IWSG--Favorite Character Types

 It feels like August passed quite quickly, probably because it was a very busy month for me. Hopefully with my son back at college and our annual food safety audit over at work, September will be a little more mellow.

 

Anyway, it's time for another blog post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about them on their website and Facebook group. September is the fifteenth anniversary of this group, so congratulations to Alex J. Cavanaugh, the founder of the IWSG, and everyone else who's been involved!

 

Our hosts for this month are Kate Larkindale, SE White, JS Pailly, Olga Godim, and Natalie Aguirre.

 

Here's our question for September: Do you have a favorite character archetype you tend to gravitate toward in your writing?

 

I used the Beatles as models for my four Season Avatars in my fantasy series. Yes, there is a smart one, a cute one, and a quiet one (though I wouldn't say there's a funny one), but the modeling is also about the roles my magicians play in the group. Although two of them tend to be more dominant personality-wise, the other two have their own ways of influencing the group. I suppose the Beatles themselves might be considered archetypes (though as individuals each of them is more complex than an archetype). I'm sure some of my other characters could also be considered archetypes, though I can't think of how to label them at the moment.

 

Do you have a favorite character archetype? If so, feel free to share it in the comments. 

 

 

IWSG: Favorite Character Hangout

Welcome to the April 2025 post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. You can learn more about them on their website or Facebook page.

 

Our hosts this month are Jennifer Lane, L. Diane Wolfe, Jenni Enzor, and Natalie Aguirre. 

 

We have an interesting question for us this month: What fantasy character would you like to fight, go on a quest with, or share a glass of beer/wine with?

 

My favorite characters don't exist in isolation, so I'm going to name groups of characters. To go with a more well-known pair of characters, I'd choose to have tea with Crowley and Aziraphale from Good Omens. It would be fascinating to see their perspective on human history and hopefully learn about forgotten people and events. I'm not interested in fighting anyone, but I'd love to join my quartet of Season Avatars as they deal with Chaos Season (a magical weather storm that mixes up the seasons), or better yet, go with them as they attempt to end Chaos Season permanently in

Summon the Seasons. What better way to get to know your character better than to experience their story with them?

 

Which fantasy character would you like to hang out with? Feel free to share in the comments (or let me know if you blogged about them).

 

 

 

 

Insecure Writer's Support Group: Changing Stories

 

Welcome back to the Insecure Writer's Support Group! You can learn more about them on their website or Facebook page.

Our hosts this month are Joylene Nowell Butler, Louise Barbour, and Tyrean Martinson!

Here's the question for February: Is there a story or book you've written you want to/wish you could go back and change?

I have to admit I'm my own worst critic. While I did the best I could for each book (keeping in mind I self-edit), I'm sure I could find lots of things I'd like to change if I reread my stories, especially the older ones. However, as an indie author, it's probably much easier for me to revise my work if I feel it's necessary. I'm actually in the middle of preparing a paperback version of a story previously published online. I've written several stories in this particular universe and know the characters better now, so I want to revise some sections while keeping the original plot. In particular, I want to provide more backstory in a scene where one of the main characters meets his long-lost siblings. I also want to change some details for consistency with other works in this series. I still haven't decided if I'll revise the online version to match the paper copy.

If you have the option to change one of your published works, would you do it? Why or why not? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Juggling Multiple POVs

I'm close to finishing a story with three different points of view. When I started it, I didn't intend for it to have three different POVs, just one, but the other two became necessary as I wrote. What's interesting is how the POVs ended up interacting with each other. Character A narrates the first seven chapters of the story before Character B relates what happened to him while the two were separated. B's longest stretch is four chapters. Then there's a stretch where A takes over most of the story until Chapter 21, where halfway through the story, Character C enters. C is a secondary character, but they are involved in several significant events that the other two aren't present for. Once all three characters are split up, I make a deliberate effort to rotate narration among all three of them, with each one getting a separate chapter. At the climax, I give each character a short scene in each chapter. Character C's arc will end before A's and B's. I'm just trying to figure out the right emotional pitch for their final scene. 

