Let’s Write a Story

I’ve had some people ask me about the different kinds of scenes that can be submitted for Blogfest. Now, this may sound crazy, but—any good old scene where one, or both, of your characters realizes “Wow, I love this person” will do.

I like to see where my characters take the scene. Initially, I may have some sort of rough draft or outline about what’s going to happen, but the characters are the ones that get the final say. If they end up taking the story somewhere else entirely…so be it. They know what they want more than I do (consciously, anyway).

13 days until the Love at First Sight Blogfest and I’m still shuffling  different ideas around in my head. There are so many potential characters that are battling for my attention, and even more that keep popping up to say “how’d’ya do?”. So how’s a girl to chose one scene to post?

There are ways to form the barebones of a story. The Story Architect by Victoria Lynn Schmidt is a great place to start. In her book, she lists 56 “classic” story themes that are used in every genre of fiction. If you want to take a look inside, you may view a bit of it here. While I love this book (and recommend it to anyone writing fiction), it isn’t exactly cut and dry for a romance scene for the LaFS Blogfest. We don’t want a whole plot do we? Some people may be inspired to create a novel around their LaFS scene, but for now, I just want a scene—a hot and steamy scene. 

So, in lieu of anything better, I’ve decided to write my own list of themes—themes for Blogfest.

Blogfest Architect: Types of Love

• Opposites Attract: the wrong people with the right feelings. Love against all odds.
• Holy cow—I love you!: Some personality types fight the whole love-at-first-sight experience. Instead, write the scene where your character(s) realize that they are in love.
• Head Over Heels: Do your characters steal little glances at each other when no one is looking? Do they blush when the object of their infatuation speaks to them? If so, they may be head over heels .
• Infuriating Infatuation: ‘The woman drove him nuts! Pompous and bossy—a pigheaded know-it-all. He thought he’d always wanted a nice girl with a pretty face. Now, he wasn’t so sure.’ This is another of the holy-cow-I-love-you themes.
• Forbidden Love: Romeo & Juliet is a classic for a reason. Who doesn’t love the idea of breaking the rules for love? How can something so wrong feel so right?
• Unrequited Love: Taylor Swift’s Teardrops On My Guitar says it all. Pining after someone who’s in love with another person is a hell of it’s very own making. No one said love at first sight has to be mutual.
• Fairy Tale Love: The stars align and falling in love feels so easy. Talk about a fairy tale…
• Childhood Love: Jack and Jill have been in love since the day they went up the hill. Jack may have broken his crown but Jill stayed by his side while he healed. After all these years, he’s never forgotten her. Now, it’s time to track her down and confess his love. Maybe she feels the same way…
• Hero Love/Damsel in Distress: Need I explain?

Want to challenge yourself?

• I’ve read that some people are going to switch point of view Blogfest. If you usually write from the female perspective, try writing your scene from the male POV and vice versa.
• Try writing a “historical” love story based on characters that already exist—or existed. Take advantage of creative license! There are plenty of time periods to chose from. Try on of these stories or find one of your own.
  
  • Lancelot & Guinevere
  • King Henry VIII & Ann Boleyn
  • Napoleon & Josephine
  • Ferdinand & Isabella
  • Marc Antony and Cleopatra
  • Eurydice & Orpheus
  • Adam & Eve
  • Samson & Delilah

    ♥ Want more historical romances to choose from? Consider your wish, granted— Top 20 Most Famous Love Stories in History & Literature.

• Retell a classic and make it your own.
  • Cinderella
  • Gone With the Wind
  • Ariel the Little Mermaid
  • Aladdin
  • Jack & Jill
• FanFic. Is there a book, TV show, or movie that messed something up? Fan Fiction lets you fix it…
  • Lost
  • Burn Notice
  • Weeds
  • Desperate Housewives
  • Vampire Diaries
  • Twilight
  • Outlander
  • Werecats Series
  • Avatar
  • Bones

Have I forgotten a good one? Anyone have any other themes to add to the list?

