old. She looked regal and her age interderminable as if wrinkles were too afraid to form anywhere, expect around her mouth where she smiled, evidently quite a lot. Her hair was hidden under a large and elaborate powdered white wig full of twists and pearls and silver ribbon. An exsqisite, but very large diadem crown covered in diamonds rested on her head, perched amid the clusters of milk-white pearls. Bright, clear cornflower blue eyes sparkled with amuzement. Her dress was the highest of Liliyan fashion, with elbow length sleeves and ivory ruffles and lace, long, obscenly full purple silk ad satin skirts and a heavily embroidered and jeweled bodice. A cloak of fine lavander silk caressed her shoulders and melted around her and the throne.

And here's the revised version:

The Queen sat there, hands on the ivory arms of the chair, ice blue eyes sharp and narrowed, burgandy silk cascading around her.

Much better, right? Totally. Oh yeah, and in the second version she's pissed off (I had to condense some scenes). So I like designing characters, especially the costume part. Here's some fun costumey designy stuff:

Character designs for Zoey from Dream Chasers, from initial drawings,

to the screen shots from the TV show to digital fan art later on.

(Zoey Zurrell played by Brittany Ann Whalen)

I get inspiration for costume designs from a lot of places, including the

costume shops on the internet, historical drawings, and real life costumes.

This is an example of a detailed costume design that is never really

described in the book, but I drew it anyway. These are the picnic gowns

for Princess Elaina's Ladies-in-Waiting in Destiny, Part 1.

Sometimes costume designs are neccesary for figuring out

character movement. In Destiny, Balthazar and Esteban

have a lot of fights with daggers, and both seem to pull

them out of nowhere - Ketlan is not sure how many each one has.

I needed to know that so I drew up this color coded design

to know how many daggers each one might have at any given time.

Obviously the full set of daggers is only when they're not

planning to walk far, sit down, or ride a horse. ;)

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 26

26. Let’s talk art! Do you draw your characters?

Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs

and post your favorite picture of him!

Yeah, I've pretty much answered this one over the last 25 posts. Do I draw my characters? Yes. Yes I do. I draw them a LOT. I'm a very visual person so the first thing I do when I create a character is either draw a picture of them or (if it's modern dress) go to a doll/character generator game and design a picture there. Lots and lots of drawings.

So since the post today is about character art I will leave you with 10 different versions of the Silverstone Sisters (since they're my favorite to draw.) Somewhere I have fanart of the Silverstone Sisters drawn by other people, but I don't have it in my computer. I'll see if I can find it later and post it just for fun. The other artists are way better than I am.

Lots of Silverstone Sisters

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 25

25. Do any of your characters have pets?

Yes, but in reviewing which characters had what I realized that there aren't very many characters who have pets. I can really only think of four off the top of my head who do: Peri from the Berryverse, Mordecai from the Curseiverse, and Balthazar and Ketlan from the Destiverse.

Peri has the most pets by far of any other character, although her sisters share the cats (but they're really hers). She has a fish tank outside her room (so I guess they belong to all the sisters too) with about 15 fish of various types and colors. Her favorite fish is an orange and white koi named Shu. She also has two cats - Princess Petal (a black cat with a white flower-shaped patch of fur on her back), and Smokey Joe (a Russian Blue), and two hamsters - Ham-Ham and Tumblin' Ted (both have brown fur, but one is a little lighter then the other color wise). She would have more pets if she could, but Atlanta put a stop to adding any more to the menagerie after the hamsters.

In one scene from Episode 7 of The Curse (one of the scenes not filmed unfortunately) Mordecai reveals that he has two cats - Artemis and Ares, and mentions that he had pets in the past before he died (a thousand years ago), he doesn't say what they were but I'm assuming they were cats -- and since I'm the writer I guess I can make that call. So yes, he likes cats. I haven't decided what his current cats look like but I'm leaning towards Artemis being a Russian Blue (i love russian blues and it really fits with the artemis name), and Ares being a big brown tiger stripped cat.

