Revelations by Request, Part One

WARNING... TOTALLY FULL OF SPOILERS.

I've gotten requests from Seers readers who are curious about the process of writing characters into being. One particular reader wondered about the dynamic of William and Lily's relationship and how it came to be. This is a big discussion factor with my novel. And that said, tonight's post will involve some Seers of Light back secrets.

I'm assuming you've read the book, as you are reading on... and recall the above about spoilers? I'm dead serious here. So, William. He was a complicated scenario, not just for his soul-mate but for his author, as well. I have to tell you a big old secret about our Seers couple... William was not intended for Lily.

Christian was.

That's right. Your author had created Mr. Wright for Lily. He was supposed to be her love interest. But that did not go over as planned! Instead, this wild card character of William came in and started mucking up the works. I didn't know what his role was, I wasn't certain of his relationship to Lily--perhaps part of me entertained the idea of a possible coupling there, but I was wholly reluctant at first. Mainly, this was because, just like Lily, I didn't know him.

When I say that I went into the writing of this book with very little planned out, I mean it. I knew that I wanted a tale involving paranormal aspects and gifts. I love ghost stories, psychological horror, hauntings, etc. But I wasn't certain of the world that would reveal itself to me as I wrote. There was no way I could have imagined everyone and everything ahead of time, person for person, detail for detail. What would be the fun in that, anyway? Think of the Sentients. I wanted to meet them all, too, after all! I wanted to experience Lily's life. And so, I didn't put restrictions or pre-conceived motivations into the story. And what ended up happening was, Abram and Clara and Anna and Christian would all explain things to Lily (and in turn me) and then, if later I realized that I had missed their point entirely or had left some fact in that was too manipulated and didn't fit into the truth of the story, I would go back and fix it, make it right according to what I'd learned to be true.

This was kind of what happened with William. You see, I'd written this kissing scene early on. You recall the scene that begins with glowing, blue vials? I had written some version of it in the very beginning of the journey. And at this point, I wasn't anywhere near sold on Mr. Maddox. I didn't really know squat about him other than the fact that he was a vampire. Frankly... I didn't trust him. But I was open minded, and wanted to feel out that kiss! And you know what?

It wasn't right at all.

How could it be? I was manipulating things. What I needed to do was sit back and watch it all unravel.

So, Abram decided that Lily needed defensive lessons. And when I realized who he would choose to be her instructor, well, let's just say that it started making more sense. Those training scenes were the clincher. William was rapidly winning me over. He had me somewhere, roughly, near "Been there. Didn't care for the company."

The progression of the training scenes solidified William's purpose for Lily, just as they did his character. William's snarky, smart-assed whit combined with his patience hammered away at my reluctance but good.

Christian just wasn't the guy for my protagonist. NO WAY, no how. Not to say that he isn't the guy for someone, (*cough book two cough*), but not for her.

Let me establish how important it was for me to write a strong female character who was also feminine. I have no issue with whip wielding, gun toting, tough as nails types. But Lily could have been any woman, really. And I wanted it that way. She had her insecurities and her prejudices, she was cowardly sometimes, brazen others. She was imperfect, but she was good... and more importantly, she was ever learning. And she needed a William to let her do just that.
So, William taught me to let go of the reigns and have fun, because you never know where that horse will lead you. Maybe a wheat field on a hot summer day... *smirk*

I'll leave you with a reminder of the Seers Forum: http://seersoflight.com/user/Discussions.aspx, which is now open and active for discussion. Hope to see you there!