I hope I’ve stuck a creative nerve. If not, there’s always the next blog posting. Don’t forget to sign up for the Love at First Sight Blogfest!

Happy writing!

PS. If anyone needs additional inspiration, I have some terrific poems on my inspirational blog, To Keep it Going.

Sneaky Little Bugger

Christmas is coming, and coming fast! I’ve been busy this last week getting ready for it, but I still haven’t finished all of my shopping. Since I haven’t had much time to sit down and write, my brain has been running in overdrive to try to make up for the loss of exerted creativity. In other words, the voices have started screaming (in lieu of their usual mutterings). I’ll be at the store, browsing through the latest and greatest, looking like your average Christmas-shopping crazy person. But on the inside, I’ve completely checked out. My mind is a maze of plot-lines, juicy conflicts, and character issues. I swear, I think I might even hear myself mumbling from time to time…

I’ve got Kate and Caleb in some lover’s quarrel (so out of sync for the holidays, don’t you think?) at the same time that I have my Dark Goddess musing on the details of her newest plan for world domination. Then, I’ve got a group of rogue Immortals who are feeling extra left out and incredibly needy (even though they don’t make their debut until book six–that’s right book six, and they’re already bitching at me!)

But that isn’t all. I’ve been working on my plot (which I’ll be blogging about in the next couple of posts) so I have what if I do this, or what if I do that‘s competing with irate Rogues, quarrelsome couples, and a Dark Lord-ess with a hard-on for taking over the world. And that’s not even counting the characters who just turned traitors and are deciding on their best course of action for ambushing the Vampire General!

Peachy, just peachy. Why do I suddenly have flashbacks to my sixteenth birthday at the DMV? Oh yeah, that’s right, “Everybody take a number and wait your turn.” Order would be such a handy little tool to have at my disposal. Too bad my brain doesn’t do order. I picture my characters taking their number, then glancing between the paper slip and me with a look of are-you-effing-kidding-me writing on their faces. It’s sad that I’m amused by the visual…

On one side, this whole “bonanza” of mental goodies is awesome. I’m coming up with some quality ideas. Plot lines are a necessity in my world, and conflict is as important as romance in my novels. If my writing is in short supply, my idea-pool is overflowing.

On the other hand, I think my brain might explode from all of its recent activity. While I’m not exactly aware of any overactive-brain related deaths, I won’t rule out the possibility–especially when the idea of it happening to me seems so real.

But enough about my up-and-coming implosion; I do have something to blog about today, and it will only take a few short sentences, so get ready–I wouldn’t want you to miss it!

I save each chapter in its own Word document, so I don’t necessarily know how many words are in my MS at any given time. In the chapter, yes. In the MS, no–unless of course I take the time to add up all the different files, which is precisely what I did. And I was shocked to discover that I’ve been quite the busy little bee. My current word count for “Book 1″ of the Immortal Series is at an unbelievable 35,822–and it completely snuck up on me!

I really don’t know why I’m shocked by this–it isn’t as if I don’t write four-thousand-word chapters–but I am. It probably has something to do with the fact that when writing, I only look at the word count for each individual chapter, and that never goes above six thousand. To see the numbers 35,822 flash on the screen almost seems like some cruel kind of joke. But it isn’t. I know because I added the numbers…

…three separate times.

So yay! Go me! I’m “29%” done with my WIP, which is still–sadly–nameless.

Until next time, happy writing!

Technorati Tags: Word Count,Writing,Immortal Series,Characters

Best Blog Award & ‘an Interview with a Vampire’

Because I’ve been AWOL for the past week, I’m just now getting around to checking in with some of my favorite bloggers and guess what I found out?! Last week, my writer-friend, Sara McClung, awarded me my very first blog award (awarded to my blogger blog, Work in Progress)!!

The Best Blog Award–awarded by:

Sara McClung who blogs at The Babbling Flow of a Fledgling Scribbler.

