The Adoration of Jenna Fox

I got 'The Adoration of Jenna Fox' last night. I read it in three hours, counting bathroom breaks and two cat fights. (My Ari and my dad's immense Griffon are mortal enemies, except when they aren't) I absolutely loved the book. It was well written, well thought out, gripping and yet easy to read and understand. In a way, A of J F reminded me of a book I read way back in my school days called 'Eva' the difference being that in 'Eva' the girl's brain was transplanted into a chimp. I'm forced to say that A of J F was, in my opinion, a much better book.
'Eva' left a great deal to be inferred and came across as far fetched, even though it was supposed to frighten you with the possibilities. A of J F managed the task flawlessly. I'm a funeral director's daughter. Death does not scare me. Living trapped scares me. Loosing my humanity, to a computer, scares me. Living forever, scares me. I'm already wary of all our 'breakthroughs' and medical feats. People scoff if you buy into alien abductions or unicorns and dragons, but go online and pull up a picture of the mouse with a human ear growing on its back and tell me I'm crazy to believe in other worlds. I dare you to look at that picture and then turn around and try to convince me of what isn't going to happen and isn't possible. Anything is possible, even if it shouldn't be. And humans will never stop exploring possibilities. So in short, I LOVED 'The Adoration of Jenna Fox'. I loved how it made me consider, not 'if' but 'How would I feel if it were me?' And 'How will I feel WHEN it happens to someone?'

Halleluiah and Holy Hand Grenades it Worked! And Musings on Characters...

Well THAT was exciting. I managed to both change my profile pic and add one in a post, all without destroying the computer, locking it up, or somehow burning out my internet connection. Pretty good considering my track record. But enough about my technological hang-ups, onward to what I really wanted to post about...

So, you really made me stop and think, Tink (please ignore my inability to avoid rhyming on occasion) when you said that you loved that my character was named Pony. I hadn't given her name much thought. It's a nickname, her real name is Nelian. To me, she just appeared in my head as Pony, herself. All the characters that I've ever come up with have just popped into my head, largely formed, if not entirely defined. Sometimes, I'll actually wake up from a dream with a new character, or story idea. I've never been one to sit and 'brainstorm' not about developing characters or stories. Now, AFTER I've gotten a story idea in my head, I might sit and iron out details, especially when it comes to any sort of magic system, or how various races relate to each other, or timelines. But as far as my main characters, they've all just 'shown up'.

It's like looking in the foggy bathroom mirror after a shower a lot of the time. I can see the character's shape, a rough of who they are, but their details grow, the more I look at them, their personalities begin to define themselves, their little quirks solidify and eventually, there they stand, staring back at me. I leave them on occasion and come back later to see how they've changed, how they've clarified, if they've gained any new scars from their continuously coagulating histories. It's my favorite process of writing, the growth and development of characters, although I think every aspect is enthralling, if also sometimes vexing. But having a new character form before your eyes is like meeting a new friend, or enemie, as the case may be.

How do YOU find your characters? Do you spend hours brainstorming? Or just wake up knowing them? Do they drive you nuts? Or do you know who they are and where they're headed right from the off?

Time to Tempt the Techno Gods...

So, I figured it was time to try something new, and change my picture to one that actually had me in it. Yes, that's me, in the persona of Dandy Leon, Pin-Up Zombie Extraordinaire. Well, you didn't think I was going to put up a serious photo did you? As serious as I am about writing, I'm going to be a complete goof about everything else. The eye that I've been using as my photo belongs to the little pile of furry sweetness pictured above. His name is Ari and he is my son in every way except genetics. Well, going to leave it short for now, I have no idea what this'll even look like when I hit 'Post'. Here goes...