Slaughtering

I just killed one of my characters today. I think it's something of a speed record. She was going to be a major player in the TTM sequel (this is how raw all this is - the bloody book hasn't even got a name yet, and I'm already dispatching innocent people to the great literary beyond), there from the very first chapter, and essential to the plot. Except on the 10-minute drive to work, I realised that she didn't work; would never work; her relationship to Lilith would be false and... well, just *wrong*.
I also realised that this was why it was taking forever to get the opening chapter underway. Years and years of writing, and I still haven't quite learned: when it takes forever for me to finish a page, there's something wrong. Something doesn't work; it's from the wrong viewpoint; someone has to be killed (or in this case, kind of 'un-existed' as they weren't around long enough for them to ever draw breath). So she's gone before she was here, and I'm celebrating her passing with a rather nice Prosecco.