Balthazar has ended up with a pet (never would have pegged him for the pet type). It's a strange looking bird called an Igomene only found on one magical island in the world. They are very rare and very shy. But if an Igomene takes a liking to someone it's a bond that is formed for life and the Igomene will follow that person for the rest of its life. What makes an Igomene rare and special is that it has the ability to change the colors of its feathers to match whatever is around it -- like a chamelian. It also has the ability to carry messages hidden inside it's long tankard-shaped beak, and if the owner cultivates the relationship and actively makes it as strong as possible then the owner and bird can form a sort of telepathic link. They are highly prized as spy birds obviously, but very few people can ever establish the kind of connection with one that it would take to be able to use all of its abilities. Of course Balthazar has and ironically his best friend really is a bird brain. His igomene is a female named Qaolkir (pronouced Kall-keer) which is a Tarqian name meaning "gift of the gods". Balthazar tends to just call her by her nickname Kiri.

Ketlan currently has two pets that I may take away. I'm not sure if I want to keep them or not because they're a bit of a plot-device/deus ex-machina, but they're funny and cute so I want to keep them. It would take too long to explain how it happens, but Ketlan gets two wishes from the destiny equivilant of a genie. One of his wishes is for a pair of horses that can run as fast as the wind and never need to sleep or eat. Unfortunately the guy who grants the wishes is only a partial genie (1/4 jinn), so he can only grant either 1/4 of the wish, or the whole wish in 1/4 the size. So Ketlan ends up with an amazing pair of magical horses that are super fast, never sleep, and never eat, but they're tiny. They're minature horses (which do actually exist) so he and his buddy, Isian, can't actually ride them. The genie guy thought of this and threw in a very sturdy cart with the horses -- it's not very big and kind of hard to stay inside when they're moving super fast. They end up having to tie themselves in.

He doesn't realize that having horses that can run that fast can give you really bad motion sickness and they're hard to stop. Also he didn't think through the whole "never need to sleep" bit because they don't need sleep but he does. They're sort of like annoying yippy dogs hyped up on espresso. In order to make sure they don't run away Ketlan has to tie them to a tree at night and they run around the tree all night, digging themselves into a ditch taller than they are by morning. Magical? yes. Practical? Not really. You can see why I want to keep them but probably shouldn't. He names them Herman and Sherman. What do you think about the horses? should I keep them or ditch them?

I think that's it on the pet front. Not a lot of pets but some very memorable ones. There may be others but I can't think of them right now.

Yes, these really do exist. Ketlan needs a sturdier cart though.

(photo from google)

And here's a pic of a Russian Blue kitten.

(photo from wikipedia)

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 24

24. How willing are you to kill your characters

if the plot so demands it? What’s the most

interesting way you’ve killed someone?

I am totally willing to kill characters if the plot demands it. I'll kill character even if the plot doesn't demand it -- no that's not true. A lot of the characters are like my children so it hurts to see them die, but at the same time there are a lot of stories and plot lines that just require a certain character to die for whatever reason. Killing Esteban and Balthazar in Destiny III was hard but good because it was really time for both of them (although how they'll die is different in the book). Probably the hardest death to write was the death of the PB characters in Episode 24. I really like the characters. However I actually barely knew them at that point since the final episode was written and filmed as episode #5 out of 24, so I can only imagine how painful it would have been to write those scenes after having written so much more. I might not have done it by then -- no I would have because it works so well.

There are characters that I have really enjoyed killing, because they were utter bastards. I remember having a lot of fun writing Namtaru's death in Eidolon because he was such a smug bastard that he needed to die. I had fun writing, filming, and editing that scene and I still love to watch it because he destroyed so many lives it was just cathardic to see him finally destroyed. Killing his pseudo twin - Morpheus - was hard cause Morpheus was totally kill, but killing Namtaru was good.

