Learning from Alaire

This week, despite how I've been MIA from a while now, I feel like I've been learning a lot from Alaire.  I guess it sounds silly that a writer can learn from her own fictional characters.  However, since I've begun editing --and I've been doing this for a least two weeks now--it seems Alaire and I have grown closer to another.  Being only in the beginning chapters, I find myself wishing I was already at the chapter where he comes into the story.

Now, I know at this point, it's a question of what could I could possibly learn from him.  What kind of experience could we possibly be sharing together?  Honestly, I think a big part of it is the relationship he has with Celestria.  While their friendship is anything but ordinary, it also is what ultimately made Alaire and Celestria both more human than they originally would have been to begin with.  Many writers have been talking about making your novel "real" for agents to recognize.  It may be significant feelings, emotions, and relationships like this that actually do separate the real books from the fake.

The last couple of nights, I've actually been thinking of more dialog between Celestria and Alaire.  Of course, the problem here is that I don't know at this point where it would fit in.  All the same, it may be what actually keeps me on my feet --so to speak--with this book.

Woman: I've seen the way you look at Alaire.  You treat him differently from everyone else... you look at him and laugh with him in a different manner than anyone else.
Celestria *looks over at Alaire*: I think it's because he knows who I am.  He seems to understand events in my life more than I can.
Woman: Does he know how you feel?
Celestria *laughs*: How I feel?  Alaire and I are not in love, despite what you may think.  He is my friend --my closest friend--and if I were to tell him all of my feelings, I think he'd be too careful with what he says to me.  I don't want him to change.

What I've really learned a lot from Alaire this week is that what you say does not always bring you close to someone.  Sometimes it's what you think and never say but hint at and express.... It is that which brings one closer to a person they share so little in common with.
Sometimes I wonder if He watches over people like us, or simply shakes His head and looks away.

"There's a lot that I want." He said. He smirked as he said it like he knew he was pushing my patience.

A main character's best friend

Let's face it, in almost every fictional book the main character has a best friend.  Their best friend is someone they can trust, depend on, tell their secrets to, and ultimately come to in the darkest of times.  Without a close friend, who knows what madness are MC would be involved in --besides the usual, mind you.  Perhaps without this special person, no one would truly have a reason to care about our MC.

For the longest time I worried that Celestria would not have someone like this for her.  After she forced --or convinced; whichever you prefer--Leal to leave, it seemed she would be alone yet again.  In the original draft of the book, she never found one person she stayed with throughout the entire book.  A second time around, though, I discovered Alaire and before Celestria and I knew it he was becoming an important person in her story.

While Alaire and Celestria's relationship is anything from normal, it did evidently grow throughout the book.  Once Alaire saved her, he became someone she knew she owed her life to.

Death had been only a few inches away from me; if it had not been for him… You would have died. I thought.

Their relationship was interesting to have build up as the story continued, but I think this is mainly because of the way the two acted.  Celestria and Alaire do not at first become friends; they develop interests in one another as they continue on in their journey.  Alaire being serious and witty and Celestria being sarcastic and vengeful.  Their views on violence, love, and life itself are very different. Even so, it was not a great mystery to see that they began having feelings for one another.  And what may be the most special about a best friend in a book is that only you --the writer--knows what comes next in their relationship.  Nothing says they have to fall in love --for all we know, they could remain close friends until the very end.

With Celestria, it's never certain who she'll stay with long since she has had so many downfalls in her past.  However, with Alaire there is a spark of something new.  Despite the awkward suggestive moments and comments about/between them, there is a strong bond they form together.  That bond was extremely difficult to work out, believe it or not, because as you may recall Celestria felt that only she and her sister had a bond with one another.  She even pushed herself away from Leal because she felt if they were together they'd fall in love.  The true reason Alaire was more acceptable to stay with Celestria for a longer time was probably because of his personality. 

“Away,” he flashed his smile at me; something I was becoming too familiar with. “Unless, of course, just nearly being killed in the street is your preference.”  

It's safe to say that when one is working on a relationship in their book, they must think of their relationships in real life.  A friendship between fictional characters should take time to develop just as a friendship between two real people.  The more strong the relationship, the closer the characters can be to one another.  Fights, sharing secrets, and listening to each other... it's really not a fictional world when one is able to bring two fictional characters close and keep them that way.

Without asking permission, I reached for the silver chain around his neck. I took his necklace out from under his tunic and stared at it in my palm. A silver cross… 

"There's a lot that I want." He said. He smirked as he said it like he knew he was pushing my patience.