I’m so excited to get this award! Thank you so much, Sara. I’m so honored!

In keeping with the Best Blog Award traditions, it’s my turn to pass on the love. Here are the rules for the BBA:

1. To accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his/her blog link.
2. Pass the award to other bloggers that you recently discovered and think are great! Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I have so many favorite blogs that its really hard to ONLY select five for the award — but I have to limit myself or this post will be really long. So, here goes. These are five of my must-read bloggers.

• Jemi Fraser at Just Jemi
• J. Koyanagi at J. Koyanagi
• Simon C. Larter at Constant Revisions
• Carolina Valdez Miller at Carol’s Prints
• Mary W. Jensen at Feywriter

Congrats guys! Now its your turn to pass on the love; get to it!

---

On another (and still super excited) note, I am pleased to announce that Caleb’s Interview has been posted on Carol’s Print’s. His interview is part two in a two part series. To see part one (Kate’s interview) click here.

 

I have to say… Carol, you could be in advertising; you made me look good! I definitely don’t feel nearly as awesome as you made me out to be on your blog! You’ve been such a sweetheart to work with. Thank you for hosting Caleb’s Interview. We both applaud your patience as we struggled to keep ourselves in “interview mode”. What can I say? I’m a writer not an interviewer; I live for descriptions!

For anyone who doesn’t know, Carol AKA Carolina Valdez Miller is currently blogging a series called Totally Sane Interviews with Vampires, Hobbits, and Talking Toads: A Series of Character Interviews. This series is a collection of author/character “interviews” from different writers throughout the writing community. Can I just say, WOW! Talk about funny stuff…seriously. We writers are constantly saying things like, “Man, my poor character is going to hate me when I’m finished with this chapter,” and “I feel bad for what I’m about to do to [insert character name here].” But after these character interviews, you can forget it! The characters (yes, the one’s inside our heads) totally get back at us! They so deserve that broken bone, gunshot wound, or crippling heartache. I don’t even feel bad for the near-death-experience that my MCs are headed into… muahhahaha!

An Interview and a new Critique Partner

I’m a few days late on updating my weekly blog, but better late than never, right? I’ve been busy writing away for the past week and trying to get through some very important scenes. Unfortunately, I’ve been suffering from a serious case of brain-farts. I’ll sit down to write, have the scene plotted out, and then….*crickets*. Nothing happens. It’s like I can’t find my voice, and its REALLY annoying.

Luckily, I was able to write Interview #2 (featuring Caleb) which will be débuting on Carol’s Prints, a blog by author Carolina Valdez Miller, sometime this week! Caleb’s interview will be featured in a series called Totally Sane Interviews with Vampires, Hobbits, and Talking Toads, a series where authors interview their characters. These interviews are hilarious and very insightful into the minds of writers, the latter of which may not be a good thing…

I’m so excited to be one of the writers featured of Carol’s blog! I can’t wait to see Caleb’s interview up on the Web.

To see Interview #1, featuring Kate, click here.

Another huge plus this week is that I found a new (or old, depending on how you look at it) Critique Partner! I’ve been wanting  CP for a while now but I’m so picky about my work that I have been hesitant in really looking for one. Luckily for me, my MC Kate has a mind of her own and was determined to be a little crazier than I had originally intended. Because of a traumatic event, I’d been toying with the idea of giving her PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, for those of you who don’t know). Originally I had decided against it because I didn’t want her to seem weak–especially to herself–and I was afraid PTSD might do just that. But, like I said, Kate has a mind of her own. PTSD doesn’t change much in the story but it does take us to some other places.

Obviously, I needed to do some research on the disorder to make sure I got it right. So, instead of reading websites, I e-mailed my cousin Kelly–who just happens to have a degree in Psychology! We got to talking and she’s going to be my new CP. I trust her with this job for several reasons, one being the fact that she used to critique my stories when we were young. But, more importantly, we talk books all the time, and she knows what I like and what don’t. Kelly knows me and–most of the time–where my mind is headed even before I do! She isn’t a writer, but an AVID reader and I’m so very grateful to have her critiquing my work. Thanks, Kel, for all your help!