The most interesting way someone has died in my stories? Gosh, I don't know. A lot of it is pretty standard stuff like swords, and guns, and magic, and stuff like that. No falling anvils. A couple of drownings I think...maybe. Frumpy died face first in a birthday cake so that was kind of fun. Let's see...I can't really think of any unusual or bizarre deaths in my 'verses. I clearly need to change that. I think the most interesting thing about the deaths of my characters is that death doesn't really stop them. If I like a character I'll usually bring them back as a ghost at some point. And one of my newest characters - Becky Flynn in State Line Road - dies by breaking her neck falling against a tombstone while being chased by ghosts in the first chapter/scene. The whole book/series is about her being dead and becoming Death's messenger, so the book/series starts with her death.

Because I'm a huge mythology buff I don't see death in the same way other authors might. Death is a natural and neccesary part of human existence and death is necessary for a lot of heroes in order to fulfill their journey to become a hero. And death, in mythology, is just another rite of passage - it's the beginning of something new rather than the end of it all. I also see Death as a tall blonde woman with DD's wearing a black trench coat and sunglasses and speaking with a southern hick drawl. But that's just me.

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 23

23. How long does it usually take you to complete

an entire story—from planning to writing?

Dude, that various so much it's not really possible to answer. I can write a short story in a weekend, a movie in two-three months, a TV in a year, and some books I've been working on for 15 years. So it depends on the project, how detailed it is and/or how much research I have to do, and how long it is. Also the biggest thing is how obsessed with it I am at any given time. The more focused and obsessed I am at the time the more quickly I write it, but I guess that's sort of obvious and natural. Also deadlines really help me with writing. Also, I tend to come up with an idea and let it simmer in my brain for weeks or months (or years) and when it's ready to be written I'll start writing it and it tends to pour out onto the page at the point.

This is probably the longest writing project that I've been working on

15 years and it's still not done!

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 22

22. Tell us about one scene between your characters

that you've never written or told anyone about before.

Serious or not.

Oh geez. The problem is that Diana has read or heard most the scenes and scenarios that I've come up with so there's not a lot that's really "secret". I've thought about and/or written a lot of alernate universe stuff because the idea of "what if" is fascinating to me. Such as with Pandora's Box - what would have happened if Cat and DeCarlo got married and she never left the army? Or what if he had succeeded in killing her right after that? What if Turlo had married Zarina back when they were engaged? Stuff like that.

Part of the interest in it is because a lot of my projects began in a very different way then they ended. Eidolon, the TV Show, had at least three different concepts and plot lines before I came up with the one we filmed. It was always supposed to be set at least 15 years after The Curse, but how the heroes all get together is vastly different in each version.

Version 1 - Ghost Hunter: Starts out with Maria and Mordecai already married. Zelda is left in her care after her mother, Zandra, dies (that part stayed the same) and then Zelda starts hitting on Mordecai, 1663 to help them stop Zelda. That's as far as I got with that version before I realized how weird it was. And from me - that's really saying something.

Version 2 - Ghost Hunter: Similar to version one, but without the 1663 ghost and this time Zelda is the reincarnation of Zoey and Namtaru and she made a deal that if she kills Maria, then she gets both her soul and Mordecai. Parts of that were kept in the final version, but not all. Then something happens and Maria (the original) wakes up inside Marion (now Maria) and they have a split personality thing going on and all hell breaks loose with sorcerers coming after them and others protecting them and once again it was too weird. I kept the idea of having a scene where Maria and Marion talk to each other but in a dream sequence that ends up as a nightmare and isn't real.

Version 3 - How to Save the World: This one was drastically different. Maria and Mordecai are NOT married, Mordeaci is the reason that Zelda got cursed because he dumped at a burial mound and drove away. Basically the world is about to end and four heroes are called together by Atropos - Maria, Zelda, Mordeaci, and Skyler, a sarcastic tech nerd (but not a ghost hunter in this version). The GO has requested that they save the world from 7 demons who have come to earth to destroy it and each episode has them square off against a different demon. Obviously they fight a lot amongst each other but end up getting the job done. In the end it turns out that the 7th demon has possessed Atropos and gathered the heroes to eliminate the competition and they have to destroy the demon without destroying Death. Yeah, wow. Final version = nothing like that! I find it interesting that none of the previous versions had any character resembling Terri - who is too awesome. Although I like the basic idea of How to Save the World, so maybe I'll change some stuff and reimagine it for a mini-tv show.

