Characters have minds
of their own. Ask a writer. Any writer. It’s happened to all of us. We’ve got
this idea in mind, see. Fabulous plot. We know just how to do it. And it’s
already all fleshed out in our minds, so it won’t take long. Ha!
Unfortunately, we didn’t check with the characters first. Seems they’re not ready to talk yet. So guess
what, gentle readers? They aren’t talking. And if they don’t talk, we don’t
write. We sit and stare at a computer screen and ask ourselves why, oh why, did
we ever think this book was ready to be born when it so obviously isn’t?
Conversely, sometimes
the absolute reverse happens. I was
happily working away on a re-write of the third book I ever wrote, one that’s
been sitting in my closet for lo, these twenty years past, unseen by the public
eye. Soon to debut as Black Turkey Walk. Good
plot, good characters, even some good dialogue. Lousy writing. (Hey, I wrote
the first version twenty years ago, people!
We all got to start somewhere.) I was having a good time. It was familiar
territory, visiting with characters already birthed. And very satisfying,
knowing that this time I’d acquired enough skill and experience as a writer to
(please God!) do them and the story justice, certainly not the case in the
first version that’d been sitting in my closet.
Now to properly
appreciate what happened at that point, I have to share something some people already
know, and some don’t. I swore when The Coven, third book in the War-N-Wit,
Inc. series published (free on Amazon 9-15 through 9-17, 2013, by the way), that it was the last War. That I would never do another. That
the characters were done talking to me. Resurrection,
the second book in the series was hard to write but The Coven? I fought for every word.
Oh, they’d cut loose
occasionally and dangle a carrot down on the corner and I’d go after it, and in
the end, they finally caved and told me what happened. My private theory? The Witch just happened, came out of
nowhere. Which is usually the case with my books, I don’t plan any of them. The characters were so much fun, I figured they’d
always be fun. So without having any real conversations with those characters
beforehand, I just blithely announced the second and third book of the series
and the basic plot of each, and assumed they’d be delighted.
Of course, they’d just jump right on the
bandwagon and tell me the story. I took them for granted, something that one
should never do with real (as in
actual physical) family or friends. And like real family and friends who are
taken for granted, these characters were pissed. Not so much so they didn’t eventually bail me
out (again, just like real family and friends do, no matter how upset they are
with you), but they sure took their time about it. I’ve never been as relieved to
type “The End” after any book as I was to type “The End” to The Coven. So I swore “never again” and moved on to other
projects.
Then I saw a picture on
a Facebook post. This one. Two black cats sitting on a rock in the woods.
Readers of the War-N-Wit series know
one of the pivotal (and entirely accidental) characters of the series is a
black cat (well, mostly, he’s a black cat, anyway) named Micah. And that
picture—it just sat there looking at me. Micah and friend? Maybe? So a few
weeks went by and the what if’s
started. What if certain characters from the Wars didn’t want a book but some did? A spin-off. A really—off the
wall, for lack of a better description—spin-off. With maybe guest appearances
from some of the other War characters.
Hmmmmmm. So I started one. Because it
just insisted. A spin-off. A spin-off
to be called MeanStreet, LLC. 
Then a funnier thing
happened. Everybody just jumped up
and started talking. And I realized that certain parts of that spin-off just
wouldn’t be the same unless told in the voice of the “Wit” of War-N-Wit, Inc., Ariel Garrett. And
before I knew it, MeanStreet wasn’t a
spin-off anymore, it was a full-blown War.
Then another Facebook picture appeared. This one. Doesn’t seem like it’d have
much to do with a War-N-Wit, Inc.
book, does it? Well, guess what? You’ll have to read the book to find out why,
but considering the segment I’d just finished when I saw this picture, I
laughed my rear-end off and took it as a sign.
Then just today,
another Facebook picture appeared. This one. The final sign. It'll make sense after you've read the book. Oh, yeah, MeanStreet, LLC had a mind of its own.
It was meant to be. And my fervent oath of “No more Wars,
ever again!” has been changed to another fervent oath. “No more books, ever
again, until the characters tell me they’re
ready!” Live and learn. Will there be more Wars? I honestly don’t know. Depends on the cast. But I’m thinking
now that I’ve learned my lesson, they might decide to visit again. If they do,
I’ll listen. But no more command performances. I’ve promised them, a promise
extended to all characters brewing in my brain.
So for now, back to Black Turkey
Walk. Because its time’s come round to be born. Finally. Now that MeanStreet's finished it's invasion!
War-N-Wit, Inc.
Another wedding day dawns for the ever-growing Garrett-Forrester Coven as Spike and Stacy get ready to say “I do”! Don’t expect weddings bells and white gowns, though. It’s off to the Drive-Thru Tunnel of Love at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Vegas. Again. It’s sort of a family tradition. But what’s supposed to happen in Vegas just refuses to stay in Vegas. And you’re not going to believe this side-trip!