I’ve been sidetracked from the Immortal Series today by a story that’s pummeled its way to the front of my mind and is demanding to be written. Forced to comply (because to resist would only result in torture) I’ve started the beginnings of Dream Waker.

Dream Waker is a short story, though, I don’t know if I’d even call it that. I’m actually more comfortable calling it a “tale”. It’s short (obviously) and a bit of a thinker–and totally implausible. Still, its a story worth writing and one that has a pretty clear message. Once it’s finished, I’ll post in up on my blog for all to see.

Plotting, Characters, & their Complexities

Plotting & Characters—The Two Elements

When writing, there are two basic elements that make up a novel: plot and characters. These two elements must coexist—and coexist well—for the book to be anything worth reading. And let’s face it, why bother writing something that no one wants to read? It’s the plotlines and the characters that hold a reader’s attention. They are the glue that not only binds the story together, but connects the story with its audience.

I have a love/hate relationship with the plotlines of my books. Out of all of the elements that go into novel writing, it’s the plot that is my Achilles heel. I constantly worry that the plot is missing something, that it could be better. Or—when I’m having a particularly bad day of writing—that it’s absurd. While plot-holes can be patched up, a bad plot is seldom able to be revived.

I’ve been planning to write a blog post on plotting for the last few weeks. After all, It only makes sense that I write about the devil I know best. After reading a blog called Why You Should Interview Your Characters by Carolina Valdez Miller, I realized two things.

One—I don’t struggle with character relationships in my books. If anything, my characters keep the story alive. My books are (mostly all) character driven. They are about people and their journeys to the other side of the rainbow.

And two—obviously—plots and characters go together like babies and diapers. Basically—put the diaper on the kid’s head and you’re in for a messy time. But, put the diaper where it goes, and one element complements the other. When I look at it this way, I can really see that the more you know one, the better you will understand the other.

Plotting

I’ve spend countless hours plotting and re-plotting my novels. And I know, I’ll be re-plotting again and again before I’ve finished my currrent WIP. To date, my two plot boards look like this:

I know–I’m not the most organized person on the planet, but it works for me.

I’ll add new notes to the boards as they come to me because I need everything written out or I start to feel lost and overwhelmed. It helps when I can look over and see where I am and where I need to go.

Character Interviews

First off, I’ll be interviewing Kate, one of the main character of my current WIP, “Book 1″ or the Immortal Series. Here goes…

I waited for Kate for about ten minutes in a small but comfortable private sitting room in the vampire palace. I knew she’d be late—I’d been warned by several of my characters that the reclusive assassin wouldn’t willingly submit to an interview. But, luckily for me, the King himself had extended my invitation to her, making it impossible for her to refuse.

Of course, that didn’t mean she’d have to be generous about it…

When she did arrive, she smiled politely—though it didn’t reach her eyes—and took a seat across from me on an antique settee that coordinated perfectly with the armchair I had chosen.

Me: “Hello Kate, how are you today?”

Kate: “Busy; I’m getting close to nailing another Dark Cell. No offense to you or anything, I just don’t see why you couldn’t have found someone else to interview. I don’t have time to be back in Crehmor, let alone sitting down for an interview.”

I was expecting this kind of response from her. I knew she hated the vampire city of Crehmor and wouldn’t be thrilled to be here, so I’d prepared myself for this line of argument.

Me: “You’re a main character in the upcoming book, Kate. Everyone wants to know a little about you, including myself.”

Kate: “I’m here because Gabriel told me to come, so ask your questions so I can get back to work. There is a war going on, or haven’t you noticed?”

Me: “Speaking of the war, what part do you play in it?”

