Once upon a time, I started writing a novel. I had the basic story line, the location, most of the characters, the beginning and three possible endings. It’s a real fun story about a historic art deco building located somewhere in the downtown area of some-city, USA. Then I decided to take a break from the inevitable problems a writer comes across when making the characters interact with each other. Some of my characters are human in nature and living every day on a regular earthly plane of existence. Some of them are “good guys” and others are “villains.” Then there are also groups of other characters that involve ghosts, invisible monsters, grim reapers and such. Getting the different groups to interact and move the plot forward can be a bit tricky. One of my solutions to work out these difficulties came about as I started writing a series of short stories. Other worldly abilities are explored. Personalities develop through motions, dialogue and actions. My favorite character and the focus of many of my stories and tales is a grim reaper. You might remember this picture from Fern’s latest blog post. This is how most people see grim reapers.
Just because they remove people from this earth and their current lives, some people seem to think that they are mean and nasty creatures. The more I wrote about my grim reaper, the more she developed a much more complicated personality. Yes, she is a female reaper named Willow. It turned out that she could be mean and stern when she needed to; however, there are many other aspects to the personality and interactions with both other humans and ghosts. Since she is made up of her skeletal frame wearing big black robes, one of my first problems was to demonstrate that she was a female.
Willow is just one of many grim reapers that work all around the globe. She is not just yanking some poor human out of an earthly life. She helps to guide them to the next stage of existence. What is the next level or stage? It could be many things ranging from a bright white light, to Heaven, to Hell and many other places in between. As I discovered more aspects of my favorite character, I began to see her better within my imagination. At one point I made arrangements for a local artist, Shirl Reccitti, to create some scenes based on some of my plot points and characters. Here is her rendition of Willow.
In viewing Willow, I began to think about the details of her appearance. Just how big is her scythe? Is it better to show her face or keep parts of her in the shadows of her big billowy robes? Sometimes she uses her scythe in a heavy-handed way (when necessary), but the other times she just barely passes the instrument between the almost deceased human and earth. Then the spirit is free and ready to move on. Does the size of the scythe make a difference? If it is too large, does it get in the way? I have also started developing the differences and purposes of all of the character groups. Ghosts have much more latitude, but that will have to wait for a future blog. Also, if grim reapers are supposed to escort the newly deceased, then why are there ghosts? So many questions. So few hours in a day.
Until next time.……
As a publisher, I have the joy of working with amazing creatives in the process of putting together their books. We publish fiction because the world needs a place to escape the harsh realities of life as well as a safe space to explore tough issues.
It has been a while since this RoadBroad took off on an adventure. Recently, my friend, Sharon Gilmore, offered me the opportunity to take a cruise. I’d always wanted to go on one, but my family is not fond of the idea of being out in the open water. So, when Sharon said she could use a cabin mate, I jumped on the opportunity.
The Adventure of the Sea is a Royal Caribbean cruise ship and it is huge. Truthfully, I was amazed at the immensity of it, and how cozy it actually felt. In spite of having 14 decks and an expansive array of shops, food halls, show spaces, and assorted activities, the ship felt homy.
As a writer, I hung out a lot on the smoking deck with a cigar and my computer. I also enjoyed the wonderful food each evening. The chef prepares a thematic menu and on the final evening the kitchen staff come out and perform a dance. Coming back to our cabin was always exciting. You never could tell what towel animal was going to be waiting for you. We found a monkey hanging from a hanger and then there was this fellow lounging on my bed.
My ship stopped at Costa Maya and Cozumel. We enjoyed the beautiful beach, and did some major shopping. We had lunch at a local restaurant and indulged in a margarita at Margaritaville. Needless to say we took photos with locals dressed up for the tourists as indigenous Mayans.
