Aiden Grey is looks out for his brothers, warning them of his father's wrath. He's the one they look up to because their father doesn't talk to anyone else but Aiden. Aiden shares the same ability as his father. Telepathy can go along way with Ryan Grey, a man with many secrets. But even Aiden can't get through the thick wall his stoic father had built. For Aiden, he's the only one that can get his foot in the door. Standing beside him as he makes his important decisions and being the one that sees what others can not see is not a privilege. The burden of trying to please a cold father is like defrosting a glacier in the Arctic. But Aiden can please his father by doing one thing. Playing the violin seems to please him even just for a little while. Aiden plays for him, the one thing he knows he can do to perfection, often wondering at the same time what makes his father so sad.
The birth of a character can come from anywhere. The violin from my childhood was the birth of Aiden Grey. I had needed a devise to please Grey in his cold state; remembering his lost love, Violet. The violin had always seemed like a sad instrument to me. It slow wine was something I could relate to as a child. School was always a great stress to me and still is a source of great sadness for me. For Grey I had to reach deep inside and find something to try and console him. I first set my eyes on a violin at school during an introduction to the start of a band and orchestra program. I wanted to play the Violin but to add to my sadness my family had no money for such a thing. So Aiden plays the violin for me and he plays it for Grey, the lost soul in my series.
People I see everyday; acquaintances I meet once in a while; strangers I've spoken to once or never spoken to all all. Working in retail, I come across inspiring people everyday. Some more taxing than others but inspiring none the less. There's a young girl that comes into the book store I work in. She has short blond hair, boyish mannerisms and a strikingly handsome face. When I had first helped her I couldn't stop looking at her. Her attractiveness caught my attention in such a way that every time she comes in to read the comic books and graphic novels I need to see her. That attraction to that particular girl helps me with one particular character in my Sanctuary novels. I've named her Sonny and she has blond hair and a face just like the girl in the book store. The feelings I felt towards the girl in the book store are represented in Sonny. She's drawn towards Violet, my heroine in the Sanctuary novels. My curiosity about the same sex is also expressed through her. It's a wonderful discovery and an interesting journey when real people inspire real emotions that repeat in your writing.
Things you desire and things that are precious to the writer can inspire you to write about someone who would own the piece or come across the particular object. My husband purchased a telescope for me one Christmas. I had wanted one for such a long time because I look to the stars often at night and often wondered about the big picture. That telescope helped me get to know those stars and planets I loved dreaming about. Thanks to my telescope, the moon's details and luminescent presence in particular helped me write a love scene between to lovers. The telescope I have happens to sit in two of my character's bedroom. Red and Dash use them because they are symbolic of their higher power and their great wonder about the universe.
Places can be precious to characters as they are to you. When I was little, my sister and I went camping with my grandma, uncle and aunt to the Catskill Mountains. There was a double lake and forests surrounding it, all on top of a mountain. Those early memories of a beautiful place had influence on my main character Red in my Sanctuary novel series. He created a sanctuary that looks very much like the place I cherished as a little girl. The natural beauty, the smell of the fresh air and sounds of the country carried over to my novel, the setting of my entire Sanctuary series.
The past whether it's history or your own past can inspire not only story plots but characters. When I was little I was chased by a boy my mother babysat. At a young age, I was in love with love and the idea of a boy chasing me was one of the most exciting things I remember at such a young age. My first boyfriend and my second boyfriends (now my husband) created a jealous love triangle. I never would have thought I'd be fought over but secretly loved every moment of it. Love is the running theme in all of my stories. The love triangle from my teen years makes a repetitive appearance in the Sanctuary Novels. One of the main characters, Violet is constantly chased after figuratively and literally.
History in general I love and plays in my many of my stories. Red, my protagonist in the Sanctuary novels was born in the Victorian era; discovered his hybrid abilities in the Great Depression; learned to fine tune his inherited powers during The Great War (WWI) and tracked his first Hybrid during the World War II. A have an outline of a story that takes place in the 80's about a bunch of friends that find a towns legend to be true. Another story outline I have takes place in the Victorian era about a girl who purchased into a secret society.
You always put a little or a lot of yourself in your characters even if their villains, you are part of their make up. Their fear and pain could be your fear and pain. Your hero's obstacles maybe your own. Their personality make up came from somewhere and who better than to know the character than the author. One of my heroes also plays the villain, transforming from one to the other and back again. This expression of transformation is one I relate to considerably. I've been betrayed and have been the betrayer. Unresolved issues that still hurt like open wounds have great weight in my novels. Grey, a main character in Pull, believed that his best friend Red would never hurt him. Red has saved his life and given him a second chance when his past seemed unforgivable, Red was the one who showed mercy; helped lead Grey to a better life. But as the story unfolds, Grey makes Red the enemy out of jealous over a girl they both fall in love with. No longer trusting his best friend Grey converts back to being the man he used to be; becoming the villain in the series.
Sometimes your characters hold all your secrets out like dirty laundry. One character of mine takes pleasure in watching other couples. Another hates that she's a girl and binds her breasts. My heroine has more than one lover. These interesting details often display certain "quirks" or "desires" that the story teller often adds to make these characters interesting. They come from somewhere...more often than not they are aspects of the author herself. Wink*
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