Kate: “As you well know, I’m the General of the Assassins—the Assassins being a branch of the Vampiric Army. I work undercover to collect intelligence against our enemy, the Shade. Once I, or one of my people, infiltrate a Cell, we join up with the Slayers—the other branch of the army—and take them out. Then, we move on to another Cell.”

Me: “Sounds like dangerous work.”

Kate: “It can be.”

Me: “Don’t you ever worry about the things that could happen to you while you’re undercover?”

Kate: “Not much. I’ve thought about it, sure, but someone’s got to do it. Might as well be me—I don’t have anything to lose.”

Me: “Except your life…”

Kate: “It’s a war, Ms. Reese. People die every day—people with husbands, wives, children… I don’t have anyone. My family’s dead. Besides, I’m not afraid to die.”

Me: “You have someone; Micah. Tell me about him.”

Kate: Sighs and slouches back in her seat before answering. “My father was killed when I was a child. Micah had been very close to him, and he became my guardian. He’s…like an uncle to me.” Realizing where I had been going with this, she added, “Micah knows the risks of what I do. He also has his own life to live.”

Me: “I see. So you take on the tough assignments? So the soldiers with families don’t have to?”

Kate: “I’d rather risk my life than the lives of my men.”

Me: “So there’s no one in your life? No boyfriends or special someones?”

Kate: “No; I don’t get attached to people.”

Me: “No one?”

Kate: “No one.”

Me: “I’ve heard the gossip around the city. They say that you and the King’s cousin—the King’s Right Hand—are involved?”

Kate: “Caleb and I are acquainted only through our work; we’re both on the High Council. That is our only connection.”

Me: “He is quite attractive…”

Kate: “Your point?”

Me: “Well. He seems like he’s interested—”

Kate: “Well he’s not; and neither am I. Are we finished here?”

Me: “Not quite; I have a few more questions. You’re a legend throughout the immortal world—an icon for young girls. Why is it that you are afraid of relationships? Even the soldiers in your unit say that you can be cold as ice. They say you’re afraid of attachments.”

My bluntness must have taken her off guard. She glared at me and I added a mental note to add “deadly as explosion” to her bio…

Kate: “I can’t afford attachments, Ms. Reese. My job isn’t just a danger to my life, but to all those around me—”

Me: “Your father was killed in this war. Are you afraid to put your own loved ones through that pain if you are kill as well?”

Kate: “My—that has nothing to do with this interview. Leave my father out of this. As for your little observation, no, I’m not afraid of dying.”

Me: “No, you aren’t afraid of dying—we’ve established that. But that wasn’t what I asked. Are you afraid of getting involved because of the work you do?”

Kate: “Next question.”

Me: “After you answer my last one.”

After a long pause, Kate stood and smiled.

Kate: “It’s been a pleasure, Ms. Reese. I hope you got what you needed for your report. I’ll tell a servant you’ll be leaving now so they can escort you—

Me: “Oh, don’t bother. I have one last interview today…with Caleb. He should be here shortly, if he isn’t already waiting in the hall.”

The look she gave me could have triggered heart attacks in the elderly. I, however, stood and extended my hand.

Me: “Good luck, Kate. I’ll see you again soon.”

Yay! That was fun. I’ll be doing that again soon!

Caleb’s Interview

(This interview was written as a guest post in the series Totally Sane Interviews with Vampires, Hobbits, and Talking Toads by fellow writer, Carolina Valdez Miller.)

A knock on the door brought me to my feet as the door opened and Caleb stepped into the small room. He was tall and masculine and everything I knew he would be—still, he took my breath away. I watched, awestruck, as he bowed slightly and stretched out his hand. Automatically I extended my own and he took it, bringing it to his lips for a soft kiss on my knuckles.

I was staring—I knew I was, but I couldn’t seem to stop. He was literally perfect; no wonder Kate had it bad. Did I look okay? Had my makeup smudged? Was I drooling?

