Gabrielle and Mark: A Truly Lovely Couple

Did you read where Gabrielle Giffords is going to write a memoir, and Mark Kelly is retiring from NASA? (The Yahoo! News piece is here: http://t.co/6WhHcib). I couldn't create my fictional characters as interesting and lovely as they are. In fact, they inspire us.

You just want to root for them, wishing them a long, happy life together. I'm not getting into what happened to them. That terrible story has been already covered.

What I'm getting at is they win your sympathy and make you want to like them both. That's the fiction writer's ultimate aim: to capture your heart and soul with well-drawn characters that step off the printed page and speak to you.

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Satisfying."
The Rap Sheet/Kirkus Reviews