I've also written some scenes that happen "in the background" or "in the past" that may never end up being seen/read because they're not important enough to include or would be difficult to work in if it happened like 10 years ago. But if I want to allude to the scene then I really need to know what happened. For example, thus far I have no intention of including the scenes where Esteban is smuggling Ketlan out of the kingdom right after his parents are murdered because it doesn't really fit in any book - it sort of happens between books. But I've written bits and peices of that set of scenes because I need to know what happened between them and what made Ketlan be willing to change so completely so quickly (he and Esteban hated each other when he was a child, long story as to why).

Then there are the scenes that get cut from a book and never actually happen because you realize that you've gone in a totally different direction then you meant to go and you really need to scrap those scenes and start again. I have at least 30 pages from the original Part 2 of Destiny where Ketlan and Esteban get kidnapped in the Shadow Forest (a nasty and sort of forbidden place) in Liliya, and end up being held prisoner in an abandoned insane asylum where the patients rioted, over threw and killed the staff, then most of each other and now have a weird "kingdom" which is ruled by a meglomaniac. Balthazar, who is following Esteban and Ketlan in order to kill them also gets kidnapped and the next we know Esteban and Balthazar are tied together to a sacrifical altar and Ketlan, who's joined the "Crazae Kingdom" as the King's heir (since Ketlan's a real prince), is wearing blood red robes and is one doing the sacrificing. Of course Ketlan was really pretending and ends up saving Esteban - and Balthazar by default and they all join forces to get out of the forest, then Bal tries to kill them and Est and Ket escape into Illishar. It had some really great characters, was a lot of fun to write, but obviously it was totally not right for the book. Ah well. I think Diana's the only one who's read that version though.

And...um...I really can't think of an image to go with this post so...um...I'll leave you with a picture of an angry pirate muffin.

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 21

21. Do any of your characters have children?

How well do you write them?

Yes, many of my characters do have children, especially considering that a lot of the characters start out as parents - such as Queen Lavinia in the Destiverse and Mary Silverstone in The Gift Bearer. I really enjoy writing about families and to me the story doesn't end when the hero and heroine get married - kids are the natural next step in many ways and are quite a different - and sometimes more difficult -- kind of adventure. Since I love creating characters it makes sense to create offspring for my favorite heros. Most of my villains don't have kids though...maybe I should change that? I really liked how they did the villain as a dad in Despicable Me. Actually thinking about it, some of my villains do have kids - unfortunately they're the ones who really shouldn't have.

I think I gravitate to stories with families in them because of my own very close family, and also because my dad wrote 20-some books following the adventures of a magical family -- from the couple getting together to having children to having the kids grow up, get married, and have their own kids. I was raised with the idea that the story doesn't end with "and they lived happily ever after", so naturally I like to continue the story on. My biggest problem is that if I like the characters and the universe, then I don't want the story to end. That's why I've gravitated to TV Shows.

Some of my favorite character families are Lavinia/Ketlan's family, and the Silverstone family.

Lavinia/Ketlan's Family Tree from Destiny

The Silverstone Family Tree from The Gift Bearer (TV show)

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 20

20. What are your favorite

character interactions to write?

Without a doubt, my favorite interactions are between siblings. Since I have three sibs myself I know how interesting those interactions can be - and there's a wide variety. They can be fighting or arguing, they can bicker or tease, they can be sweet and supportive, or caring and kind, overprotective and/or completely neurotic. The relationship between siblings is very unique. There is no other relationship like it out there. You can have really good friends who are like sisters or brothers, but there is something about growing up together from birth, being from the same enviroment, raised by (hopefully) the same parental figure(s) that bonds you in a way nothing else can. And being blood siblings - or identical twins - adds even more levels to the complexity of the relationship. You can love and hate them at the same time and yet in most cases you will always be there when they need you - if you're lucky to have that kind of closeness with your siblings. Not all sibs are that close of course, but there is a very special dynamic to siblings both in real life and in fiction.