Caleb: “Hm, ma’am? Are you alright?”

Me: “Huh? Oh—ah, yes. I—I stood up too fast… I’m…just a bit lightheaded is all.”

I really hoped he hadn’t caught my lie—how embarrassing would that be to be caught ogling?!

Me: “Tell me about yourself Caleb. Who are you and what is your role in the immortal world?”

Caleb: “I am the cousin to the Vampire King as well as his top advisor. A few years ago, I was given the title of Right Hand. It means that I am not only his top advisor, but also the successor to the throne and the second highest authority in the vampire world.”

Me: “That seems like quite an honor.”

Caleb: “Yes, it is. I’ve been Gabriel’s top advisor since he took the throne. He values my opinion.”

Me: “Now, you weren’t promoted to Right Hand until five years ago. That was right after you retired as General to the Slayer Army, wasn’t it?”

Caleb nodded; he knew where I was going with this, but he didn’t so much as shift in his seat.

Me: “But you didn’t retire on the best of terms. You stepped down because of a dispute between yourself and the daemon race. Can you tell me what happened?”

Of course I knew the answer—I’d done my research—but I didn’t think he’d answer. After a long minute, he spoke.

Caleb: “I insulted them. They felt as if I’d overstepped my boundaries in seeing that justice was served to one of their people. I retired to keep the daemons from going after the vampire race. It worked; they saw me as a ‘lone ranger’ instead of as the leader of an army. Soon after that, they pressed charges. It went all the way up to the gods before I was cleared.”

Me: “What was it that you did, exactly?”

Caleb: “Some say it was murder. Some say it was justice.” His voice was blank of all emotion, as if he’d used that line a hundred times before.

Me: “What do you say?”

Caleb: The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. My questions weren’t annoying him; he was amused by me. “It depends on the day of the week.”

Me: “As the king’s advisor, do you know the details of the Assassin general’s latest assignment?”

Caleb: “Yes, I know about Kate.” He looked at me suspiciously. “She’s currently working undercover in a Dark Cell.”

Me: “I’ve heard that you and she are somewhat of an item.”

Caleb: “Uh, no. That’s not true. We’re coworkers, in a sense; we’re both advisors.”

Me: “You’re daughter seems to think you like her…”

Caleb: “My—you talked to Hannah?”

I nodded. Now I was getting into tricky territory. If I wasn’t careful, he’d up and walk—just like Kate had.

Caleb: “My daughter’s five. Of course she thinks I like Kate; I do—as a friend.”

Me: “A friend? A moment ago she was just a coworker.”

Caleb: “Semantics. You’re fishing, Ms. Reese.”

Me: “Why would I need to fish? I’ve already spoken with Kate. She’s told me exactly what’s gone on between the two of you.”

He squinted at me, probably trying to get a read on me. Of course I was bluffing but he didn’t know that.

Me: “The way I see it, the two of you have some serious chemistry and—”

Caleb: “You do realize that I can read your mind? It makes bluffing a moot point.”

Son. Of. A—

Caleb: “I should be getting back to work. I’m glad I could help you with your report, Ms. Reese. We should do this again sometime.”

I was still a bit shocked from the whole mindreading thing. How had I missed that? I knew all about vampire abilities and that Caleb was one of the most powerful of them all. Stupid, stupid…

Me: “Uh, huh. Sure.”

As he walked out, I realized—to my utter horror—he had caught me ogling him. Great.

Kate’s Interview

I waited for Kate for about ten minutes in a small but comfortable private sitting room in the vampire palace. I knew she’d be late—I’d been warned by several of my characters that the reclusive assassin wouldn’t willingly submit to an interview. But, luckily for me, the King himself had extended my invitation to her, making it impossible for her to refuse.

Of course, that didn’t mean she’d have to be generous about it…

When she did arrive, she smiled politely—though it didn’t reach her eyes—and took a seat across from me on an antique settee that coordinated perfectly with the armchair I had chosen.

