I Hear Fake People

Characters talk to me.

Its true.

I know. Trust me, I know I'm a bit crazy, but I think writers need to be a bit crazy so I'm okay with it. They say the first step is admitting your "problem"...what if I don't see it as a problem?

Let me explain.

I'm driven to write because if I don't they will hound me. My main characters that is. They have a story they want told and they use me to do it. It's not like hearing voices...it's more like you start to think about them, A LOT. They pester your thoughts to a point where you can't really concentrate on other things unless whatever you're thinking about, concerning them, gets vented.

What does this mean?

It means I can't NOT write. With the way my head feels right now with what I discovered this morning I'm pretty sure that if you offered me a free night on the town tonight or my favorite Subway sandwich and chips to have with me at my computer, I'd choose the latter. Why? Cause I have to. Cause I love to. Cause I adore these fake people inside my mind so much that it's dreadfully important to tell the world about them; even if that world is the five folks that read my work.

I believe I mentioned back on July 13th that I had this opening line for a book stuck in my head. That it followed me for a week. That after a dream about a sexy werewolf from a book I was reading I realized who the "line" I kept hearing belonged to...how it fit into the Living Dead Girl Series...and that Denika needed some alone time with me. I've now written the Prologue (my first sword fighting scene and I'm quite proud of it) and the first two chapters.

Music makes me see scenes in my head and for the past three days I keep seeing the final scene in the book...before the Epilogue that closes it (yes, its only going to be one book, not a series, that I know of). I'm HAPPY to say I get to write that scene today/tonight. The only problem is that as I've been thinking about it and about my characters I suddenly realized something.......

I'm hearing another fake person's voice.

**sigh**

It's Cash. So...where I thought I was going to embark on my first book from one perspective I realized it will be from two. Much like the final few books in the SWEEP Series by Cate Tiernan OR like Breaking Dawn by you know who...This book will be in sections. It starts with Denika. It will switch to Cash, then back to Denika, to Cash and then end with her...cause ultimately it needs to end with who it began with.

I realized this today when I started seeing Cash's background. Normally I see a secondary character's background in a way that feels, well, secondary. But that was not the case. The music I was listening too brought out a dream that Cash was having from his past......NOT that he was telling my leading lady....that he was having the dream and it was his feelings and perspective and once I realized what was going on there was only one honest reaction; "Damn." So...I am embarking into not only a new type of writing for me (writing from only two perspectives) but also planning to keep the story to one novel vs. a series.

What's funny was that just yesterday when I'd try to see where this story was going it was a vast black hole of nothing specific. Now that I've accepted this new knowledge? The outline of where it's going is filling in like a ice cube tray that finally found the water nozzle. The water/ideas are now flowing without trouble and the puzzle that was this book is now started to take definite shape.

My number one fan and cheerleader, Josh, was bitching that he wanted to read the edited version of Book 2 of LDG...and I said, "I'm really sorry, Atlanta isn't talking as loud as Denika and Cash are right now so I can't force myself to write her. She'll get back to me soon...don't worry. When I hear her, trust me, I'll have no choice but to write her. But for now...Denika and Cash have my undivided attention. I'm even writing on the subway in my head as I listen to music...THAT is how much they have my attention. I can't seem to stop."

So, weekend of writing...here I come! I'm extremely excited to listen to my two new fake people and see where take me.

Have a great weekend!

Love, Tamsin :) xo