My favorite siblings to write, of course, are the Silverstone sisters from The Gift Bearer because they're so opposite in personality, but so close in their ages and are as close as any siblings can be. There's also something fun about writing an exchange between two sibs who are getting mad at each other and bringing up some event from the distant past just to piss each other off. This is a snipet of dialogue from Episode 11 of the unfilmed original second season:

PERI: We don't bother with reunions cause we've never really been apart for very long.

XAVIER: Doesn't that get annoying after a while?

MINERVA: That's why mom left us a big house.

PERI: Yeah, cause Minerva would suck as a roommate!

MINERVA: I would not! At least I don't leave make-up everywhere!

PERI: You leave chemicals lying around where anyone could drink them!

MINERVA: That's your own fault for being stupid enough to drink a dangerous chemical!

PERI: You were the one who stored it in a milk jug!

MINERVA: Yeah, but it didn't look like milk!

PERI: I thought it was Gatoraid!

MINERVA: Well you were wrong!

PERI: It was in the fridge, what was I supposed to think?!?

ATLANTA: (sarcastic) Oh yeah, the joys of having sisters.

See? Totally fun to write. I also love writing the exchanges between Molly & May (who are twins) and between them and other characters who are often confused by them.

The Silverstone Sisters: Peri, Atlanta, and Minerva

Played by Brittany Ann Whalen, Christine Komiskey, and Morgan Thomas in The Gift Bearer

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 19

19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself

into the spotlight and why

There is no character I've created that started out as a minor character and very quickly shoved himself so far into the spotlight that he's practically taken over the saga. When I wrote the original screenplay of Destiny the character of Esteban was basically a sidekick and a little bit of a mentor to Ketlan. Although he was in several scenes, he didn't talk in them much and faded to the background after the first 10-12 scenes. But Esteban happened to be in almost every scene on the first day of shooting Destiny and after seeing how the actor - the extremely talented Tanino Minneci - portrayed the character, and interacted with other characters, I realized there was so much more to the character then I had thought. I went home that night, watched the footage and took notes, then promptly proceeded to write three more scenes (one of which was 4 pages long) that focused on Esteban and establish not only more of his character, but his backstory with other characters like Ketlan and Esteban.

Since that first day of filming Esteban's character has continued to grow in importance. The second movie, Destiny II, was a prequel to the first and told the story of Esteban's life. The third movie, Destiny III (I'm so unoriginal) had him face off with his nemesis (which he actually stole from Ketlan - Balthazar was Ketlan's big bad guy but he ended up having much more of a feud with Esteban), and in the end the heroes won, but Esteban died. The character is now so complex and amazing that I can't believe he ever started out as a sidekick. I still wonder if Esteban wouldn't have taken over if Tanino hadn't been so freaking talented that I wanted to give the character more to do. But Tanino was, Esteban did, and they're both awesome.

Collage of Esteban, played by Tanino Minneci

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 18

18. Favorite antagonist and why!

The last one was hard, but this one is easy. I have two favorites - one who is pretty much always an antagonist, even when the book is about him, and the other who genuinely believes she's the protagonist...but isn't...mostly.

Balthazar is by far my favorite antagonist. Is anyone surprised? I mean, come on! He's charismatic, he's sexy, he's witty, he's a great fighter, a great lover, has color-changing eyes, and most importantly of all he can totally rock a long black cloak and dashing hat. And he has the world's most amazing hair (the description of his hair is actually based on the hair of the actor who played him in the movies). He's a bad ass who is definately bad. Over the years since I first created him (for Destiny, 15 years ago), he's gotten a lot more three-dimensional. He doesn't kill and fight and antagonize people just for the joy of it (though he does it enjoy it sometimes). He has fears and hopes and dreams just like any one else. He's just willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants in life -- power and wealth. He wants to be respected but doesn't always register the difference between fear and respect so he'll take fear and call it good. In his mind - he's the hero, he's the victim who's had to claw his way to top over and over again and selfish, spoiled simpletons keep getting in his way. Balthazar is ruthless and that's probably the best word to describe him.

