I received this Instagram message on Friday from a reader after I posted the same Devon sunrise pic to Insta that I had posted here in my “God Save the Queen” post:
I replied:
If you too have read any of those three novels, you may also understand why.
If you have not, the main reason is pretty simple…
…They were not “simple” novels to write, took me six years to complete (each one was probably the equivalent of two shorter novels – so those three books were probably more like six), and above all took a lot out of me mentally.
I do not plan them to be, but I would not be too upset if they turned out to be the conclusion of my writing career and I never completed another book.
She came back again later:
She had inadvertently reminded me there that a story idea might be a good one, but it is the characters who make it truly come alive. We tend I believe to focus on characters even more than the story itself. Indeed, how often do we see on social media readers talking about how much they “love” and/or “hate” this character or that one?
Since creating memorable and realistic characters is always one of my major aims, I replied once more thanking her again – and for especially raising the “character development” point.
She answered with this:
As you see I blacked out several “spoilers” in that message. Had I not done so, characters she mentions would have given away the ending of that novel… and indeed of that trilogy series. LOL!
That series is finished, and this is the first time since 2016 that I am starting a novel with entirely new characters amidst a brand new tale. What I am especially trying to do now is to concoct those few characters who will be the most important to the story. I feel if I get those right, they will go a long way to making the book.
Have a good Monday, wherever you are in the world. 🙂
R. J. Nello 