The Stolen Meme, part 3

I'm waiting for the workmen to finish for the day so I can do some baking. In the meantime...

4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!

Well, interestingly (depending on your definition of 'interesting'), one of my first characters appeared in one of my newest releases. I mentioned in my last post about the Realms universe, of Almost Human and Mad, Bad & Dangerous, being one of the first universes I worked with. In one of the first stories I wrote about that world, there was a character called Striker.

I set Striker up as a bad guy/third member of a love triangle. He was a bad boy, who had some magical power and was a bit off the rails. He'd had a teenage fling with my heroine, Chalia, then disappeared for a dozen or so years. When he returned he'd changed quite a lot, yet was still interested in the somewhat older but not much wiser Chalia. She, meanwhile, was trying to forge an adult relationship with a bona fide Good Guy, called Tanner. The idea with Striker was that he'd be a distraction, a temptation, a reminder of her youth, but that ultimately she'd realise that a relationship with him would be very bad for her, and choose Tanner.

Only. I got to the end of that book, Chalia shot Striker, got engaged to Tanner, and then...and then...I couldn't quite let Striker go. You see, while I'd planned a Happy Ever After for Chalia and Tanner, Striker had other ideas. He didn't just want Chalia, he genuinely loved her. But he was a psycho. He went from being a bit of a bad boy to a man who went on a homocidal rampage when she turned him down. He wasn't about to give her up. And her reasons for not being with him became less about 'can't' and more about 'shouldn't.'

It was, and still is, the most complex relationship I've ever written. And Striker, while he's undoubtedly a monster, and has become more monstrous with every book he's appeared in, remains one of my favourite people to write about.

Right, the builders have gone for today, so off I go to bake my margarita and pina colada cupcakes!