He's also kind of insane, although it's not immediately obvious, because he doesn't have issues or subscriptions - he's got a frickin magazine store. His emotional baggage is a twelve piece matched set with gold plated tags. I especailly love writing him antagonizing Esteban and Ketlan (intentionally of course because he hates them), because he can be very witty when he's in control. He hates to lose control of course. When I did the major rewrite of Destiny where I took out all the non-Ketlan scenes and no longer got inside the other characters' heads, Balthazar suddenly because a whole lot smarter. Like evil genius smart. He actually got smarter then me and that's just not allowed. I had trouble writing scenes where he could actually be outwitted.

The other antagonist I love dearly (she's one of my favorite characters of all time) is General Leffridge from Pandora's Box. She's an antagonist only because she opposes the protagonists' interests -- but she's not exactly a villain. She is, but she would never see that. She fights against the main antagonist of the series and therefore one assumes she's with the heroes -- but she's not. She has her own ideas of how the world should week and believes that she should run it. In her mind she is the protagonist -- she is the real hero, the real leader, the real, true, and only person who can save the world. Unfortunately the way she wants to save the world is via a military coup and she's definately more than a little crazy. But at the same time she isn't. Leffridge has so much depth, so much drive and ambition, so much intelligence and charisma that it's hard not to like her. From the beginning of her creation she was a very strong voice for rebellion in a practical way. The views she has and the speeches she gives just make so much sense that I keep finding myself wondering why the rebels didn't join with her. I had to work really hard to bring out her crazy, power hungry bitchy side in order to make people see why she wasn't the protagonist and never really could be.

Another thing I love about her is her confidence and sense of self. She's the highest ranking military officer in the Empire, but she's also very femine. She's definately girly and sees no problem with being a badass bitch while wearing pink lace and silvers sequins. She's like GI Joe and Barbie combined. Her costume is silly looking in a way because it's pink and pretty and gaudy (the actress who played - Annamarie MacLeod - her dubbed her General Cupcake), but when someone sees her screaming in battle, covered in blood it's alarming and scary. She is also short and small, so she's the last person you might expect to be the star general. She uses her femine style and small size as a way to lure people into forgetting how dangerous and deadly she is. Annamarie summed her up in this great description: "She's five feet of cold terror; 110lbs of death!"

One of six drawings I did for a Destiny Calendar I never finished.

Collage of Leffridge, played by Annamarie MacLeod

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 17

17. Favorite protagonist and why!

Oh come on dude, that's way too hard! I love so many of them. I really like Ketlan a lot and he's probably my favorite protagonist, but he's not your typical heroic protagonist even if the general idea of him is to the point of being kind of cliche (long lost prince who everyone thought was dead coming back to claim his throne from his evil uncle). He's not cliche though, definately not.

I also really love the Silverstone Sisters from The Gift Bearer, because they're equal protagonists but they're all so different, there's the mothering/overprotective athlete, the crazy brilliant artsy scientist, and the sweet but shallow and ditzy teenager. Yeah, and they're obviously strange combinations of traits but it works well and they're a lot of fun to play with. And they travel through time just for fun -- how can you not like them?

Some of my favorite characters aren't actually the main focus of the story, however, and although they are definately protagonists in their own right it's not their story so they're not the protagonist. And there are some characters that just can't really be the protagonist because usually you get inside the protagonist's head and these characters just aren't as commanding or powerful when you see inside their minds - they work best as mentors or sidekicks or antogonists even if they're much more than that. Two great examples of this are Brother Robert (aka Brother Bob) from Pandora's Box and Atropos from the Curseiverse. Both characters are dynamic, wonderful, and fun to write - and Bob especially would be the protagonist if the story was about him, but it's not - he's just a recurring character.

So, yeah, I love pretty much all of my protagonists, but Ketlan and the Silverstone Sisters will always have a special place in my heart. And so will Esteban. And Zarc.