Books as marriages & other things . . .


Speaking of Fish . . . who actually hates to be called that . . .

In a lot of ways, Helios has been one of my hardest books to write in a long time. Part of the problem I've had is that its lead character, Andy Fisher, started his life as a minor character in other works. While he's grown exponentially, a lot of his personality remains stuck back in his original incarnations.

One of the interesting - and sometimes frustrating - aspects of writing the novel has been learning how much those original incarnations can handicap you. What I originally saw as assets are now deficits. Funny eccentricities become boring and annoying when we spend a lot of time with someone.

Heh. Where have I heard that before?

One of the values of an editor is to subtly or serendipitously lead you to a new model for the character, a mental image that can help in the necessary imagining of the work. There's no formula to this; that's why real editing is an art.

Why the guru is the guru, I suppose.