When juggling multiple viewpoints in a single story, do you try to give all of them equal weight, or do some characters get more scenes than others? What factors into your narration decisions? Feel free to discuss in the comments. In the meantime, I've got to work on my current chapter.

Characters/Scenes Living in Your Head

How much do you think about the characters from your stories? For me, some of them (like the Season Avatars) take up more of my attention than others (like Abigail from my cozy mystery or characters from my short stories). For me, the more I think about certain characters, the more I want to write them. Sometimes it helps me plan scenes so that they actually flow when I can write them down. Other times, it helps me get ideas for events, but it's still a struggle to get the words out. Just some random thoughts at the end of a long work day when it's easier to write about writing than actually writing.

Ineffable Husbands and Reincarnating Wives

I liked reading the book Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman when it first came out, and I enjoyed watching the adaptation of the book (Season One of Good Omens) on Amazon Prime. However, I didn't expect to be so enthralled by Season Two, which was released at the end of July. Then again, who can resist the perfect marriage of demonic love and angelic cruelty in that final episode? I haven't fallen for a fandom like this since the Beatles Anthology aired in November 1995 and I had "Free as a Bird" stuck in my head constantly. I binged Season Two of Good Omens in three days (which is quite fast for me, but it helps that I can now stream shows on my tablet while I'm cooking or washing dishes) and just finished watching Season One before starting Season Two again. I can't get Aziraphale and Crowley, the Ineffable Husbands, out of my head. I think part of that has to do with how much they remind me of two of my own characters, Lady Gwendolyn lo Havil and Jenna Dorshay, the Spring and Summer Avatars in my fantasy Season Avatars series. (Of course, my writing ability is only a fraction of what Pratchett and Gaiman brought to the table! Credit also belongs to Michael Sheen and David Tennant for portraying these characters and their relationship so brilliantly.)

Like the angel and demon, Gwen and Jenna are opposites who get on each other's nerves but know they can rely on each other. Gwen is a cool intellectual noblewoman, and Jenna is a passionate farmer's daughter. Both of them have magic granted to them by the deities they serve: Gwen gets healing magic from the Goddess of Spring, and Jenna is blessed with plant magic by the God of Summer. Like Aziraphale, Gwen is driven by duty, while Jenna shares Crowley's enjoyment of pleasure. Gwen and Jenna aren't immortal, but they are reincarnated over and over with their magic and memories intact. In previous lives, they were male and female (switching gender between them) and married to each other. However, after Jenna was responsible for a tragedy in their previous life (see Chaos Season), they both came back as women. Although their culture has Victorian-era technology, their country has a more liberal attitude towards homosexuality. Women can have relationships with each other, but those who do so serve the Goddess of Fall, not Spring or Summer. It would be scandalous for Gwen and Jenna to act like Fallswomen when they serve Spring and Summer. I don't want to say too much about the current state of their relationship, but it's obvious by the end of Summon the Seasons, the final book in the Season Avatars series, that they're not getting back together in the near future.

Something that is different between the two couples is that Gwen and Jenna are embedded in other relationships that affect their own. Unlike with Aziraphale and Crowley, Gwen and Jenna work with other Season Avatars who understand their situation. In fact, Ysabel and Kay, the other half of their quartet, often moderate when Gwen and Jenna fight with each other. Gwen and Jenna also have responsibilities toward others that keep them from acting on their relationship. Gwen is an only child, so she has a duty to create and raise heirs to manage the family estate. Jenna was married, widowed, and left with a young child before she even met Gwen in Scattered Seasons. The pair have several things they need to resolve before they can get back together as a couple. I do know where I want them to end up, but I haven't charted out the path of how they get there. Part of the fun of writing for me is discovering that path.

As for Aziraphale and Crowley, I have some ideas about what might happen to them in Season 3, but it'll take a 100-Lazarii miracle to give them a happy ending. I hope Neil Gaiman can give it to them!

Have you ever encountered a very popular character or characters who reminded you of one of your own characters? Did you change anything about your character as a result? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. 

