It's All About The Characters

Characters are a passion of mine. I love people watching and finding out what makes a person tick. I think most writers are empathic in this way. A friend of mine recently asked me how writers come up with compelling heroes and heroines. Something Marion Zimmer Bradley once said to me in a rejection letter years ago floated to the surface of my mind. She said, "Stories are always about characters." So where do our favorite writers get their characters? Well, from those around us, of course...