New Life possible excerpt (1)

The first words out of his mouth rang in my head.

“You're not a magician yet.”

It was those words alone that seemed to scar me, no matter where I went, who I met, and what I did. I knew he was right. Who was I, but a mere rich man without any knowledge of right and wrong? He was right; he had always been right, and now at last he was dead. I stood, staring at his body, and I wondered where he went. Comprehending that he would never return was something I could not do. They had killed him. He was dead, I was alive, and all I knew was what was going to happen next would not be any kind of fresh start. As I turned away from his body, I heard footsteps approaching me.

Do it. Kill me. By the end of the night, I know you won't have the courage to. I thought to myself.

**The following is what may be a part of New Life, and therefore that is why this is called a "possible excerpt".  Since the book has not been started yet, it's possible this passage could be altered.**

"There's a lot that I want." He said. He smirked as he said it like he knew he was pushing my patience.

The last chapter --coming soon!

At last I have written the last chapter of Cursed with Power.  As eager as you might be to read it, I have not posted it onto inkpop yet because I'm trying to make sure there's nothing more that needs to be added in.  I also am trying to prepare from the emails I know I'm going to receive from readers because of the ending of this first book in the series.
And while I want to start New Life, there are revisions and etc., etc. that I must focus on before I dive into the sequel.

On a brighter side, now that I've written the ending out for the book I feel somewhat relieved.  For the longest time I felt like I was standing with Celestria, gasping at what could be the ending and what was the ending.  I can finally begin adding in more, but I think the main priority at this point is making sure that everything makes sense.
In April is the Student Learning Conference here in MD, but I have yet to find out if I've been accepted to give a speech there.  A committee picks presenters based on the originality of their project, and while my professor tells me that he thinks I'll be accepted, I do worry and fret over it since I do not have any results to speak of.  Anyways, if I do go to the conference I will of course post about whatever I said there, or maybe someone can video tape me and I can share it with you all.  Can you imagine listening to me ramble on about Cursed with Power for thirty minutes?
Well, it's back to revisions for moi.  I'll keep you updated with everything that goes on.
"There's a lot that I want." He said. He smirked as he said it like he knew he was pushing my patience.

Interview with Leal Irvine

Since the wait for chapter 29 is bound to drive some readers crazy, I thought it might help if I started doing fake interviews with characters from the book.  Mind you that I am trying to keep the character's personality recognizable, despite whatever the nature of the question may be.  Anyways, here we go.

Hello everybody.  Please give a warm welcome to Léal Irvine who is joining us today.

Léal, do you have anything you want to say to your fans?

Well, nobody told me I was going to be talking in front of a crowd today.

*listens to crickets*

Never mind... Turns out I'm talking to myself.

Cursed with Power has at last come to an end.  Are you worried about when the last chapter will be written and posted?

I don't really see any need for me to worry.  It's not like Alaire will jump out of nowhere and ruin the ending or anything.

Are you saying you have a problem with Alaire?

Perhaps... 

Yes, perhaps I do.  If you think about it I have every right to feel this way toward him.  He came into my book without even asking permission, and then he took on my role.

What do you expect will happen at the end of the book?

Whatever happens, it will be great.

Why do you say that?

It is the end of the book.  I'm not expecting for the book to be awful when it is coming to an end.

Léal, what has it been like to go through the book with so many different experiences?  And isn't it true you were not supposed to be in the book to begin with?

First off, everybody knows that this book needed action.  I don't know what you mean when you say I wasn't "supposed" to be in the book, but just between me and you, I think it had been planned out from the start.

Secondly, I cannot begin to explain what I have gone through.  Meeting Celestria was... interesting, to say the least.  When everybody started commenting that they liked me, I was impressed.  You've got to realize how much that bothered Alaire.  Here it is that he's in the book longer than me, yet who do the readers love more?  I do not mean to come off as self-arrogant, but at last Alaire gets the payback he deserves.


Do you expect New Life to be different from Cursed with Power?
It is going to be different, seeing as Celestria doesn't narrate the story anymore --thank God. *winks*


Anything else you want to say before we end this interview?
Umm yeah... Ladies, gentlemen... If you thought Celestria's story was bizarre and eventful, you have no idea what is coming your way.


And that's all for now from Leal, seeing as it would only be repetitive to continue on.  The ending chapter of Cursed with Power has yet to be written, but perhaps soon New Life may begin...

"There's a lot that I want." He said. He smirked as he said it like he knew he was pushing my patience.