Can You Have Too Many Villians (and How Powerful Should They Be)?: Some Thoughts on Ms. Marvel

I don't have a lot of time for TV, so it took me a while to finish watching Ms. Marvel. Be warned; spoilers abound!

 

 

My feelings about the show are mixed. I liked the parts where Kamala interacted with her family and friends more than I liked the main story arc. I felt like the writers crammed too much into the short season. In particular, the two main villain groups (The Clandestines and the Department of Damage Control) felt like they weren't developed enough. In particular, the Clandestines went from being potential allies to enemies very quickly and without sufficient justification. The DODC's response to Kamala developing her powers was stereotypical and caused far more damage than it controlled. Perhaps they could have been saved for a second season of the show.

If the villain groups had a purpose in this show, it was (again, IMO) to bring enough firepower to the conflicts to challenge a superhero. We saw the DODC provide that in the finale. However, there was another villain in that show who had more potential. I'm referring to Kamran, who obtains Clandestine power from his mother. He has a backstory and a relationship with Kamala, which made their confrontation in the final episode emotionally charged and equally matched.

While villains should be powerful enough to make the protagonists struggle, there needs to be an emotional connection between the characters to make their story resonate. Otherwise, no matter how powerful an enemy is, dealing with them feels like cannon fodder. I'm currently drafting a story for The Season Between where Kay must deal with a heretic who doesn't have magic but is disruptive in other ways. The heretic has an unexpected connection to Kay that she has to confront. She can overwhelm him with magic, but ultimately she will have to find a different way to deal with this problem.

Would you rather have a story with lots of undeveloped villains or one evenly matched with the hero? Does story genre make a difference? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Death of a Character

In 2019, I started playing a mobile game based on a major franchise (which I won't name to avoid spoilers). A few months after I started playing, I learned through a Facebook group devoted to the game that one of the characters would die at a certain point. (The group allows spoilers, and many players experienced the character death at the same time since it had just been added as part of a new chapter. I was nowhere near that chapter at the time.) Since then, I've tried not to progress through the game too quickly. I know of some players who have stayed at that chapter for a long time, refusing to play the final scene. However, I have kept on moving through the game, and now I'm very close to the point where the character dies. I like this particular character a lot and don't want to lose her, but I don't want to be stuck at this point either. I'm not sure yet if I will rush through this point to get it over with or keep stalling for a while.

Character deaths are an important part of fiction. They may be used to motivate other characters to react (especially in murder mysteries), as punishment or a redemptive act, as a sacrifice, or as the climax of the story. The one thing they have to do is evoke emotion. The game designers have made this character close to main character, but the sacrificed character doesn't appear in the story as much as you might expect. I think the game designers may have blunted the impact of this character's death more than intended. Of course, with everything else going on in the world, a fictional character's death is trivial. On the other hand, fiction can help us make sense of reality--or escape it for a while.

I've had at least one character die in each of my series. The hardest one to write occurred in Twinned Universes. I've killed off major and minor characters, ones I've liked and ones that I was glad to let die. It's definitely easier to kill characters in mysteries than in other genres, especially since the victims are "designed to die." Most deaths happen "on stage," though some are revealed to the reader afterwards.

How do you feel about reading/writing character deaths? Have you ever had a spoiler change how you feel about a story (or whether you finish it)? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Ysabel, Avatar of Fall

Since Monday was the first day of fall, I thought it a good time to profile the character of mine who's linked to the season: Ysabel S'Ivena Lathatilltin, the Avatar of Fall. She's the protagonist of Fifth Season, Book Four of my Season Avatars series.

Ysabel is the daughter of a Challen musician (who used to be a Fallswoman, dedicated to the Challen Goddess of Fall) and a Selathen merchant. Like all Season Avatars, she was born on the first day of fall (in Challen, only Season Avatars are ever born on the first day of a season), but her birthdate was falsified in the official records. The country of Selath was devastated by magic eight hundred years ago (during the time of Seasons' Beginnings) forcing Selathens to flee their country. They still hate magic, which was why Ysabel's mother had to hide her daughter's identity. Ysabel hopes that over time, she will be able to reconcile her people to magic.