Me: “Hello Kate, how are you today?”

Kate: “Busy; I’m getting close to nailing another Dark Cell. No offense to you or anything, I just don’t see why you couldn’t have found someone else to interview. I don’t have time to be back in Crehmor, let alone sitting down for an interview.”

I was expecting this kind of response from her. I knew she hated the vampire city of Crehmor and wouldn’t be thrilled to be here, so I’d prepared myself for this line of argument.

Me: “You’re a main character in the upcoming book, Kate. Everyone wants to know a little about you, including myself.”

Kate: “I’m here because Gabriel told me to come, so ask your questions so I can get back to work. There is a war going on, or haven’t you noticed?”

Me: “Speaking of the war, what part do you play in it?”

Kate: “As you well know, I’m the General of the Assassins—the Assassins being a branch of the Vampiric Army. I work undercover to collect intelligence against our enemy, the Shade. Once I, or one of my people, infiltrate a Cell, we join up with the Slayers—the other branch of the army—and take them out. Then, we move on to another Cell.”

Me: “Sounds like dangerous work.”

Kate: “It can be.”

Me: “Don’t you ever worry about the things that could happen to you while you’re undercover?”

Kate: “Not much. I’ve thought about it, sure, but someone’s got to do it. Might as well be me—I don’t have anything to lose.”

Me: “Except your life…”

Kate: “It’s a war, Ms. Reese. People die every day—people with husbands, wives, children… I don’t have anyone. My family’s dead. Besides, I’m not afraid to die.”

Me: “You have someone; Micah. Tell me about him.”

Kate: Sighs and slouches back in her seat before answering. “My father was killed when I was a child. Micah had been very close to him, and he became my guardian. He’s…like an uncle to me.” Realizing where I had been going with this, she added, “Micah knows the risks of what I do. He also has his own life to live.”

Me: “I see. So you take on the tough assignments? So the soldiers with families don’t have to?”

Kate: “I’d rather risk my life than the lives of my men.”

Me: “So there’s no one in your life? No boyfriends or special someones?”

Kate: “No; I don’t get attached to people.”

Me: “No one?”

Kate: “No one.”

Me: “I’ve heard the gossip around the city. They say that you and the King’s cousin—the King’s Right Hand—are involved?”

Kate: “Caleb and I are acquainted only through our work; we’re both on the High Council. That is our only connection.”

Me: “He is quite attractive…”

Kate: “Your point?”

Me: “Well. He seems like he’s interested—”

Kate: “Well he’s not; and neither am I. Are we finished here?”

Me: “Not quite; I have a few more questions. You’re a legend throughout the immortal world—an icon for young girls. Why is it that you are afraid of relationships? Even the soldiers in your unit say that you can be cold as ice. They say you’re afraid of attachments.”

My bluntness must have taken her off guard. She glared at me and I added a mental note to add “deadly as explosion” to her bio…

Kate: “I can’t afford attachments, Ms. Reese. My job isn’t just a danger to my life, but to all those around me—”

Me: “Your father was killed in this war. Are you afraid to put your own loved ones through that pain if you are kill as well?”

Kate: “My—that has nothing to do with this interview. Leave my father out of this. As for your little observation, no, I’m not afraid of dying.”

Me: “No, you aren’t afraid of dying—we’ve established that. But that wasn’t what I asked. Are you afraid of getting involved because of the work you do?”

Kate: “Next question.”

Me: “After you answer my last one.”

After a long pause, Kate stood and smiled.

Kate: “It’s been a pleasure, Ms. Reese. I hope you got what you needed for your report. I’ll tell a servant you’ll be leaving now so they can escort you—

Me: “Oh, don’t bother. I have one last interview today…with Caleb. He should be here shortly, if he isn’t already waiting in the hall.”

The look she gave me could have triggered heart attacks in the elderly. I, however, stood and extended my hand.

Me: “Good luck, Kate. I’ll see you again soon.”