Christopher Louis's Blog, page 19

#7

The hardest character to write for was Kevin. From the beginning I knew I wanted him to be a villain, but I didn’t want the readers to immediately hate him. I struggled to show him as first a “likable” character who obviously had some flaws, but had grown. I mean, come on, he had to have possessed some good qualities that would bring people to him and allow Nic to befriend him and eventually develop feelings for. Then once I started to show his cracks, again, it was tough to not make him even worse. In the end, I am happy with his portrayal as I think it helped make the characters of Nic and Carmen stronger.

#6

When I started writing the story with the characters as adults, Nic was going to be a potential love interest for Ben. My original idea was that Ben was returning home for the first time in many years since David’s passing. I even wrote a really sweet scene where the two meet for the first time at Sarah and Christian’s wedding. During the reception Ben is confronted by some vile character and needs some air so he heads outside where he and Nic run into each other. The two talk, and share a very innocent private dance. (I still think I might use this scene with different characters at some time in the future as I really liked it.) Once I changed the story to teen fiction, I knew I still wanted to use Nic - but wasn’t sure where or how. I remember reading a book that had parallel stories taking place and thought - why not use that for Nic. Instead of it being the same, what if his relationship with his high school crush didn’t work out. Once I had that - Nic’s story just came to life. Having him be Christian’s roommate helped meld the stories together. Of all the characters, Nic was the easiest and most fun to write as I was able to use him to say and do things that I would have loved to say or do at different times in my life.

Scoop #5

Inside scoop #5 comes with a photo. The cottage Ben’s mother owns with his aunt was inspired by this real life location - my grandparent’s trailer in Caseville, MI. I have so many fond memories of my grandparents, parents, and family spending weekends and holidays here. It was also the place I most felt my grandparent’s presence after they passed. I’ve long desired to do something creative with my memories of Caseville, and using it as an inspiration in Half A Life, was a nice way to start. Even though I called it a cottage in the story, and changed some of the things around, when I envision the characters being there - I only seen them in the trailer. Even the scene where Sarah, Ben, and David go for a walk and sit at their favorite spot by the water was based on my favorite spot on the lake behind the trailer. Who knows, maybe a non-fiction project based on my and my families memories could be in the foreseeable future.

 

Inside scoop #4

In the very early stages of development David had an older brother who was to be the story’s antagonist. My plan was that this brother was someone who had recently became involved with a group of religious extremists and after months of being suspicious of them, catches David and Ben kissing. He is outraged by this and goes a bit crazy and attacks them. They manage to get away, but the brother begins stalking them and eventually kills David. However, try as I might to get this to work, it just kept fizzling out. I got so far as to start writing the scene where the brother catches them and it just felt wrong. I had to put the story away for a few days and come back at it with fresh eyes - I realized that it did not feel genuine. I removed the brother, and thought I wonder what it would be like to use David’s dad as a catalyst to get the story started. I knew I didn’t want the dad to go the same route as the brother, but needed something to really draw the boys together. Once that started rolling, I knew I still needed an antagonist and since I had already mentioned her, I thought let’s use Psycho Karen and see what happens.

Scoop #3

Inside scoop #3. In my original draft Sarah does not share Ben writing a school report about how she and David were his heroes. I was going to have her read a poem and say it was the same poem heard in the movie Four Weddings And A Funeral. But during one of my edits, something about it just didn’t feel good. The more I thought about it, I realized it didn’t match the depth of these character’s friendship. These characters were heavily involved in each other’s lives, and they depended on each other. I needed something that spoke to that bond. I started thinking about what types of things I wrote about when I was in high school and I remember writing something about my Grandma and I thought Ben wouldn’t right about a relative - he would write about Sarah and David. Once I had that, it came together easily and it became one of my favorite parts of the story.

Inside scoop

As the year anniversary of Half A Life’s publication is rapidly approaching, I have challenged myself to post a little inside tidbit about the book each day on my Facebook page. Of course, then I realized, why am I not doing it on my blog too? So here are the first two posts.

Inside Scoop #1. The characters of Sarah and Christian were originally named Natasha and Christian and based off a real couple. A very long time ago, I worked with Natasha. Her boyfriend used to come into the library we worked at and we’d always make it a point to talk. As I got to know them better, I was always impressed with how much in love they seemed. As I started toying with ideas for the story, I decided I wanted to use them as inspiration. The name change for Natasha came when the story changed from an adult themed story to a teen one.

Inside scoop #2. Another character insider … Psycho Karen was based on a real person. During my last couple years of high school there was a girl who did many of the things Karen does to Ben. She would follow me around and take photos of me, she would show up at the place I worked, and would randomly show up at my house. Even after I told her that I was never going to be interested in her because I was gay, it didn’t deter her (as she told friends that she would be able to change me and make me straight). I don’t remember how I finally got her to leave me alone, but as I was writing Half A Life and knew that I needed someone other than the person I originally had to be the “bad guy", somehow this person came to mind and it just worked.

 

Spent this past weekend visiting my family in Michigan. It has...

Spent this past weekend visiting my family in Michigan. It has been a while since my last visit and I was really looking forward to spending time reminiscing and going through old photos. Thankfully, my brother had a whole bunch that I haven’t seen in a very long time and several that I have never seen before. I brought two big bags home to scan. I started with all of the old Polaroids first. Among the pile was this photo of me from either 1980 or 1981. I love the innocence of it. 

Nostalgic

Next weekend I am heading back to my hometown of Warren MI for a visit with my dad, my brother and his family, and my best friend. It seems impossible, but it has been almost a year and a half since we were last there. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone, and looking forward to catching up with my brother and doing some reminiscing about our mom. 

As we get closer to going I’ve been finding myself feeling more and more nostalgic and thinking a lot those good old days. So much good has happened in my life, but it is still so hard to know that I can’t share that with my mom and I miss that a lot. I am so grateful to have my wonderful partner, my dad, and my brother, but there are some things that only a mom can do. 

I had a wonderful dream last night where I was hugging my mom’s parents while also holding my mom’s hand and telling them that I hoped their knew how much I love and miss them. In my dream I was crying as I said those words; it was so strong that I felt those tears and woke feeling sad, but also at peace. I had a wonderful visit from them before I head back to MI. 

Kilt

My partner and I are attending a wedding in August for his step-sister. It wouldn’t be so bad if the actual ceremony wasn’t going to be outside - in August. It is going to be horribly hot and muggy. However, as I’ve been thinking about what I might possibly wear to stay as comfortable as possible it dawned on me that maybe I should consider wearing something that I’ve always wanted to before - a kilt. I’ve been doing some searching online and most kilts seem to average anywhere from $200-$350. A little more than I want to pay. However Amazon has some for around $100 - $120. A much more palatable price. At first I debated whether or not I could truly wear it, but the more I think about it, the more I really want to. So I am going to bite the bullet and do it. I’m going to buy a kilt and I can’t wait.

Very first book I saw at work today - of corse I had to check it...

Very first book I saw at work today - of corse I had to check it out! :-)