As the Avatar of Fall, Ysabel has animal magic. She can bond with all native Challen animals, heal them, and command them to some extent (depending on the type of animal). She has an anilink, an intelligent magical animal companion with whom she can communicate telepathically. Her anilink senses when magical weather storms occur anywhere in Challen so Ysabel and her sister Season Avatars can set the land to rights.

Like her mother, Ysabel has musical talent and plays the piano very well. She's also the most maternally inclined of the Season Avatars, having helped look after her younger siblings. If anything, Ysabel's greatest fault is being too kind. She hates having to euthanize badly injured animals or allowing one to die to feed another. She can also be too trusting of people. To see how she handles the challenges of animals who don't heed her or relatives who are jealous of her, read her story. However, since her book is fourth in the series, I recommend reading the prequel Season's Beginnings, which also provides more details about her long relationship with Kron. The next two books in the series are Scattered Seasons and Chaos Season.

Is there anything else you'd like to know about Ysabel? Feel free to ask in the comments.

IWSG: Writing Surprises

It's hard to believe we're in the last full month of summer, isn't it? Welcome to the sweltering month of August. Rather than think about the heat, let's talk about writing and the Insecure Writer's Support Group. You can learn more about them on their website and Facebook page.
This month, our hosts are Renee Scattergood, Sadira Stone, Jacqui Murray, Tamara Narayan, and LG Keltner.

Here's our question for this month: Has your writing ever taken you by surprise? For example, a positive and belated response to a submission you'd forgotten about or an ending you never saw coming?

My characters tend to take me by surprise by going off in directions I hadn't foreseen. For example, in both my Catalyst Chronicles and Season Avatars series, I have secondary characters that I paired up with someone else but then fall in love with the main character. That gets very awkward, especially when the main character doesn't reciprocate. I know how to work it out in both series. In the case of the Catalyst Chronicles series, I've been blocked on a story that comes between Twinned Universes and the next book in the series, which I plan to call Catalyst in the Crucible. At least Catalyst in the Crucible will resolve the romance aspect for some of the characters. (Still not sure if some of the characters will get a match--or if they need one.) You'll have to read the entire Season Avatars series to find out what happens to my characters, but I have further adventures planned for them in the spinoff series.

Have your characters surprised you? Feel free to reply in the comments.

IWSG: Getting Personal with My Characters

It's hard to believe 2019 is halfway over, isn't it? Normally I post in early July about the books I've read so far for the year, but I'll wait until next week for that discussion. I should have some other writing news later this month. For now, it's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post. You can learn more about the group on their website and Facebook page.

Our hosts this month are Erika Beebe, Natalie Aguirre, Jennifer Lane, M.J. Fifield, Lisa Buie-Collard, and Ellen at the Cynical Sailor.

This month, we've been asked the following question: What personal traits have you written into your characters?

I believe that I put a bit of myself into all of my characters, but I admit some characters feel more like me than others. Joanna from Lyon's Legacy shares my love of science and sense of humor. Gwen from the Season Avatars series (in particular, Scattered Seasons) is also a rather practical and intelligent woman.

Which of your characters is most like you, and in what ways? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

LBGTQIA Characters in My Writing

As an author, I believe a diverse group of characters, if written with empathy and knowledge, can enrich a story. Diverse characters bring different perspectives, goals, and values to the story, leading to conflict and/or collaboration. That said, it's important when writing someone who's different from you to treat them as a three-dimensional human being, not a stereotype or a trope to serve the main characters. Writing the Other is a lifelong project. I've learned a lot about creating characters with a different gender or sexual orientation than mine.

In both of my main series (Catalyst Chronicles and The Season Avatars) there are secondary characters whom I originally envisioned as straight (even giving them partners) but later revealed to me that they have crushes on the same-sex main character. (I don't want to name them in case of spoilers, but one character has lesbian moms and the other a gay son. Refer to Twinned Universes and Chaos Season.) I have a couple of different ways to give the bisexual characters a Happily Ever After; I just have to get the stories written.

