Bound by desire...

People ask me how I come up with the characters who populate my novels. I've said before that, once I know they're name, I'm all set. Most of the time, the story just writes itself.

But every once in a while, a character will surprise me and change mid story. Then I know I'm doing more pushing than the character is. For example, I'm working on a short story for EC's Tales from the O-asis series for 2006. The main character is a bit of a rogue, and that's the problem. How do I keep him sympathetic in the reader's view, yet allow him the latitude he needs to be truly the dominant personality he has? I keep trying to take him one way, only to discover, half a page later, that the story's at a dead end. Why? Because the character has stopped talking and I'm trying to force him someplace he doesn't want to go.

Same thing with the heroine. I tried to give her a backstory that would account for her behavior, but she's having none of it. She wants the hero. Period. No hidden agenda, no childhood angst, no conflicts hiding in the wings. She wants him to fall in love with her. And everytime I try to get her to put up more of a protest when he takes her to bed, she turns to me and says, "Why? This is exactly where I want to be!" Ya gotta love women who know their own minds.

I expect to have this story finished by the end of the week...it has no name yet, although I've been toying with "New York Oasis." We'll see.

All right, enough gab. I'm off to get the two of them to finish this story...
Play safe,
Diana