The Oddity of the Inner Life of the Author: Seasonal Settings
The thaumaturgy of a winter setting is the wide-open field of horror and beauty. Winter can kill an unprepared human even in the middle of a city. It can drive, sting, nip, and bite. It can stop, shut down, and destroy. The smallest task becomes almost impossible in the winter. Some days, the only goal is to make it through the day alive or through the unending, slowly dropping, refreezing night. Dangers are hidden under supposed purity. One can crash through a crust to be cut, wounded, or drowned. Things aren’t what they seem. Swift death hides beneath the beauty. A used-to-be-known world slides away below our feet.
The Oddity of the Inner Life of the Author: The Romance of Characters and Character Doppelgangers
My, oh my, what a loud place my brain can be when the voices in my head all want to share their opinions at once. And oh, how much do we strange things called authors love this annoying distraction! There is a special strength it lends me when part of me is wrapped up in my characters just chomping at the bit to move on in their story. It is like having your best friends always at your back no matter what the day holds. It allows me hold a snippet of joy in my soul that, for only a brief time, is mine alone.