The religion of Challen in The Season Avatars gives me plenty of opportunities to explore gender. The people of Challen reincarnate after each life, and they often switch genders between lives. (The exception is the Fall Avatar, who is always female.) Most Challens don't remember their past lives, but they have a slightly higher chance of not being heterosexual or cisgender than people from other countries in their world. Fortunately, the Four Gods and Goddesses of Challen provide a socially acceptable alternative to traditional marriage. People who don't want to marry someone of the opposite sex and raise a family can pledge themselves to either the God of Summer or the Goddess of Fall. (My short story "Rob's Choice" is about a pledging.) These people are commonly known as Summersmen or Fallswomen. Some of them may devote themselves to a business or creative calling, but many of them become layservants for the Four. They may be healers, archivists, assistants to the Season Avatars, or other types of respectable roles. I expect to include more of these characters in the still-unnamed spinoff series.

I have future stories planned that include genderfluid and transgender characters. These types of characters require more research on my part to portray them accurately and compassionately, even though they're not in our world.

I plan to finish off Pride Month by highlighting some LBGTQIA authors I know. Come back next week for some good recommendations!

IWSG: Names and Titles

Welcome to the June 2018 post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, a group to support fellow writers. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. Our hosts this month are Beverly Stowe McClure, Tyrean Martinson, and Ellen Jacobson.

Our question for this month is What's harder for you to come up with, book titles or character names?

I would say book titles are more difficult for me because I change them more often than I do character names. For example, Twinned Universes was originally called To Thine Own Self Be True, then Across Two Universes (which I decided was too similar to Across the Universe, which was used for a YA SF title before I published my book) before I settled on the final title. Lyon's Legacy was originally titled Move Over Ms. L.,which was the title of a John Lennon song I quoted in an early draft. I ended up writing my own song lyrics instead to avoid legal issues. Short stories can go through several name changes as my understanding of the story evolves during writing and revising.

I generally don't change character names so often because they are core to the character. It does happen, however. In the Catalyst Chronicles series, Paul's full name was originally Paul Richard Lennon Harrison, a reference to the four Beatles. Currently it's just Paul Lyon Harrison. Sometimes I change character names if I decide to change their background. Julia is a secondary character in the Catalyst Chronicles series. I don't remember what her original surname was, but when I realized she was half-Navajo, her last name became Kee. Finally, in my current work in progress, I changed the name of a dryad prince when I realized I'd been naming the other dryads with adjective-noun combinations (Redbark, Longleaf) instead of more traditional human names. Now I just realized another character doesn't follow this naming convention. Back to brainstorming!

How often do you change names or titles? Feel free to share examples in the comments.

Thanos' Motives and Actions (Infinity War Spoilers)

 I'm very much a newcomer to the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), so I've only seen two of the previous movies (the first Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther) and a highlight video before watching Infinity War on Sunday. While I have enough background to follow the story, I'm sure there are a lot of nuances I missed. In particular, since this movie focused on Thanos, I feel like I need to learn more about his motivations to understand some of the actions he took (or didn't take).

For starters, it seemed to me that once Thanos obtained the Reality Stone, he could have eliminated his opponents anytime he liked. If he could turn their weapons into bubble guns, there are definitely plenty of other ways he could have made his path to the rest of the stones much smoother. Maybe I don't know enough about the stones' power to understand what, if any, limits they have. It does seem to me that their power increases exponentially as you acquire more of them.

Another question I have about Thanos' actions was inspired by a discussion I saw on someone else's Facebook feed. If Thanos wants to kill off half of the universe's population so everyone else has enough resources, why not double the amount of resources instead? Or why not set a cap on the sentient population of the universe to be below the total carrying capacity? There are plenty of other, more compassionate ways you can solve this problem without causing such a massive amount of genocide--though then you wouldn't have a cinematic-worthy conflict. I think I heard a line in the movie about a similar mass murder on Titan, so perhaps Thanos is just repeating something from his personal experience.

