Writing in winter.

I hate winter now.  I used to like it.  I don't anymore.  I can't wanna.

However, it is giving me time to work on the new novel, and attend to other writing matters.  The cold keeps me inside..  warm and cozy, with coffee, my cigarettes and the blank screen staring at me with the ever urgent call to write.

And so I have and shall.

The new book is `jelling' nicely in my head, and when I do stare at the blank screen, the story rolls out.  I find I am pleasantly surprised by the new story emerging; hardly anything like the original opening I had intended.  It's sort of cool the way a character begins to write him or herself onto the page, a personality emerging with every paragraph.

I can tell you now, dear reader, that is what happened with Qualageer in StormWalkers.  Originally, in my intended plans for the book, he was to be more of a sidekick.  However, once we began to set him on paper (that ever daunting blank screen!), he began to write himself.  I like that.  I like that a lot.  Qualageer took on more detail, more flesh and bone, and more importance to Konal the more we wrote.  It just got better and better.  I must confess, he is my favorite character from the book.

Now, its my new characters turn.  As Kevin can tell you, I am a linear writer. I start with a title, then the prologue, then the chapters.  The End.  I began the Prologue, and it has turned everything around in this new tome.

I still hate winter.