A Spanner In The Works

It seems that the tone of each one of my blog posts is completely different from the last, and this one is no exception.

So this was originally going to be a post about how I went about creating the ever so endearing character of Anna Felicity Clarke: the main protagonist, however two things arose that threw that post completely off course. The first of which is quite typically writers block: instead of editing like I have been doing these past few months, I set about attempting to write a passage towards the sequel to the first book. The thing is, I knew exactly what I wanted to say, I just couldn't grasp how to put it into words or even begin to narrate it properly. The image is still there in my head, shifting around as if molten, but the action of translating it into readable, understandable words? Impossible.

The second spanner, if you will, is a little more unusual. One of the things I have maintained throughout everything of a fictional nature that I have ever written is that no character is directly based upon a real (living or otherwise) person. Sure, there maybe be similarities in some areas of their natures: odd little personality traits or quirks, or physical features, but no character is a real person, except for within the book. (Which for me merits as being real enough).

Enter Sam. A stranger I practically bumped into, and through an unusual turn of events managed to get to know quite well. And as I got to know him, I realised suddenly how very similar he is (uncannily, in fact) to a familiar character I seem to remember coming across before. Down from the same long blonde hair that flops over his eyes when he's trying to concentrate, past his weathered drummers hands and sarcastic sense of humour (that carefully masks a softer and more compassionate side) to a pair of tatty old converse on his feet. And spookily enough, even his first name is the same as that of Anna Felicity Clarke's best friend, drummer and partner in crime: Samuel Marcus Fitzpatrick. (Just as a side note, I don't always refer to every single character I create by their full names, but for the purpose of the first blog post to mention them, I feel some kind of a formal introduction is necessary).

So there we have it: someone I thought was completely fictional alive before my very eyes. (If he ever reads this, he'll think I'm completely crazy, and I'm really sorry Sam if you do ever find me again!!). It's made writing passages involving the Sam of my story a lot more difficult, because I'm trying so hard not to write about the Sam from my memory and instead about the one from inside my head... But I think it's an interesting twist of realism to know that Anna and Sam could indeed be real people out there, and it makes me feel so much more in touch with the potential reality of the storyline.

Another blog post so quickly over, and the twitter following is ever so close to the promised 200 that will yield Chapter 1 to the Internet. If you're reading this and you're interested, tell people: because I'm so close now, that your share or publicity could indeed be another step closer to having access to the first chapter. (Oh, and I swear that that promised post on character development WILL come, this one just took priority this time!!).

Peace. x