For me, part of the reason I'm obsessed with analyzing Thanos is because he's such a powerful antagonist. As a writer, it's important for me to develop the villain's motivations and actions as much as the hero's. The line between hero and villain can be very narrow at times. Just as the hero gets funneled down a particular pathway during the course of a story, the same must happen to a villain. Sometimes the only difference between a hero and a villain is what the character learns over the course of a story and how that influences her final choice.

If you saw the movie, what did you think about it? Did you feel Thanos made a good villain? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Juggling Characters from Different Series

Although I've finished the Season Avatars series, the characters still call to me with other stories. I've planned for this with a spin-off series that I would start in 2019 or so, after I have a chance to outline the overall arc for the series and individual books in the series. Then I saw submission guidelines for a themed anthology that fits with some elements from the Season Avatars series, and the next thing I know, I'm working on a short story. Even if the story isn't chosen for the anthology, it'll help me establish characters and situations for the spin-off Selathen Avatars series, and I can also self-publish it. However, even though the story seems to be coming together relatively easily, it's taking writing time away from my current novel, Dryads to Discover. I would also like to return to "The Unnumbered World," a short story set in the Catalyst Chronicles universe and featuring Julia Kee as the protagonist. Finally, there's a fourth project, a middle-grade novel called Welcome to Costume City, that I started earlier this year and abandoned partway through the project.

While in one sense juggling these four projects may seem like a matter of setting priorities and time  management, there's also the added factor of what appeals to me. I find (not surprisingly) that it's easier to write characters I'm already familiar with than to develop new ones. However, if I always push new characters aside to spend time with my favorites, they'll never get developed. It seems like my best options are either to work on two projects at once (which is probably better in terms of keeping both stories fresh in my brain) or else speed up my projects so I can get through them faster. I imagine juggling stories and characters only gets harder as you write more stories. Hopefully at some point I'll have enough free time to write them all.

Exciting Escapade in Elgin

I wasn't able to get this post uploaded for Monday since we were traveling. Hopefully no one minds I'm posting a day later than I normally do.

My husband has been interested in escape rooms since they first became popular. For his birthday this year, I not only gave him a Kickstarter tabletop escape room game but also booked an experience at Escapade 360 in Elgin, IL. We played it last week. 

When I reserved the room, there was only one scenario available—a Sherlock Holmes-themed one. When we arrived, the couple who run Escapade 360 told us there were so many puzzles in that room it would be difficult for a couple to complete them all in the hour. Luckily, they had a second room available that might be a better match for us. It’s set in Leonardo da Vinci’s studio, and you have to find his hidden masterpiece before thieves come to steal it. We had the opportunity to switch, so we did.

I’m not going to give out spoilers for the room. I will say it was smaller than I expected, so it would feel crowded with a full group of eight people. The doors aren’t locked due to regulations, but there’s no time to leave either. There’s a monitor in the room where you can track your remaining time and get occasional hints. We probably got more hints than you normally would, but given it was our first time and it was late in the evening, I didn’t mind. It was still an intellectually stimulating experience. There were a variety of different puzzles to solve, and some of the ways to interact with the items were surprising. Ultimately, we managed to escape with eight minutes left. The owners were super-friendly and helpful. After we finished, we discussed specific aspects of the room before getting our picture taken.

As a writer, I find the escape room concept fascinating. You start anew with the same goal, setting, and obstacles each time, but the outcome depends on the teamwork of the characters. Eugene and I have known each other for 27 years. We have respect for each other’s abilities and are used to working together as a team. There was one point in the hour where we had different ideas on what to do with a particular object in the room. Thanks to a hint, we resolved that quickly and without fuss. If we’d been with other people, I’m sure the dynamic would have been different--and not in a helpful way. With bigger groups who don’t know each other well, I can imagine much more time is wasted on arguments or persuasion. Still, I’d like to go back with a few more friends and tackle the Sherlock room. The game’s afoot!

