Anything but Ordinary
It’s funny how sometimes we can draw inspiration from characters. I’ve seen articles lately about how readers can be influenced by the characters in the books they read, carrying over elements of the characters into real life – a method of transforming theory into practice, I guess. If that works for readers, I suspect it also works for writers. I’m not sure if this is a common experience for all writers, but I often feel a profound connection with my characters, more so than the ones in the books I read – even those that have touched me in a very strong way.
I find myself identifying with the strangest of characters, like my gnomish ex-schoolteacher wizard’s apprentice, Reeree, who appears in my Masters and Renegades series, both in Magic University and my soon-to-be-released Casualties of War. Now I’m not a fan of the colour pink, and I’m often one of the taller people in a crowd, so on a physical level, I can’t relate to her very well. But what I do understand is playing it safe for the better part your life and then suddenly reaching a place where you realize a risk is necessary or your life will prove quite pointless. While nobody would ever accuse me of being normal, I certainly let things play out in an “ordinary” way, until I found it just wasn’t enough. Like Reeree, I came to the conclusion that I wanted my life to be something more than ordinary. I want to do something significant and meaningful. I want to serve some higher purpose.
At the point in my life where that notion truly hit home, I started taking chances. It would have been nice to make as drastic a change as Reeree – to make that leap without looking back...no regrets, but I’m afraid I wasn’t as bold. My chosen path has been slower going, a gradual transformation, but I’ve done a lot in the last few years, much of which I might have considered impossible before now. I’m hoping it will eventually lead me to that opportunity to make a real difference in the world, be it writing a book that moves people to better their lives, or even just helps one person to overcome some sort of adversity, or perhaps, make some sizable contribution to a charitable cause.
In the meantime, I’ll keep working towards that objective of being anything but ordinary, like Reeree, but with smaller steadier steps. I’ve managed to get this far in a very short amount of time and ... hey ... it doesn’t hurt to dream.
I find myself identifying with the strangest of characters, like my gnomish ex-schoolteacher wizard’s apprentice, Reeree, who appears in my Masters and Renegades series, both in Magic University and my soon-to-be-released Casualties of War. Now I’m not a fan of the colour pink, and I’m often one of the taller people in a crowd, so on a physical level, I can’t relate to her very well. But what I do understand is playing it safe for the better part your life and then suddenly reaching a place where you realize a risk is necessary or your life will prove quite pointless. While nobody would ever accuse me of being normal, I certainly let things play out in an “ordinary” way, until I found it just wasn’t enough. Like Reeree, I came to the conclusion that I wanted my life to be something more than ordinary. I want to do something significant and meaningful. I want to serve some higher purpose.
At the point in my life where that notion truly hit home, I started taking chances. It would have been nice to make as drastic a change as Reeree – to make that leap without looking back...no regrets, but I’m afraid I wasn’t as bold. My chosen path has been slower going, a gradual transformation, but I’ve done a lot in the last few years, much of which I might have considered impossible before now. I’m hoping it will eventually lead me to that opportunity to make a real difference in the world, be it writing a book that moves people to better their lives, or even just helps one person to overcome some sort of adversity, or perhaps, make some sizable contribution to a charitable cause.
In the meantime, I’ll keep working towards that objective of being anything but ordinary, like Reeree, but with smaller steadier steps. I’ve managed to get this far in a very short amount of time and ... hey ... it doesn’t hurt to dream.
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