The Women's March and Crowd/Protest Scenes

Authors are advised to avoid discussing politics on social media so as not to alienate readers. Of course, my thoughts on gender roles and diversity are reflected in what I write, so my intended audience will probably share my views anyway. I participated in the Women's March on Chicago, and as I write this on Sunday morning, my head is still full of my experiences, the images, and the discussions still taking place. So I thought I'd look at them from a writer's perspective, say perhaps preparing to write a crowd or protest scene, and try to keep this post as politically neutral as I can.

First, take a look at your viewpoint character. (I'll switch pronouns during this post to refer to all types of characters.) Why is she planning to attend? Is this a cause the character is already committed to, one that he's ambivalent about, or maybe one she secretly wants to sabotage? Do they have support from their friends and family, or are they the odd ones out in their group? What kind of prep work does he do before hand? Does he create his own posters or copy from others? Does she pick clothes and accessories to make a statement? Do they plan for the worst? Does he pack light or bring extra supplies? Does she have to make special travel arrangements? Do they have to arrange to take time off of work or have someone else look after a dependent? All of these things reflect on the character and may affect their goals.

Next, consider the setting and the other people present. Weather may affect attendance; I'm sure the good weather on Saturday inspired more people to spontaneously join the march in Chicago. Is the location easy to get to? How much do the crowds affect movement? Is the entire group able to hear what's going on? Often, if the crowd is too big or the speaker system is inadequate, the entire group won't be in touch with the leader. People farther back will have to rely on rumors. How do people in the crowd behave? Are they polite to each other, or do they push and order each other around? How many of them share common symbols? Do they all have the same agenda, or are there special concerns within subgroups? Do local sections of the crowd distract attention from the main speaker? How do the authorities feel about this crowd? Does the crowd behave, or do they go wild? Writers may want them to go crazy to amp up the conflict. Of course, in real life, a peaceful protest will be more effective.

Finally, how does the crowd or protest scene change the character? Introverts and extroverts respond to crowd energy in different ways. An extrovert may make lots of connections at this kind of event, while an introvert may feel drained afterwards. Does the protest give the character new goals or change his previous ones? Finally, if the protest went awry, what happened to the character? Were they hurt or arrested? Was he soured on the cause, or did she become even more committed to it?

How do you feel about crowds and crowd scenes? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Five Questions for Ysabel from Fifth Season

Today the eBook version of Fifth Season officially goes live. To celebrate, I thought it would be fun to conduct an interview with Ysabel, the main character. Picture her in a parlor decorated in red, with colorful leaves and nuts in vases. She sits in front of a lit fireplace and drinks mulled cider. Her cat, Pouncer, curls contentedly next to her while rain pounds the windows.

1. You're the first Season Avatar to have both Challen (native) and Selathen (foreign) ancestry. Do you think this is significant?

Ysabel--The Four Gods and Goddesses of Challen make sure all souls are reborn into suitable lives, but They take special care with Their Avatars. In fact, the Goddess of Fall asked my mother to marry a Selathen man. My mother has been teaching Selathen women about The Four, but I've also learned how to speak Selathen and how to behave around Selathen men. I'm sure at some point in my career I'll need those skills.

2 If you weren't a Season Avatar, what would you do with your life?

Ysabel--Oh, I definitely want to have at least four children, but I'd still like to work with animals. Maybe I would breed or train horses. (I'd add dogs, but since my anilink is a cat, I don't think that would be a good idea.)


3. The Goddess of Fall doesn't like men, but you want to have lots of children someday. Has there ever been a conflict between your duty and your desire? If so, how did you handle it?

Ysabel--Fall would probably want all of Her Avatars to pledge themselves as Fallswomen, women who choose not to marry for whatever reason they choose. She does allow us to marry, but I'd never marry someone who didn't like animals. (lowers voice) What I'd really like is to spend one life as a man, just to compare. All of the other Avatars switch between male and female, but Fall won't let us be men. Maybe someday She'll forgive men for whatever crime they committed....

4. Does it ever get confusing remembering other lives?

Ysabel (smiles)--All the time! Sometimes I think I visited a place in my current life when it was really in a previous one. I'm always reincarnated alongside Gwen, Jenna, and Kay, but sometimes I think I must have known other people in previous lives. And I always have to refer to history or fashion to remember which life occurred when. But the good thing about remembering other lives is that I don't have to start over learning about animals. Memories of animals are clearer than personal memories. In every life, I always learn something new.

5. What's your favorite animal and why?

Ysabel--By the Four, how can you pick just one? Cats are graceful, birds are beautiful, and even fish can be fascinating. I guess I'll have to pick my anilink, Pouncer. (rubs him behind the ears) Pouncer and I can mentally communicate with each other, even if we're not touching. He can sense when Chaos Season happens anywhere in Challen....(Pouncer bolts for the door, fur raised along his spine.) Oh no, another Chaos Season! I must go! (dashes off)


Er, thank you, Ysabel, and good luck taming Chaos Season! Don't forget to read her story in Fifth Season. If you haven't caught up with the Season Avatars yet, you can do so by reading Seasons' Beginnings, Scattered Seasons, and Chaos Season first.

Series Evolution

Last week, I read Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, the latest book in Lois McMaster Bujold's long-running Vorkosigan Saga. The series started thirty years ago and includes not just novels, but novellas and short stories. Most of the works revolve around the Vorkosigan family, in particular, Miles Vorkosigan. I wasn't sure at first I would like this series, since I don't read much military science fiction. However, Bujold not only mixes in a lot of humor, but she also incorporates other genres such as mystery and even romance. Although many of the stories feature Miles, other relatives (and even people with no link to him) are also point-of-view characters and even protagonists.

The characters in this series are neither ageless or changeless. The series starts long before Miles is even born, and in the latest book, he is in his mid-forties. The type of story he stars in has also evolved with the series. Some of his early stories were fast-paced and madcap, but various events have forced him to slow down. While I do miss the plots of the earlier works, it does make sense for his career to have changed over time. (I suppose I could always reread the series, but it's not the same when you already know what will happen.)

The latest book in the series is an autumnal romance, featuring Miles' mother as one of the protagonists. Some fans feel that Bujold has retconned a major character in this book, while others (myself included) feel that nothing happens plot-wise. (There are setups for conflict, but they fizzle out, IMO.) I have no idea if she intends this to be the last book. I think it does make sense for the themes and even the style to evolve as the series progresses. The difficult part is exploring new directions while giving fans what they want in these books. If Bujold does write more books in this world, I'd like to see her use POV characters from the latest generation. However, thirty years is a long time to work in a world, and if she has no more she wants to say about it, we have to respect that.

Speaking of series, I'm planning on releasing Chaos Season, Book Three of the Season Avatars series, this June. I'm targeting the summer solstice, since that is my main character's birthday, but of course I first have to finish revising the story before I focus on cover art, formatting, and all the publishing details.

What's the longest series you've read? Do you think it was uniformly good from start to finish? If so, why not?

Which Heroes and Heroines Make the Best Role Models?

I'm currently reading How to Be a Heroine: Or, What I've Learned From Reading Too Much, by Samantha Ellis. The author takes us on a literary tour through her life on the books she read during different times, how the various heroines influenced her, and how well they stand up to rereads and analysis. Although I haven't read all the books she discusses, it's still interesting to read.

Ellis used different literary heroines as her role models at different stages in her life. For me, I don't think I've ever done that to the conscious extent she did. Heidi was probably the closest I came to a literary role model in middle school and early high school. At this point, I'm not sure what drew me to her; perhaps it was her innocence and simple happiness. She may have helped influence my interest in religion at that point in my life. Other heroines I read about fairly extensively include Dorothy from the Oz series and Nancy Drew. There have been other books and series I've enjoyed a lot, such as Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar series, but perhaps I've read so many different books that each one has a small effect on me. It might be more accurate to say that like Walt Whitman, "I am large, I contain multitudes." It's a rare book that can stand out above that crowd.

Are there any heroes or heroines who were role models for you? If so, who are they, and what drew you to them?