Writing this without too many spoilers for Pack is going to be challenging. Let’s see if I can do it!
Last night’s writing work play included research into the “twins” and their many…brothers. Of all the hundreds (maybe thousands) of characters I’ve come up with, Dexter/Porter is one of my favorites. He’s also quite possibly my favorite lifeform that has ever emerged from my imagination. A hydra.
When I write, I start off by daydreaming, jotting down notes, and writing snippets of scenes. I let my imagination go, and see what unfurls. It’s like watching a movie in my mind.
Dexter/Porter’s origins and physiology unraveled slowly and shocked the crap out of me—repeatedly. I started out seeing these weirdly creepy and yet seriously sexy guys and wondering who they were and what their story would become.
Sleipnir’s Mane, I had no idea what I was in for.
Dexter started out as “the boss” and quickly became, “the super bad-ass boss”. Porter was “the med support guy.”
Then something very bad happened (in a scene that will be in book two of the series), and my imagination began to reveal their/his secrets.
My thoughts went through several stages. The initial shock of “WTF just happened to my character?!” Then, “Ew, poor guy.” Finally, I landed on, “I can do a lot with this.”
Oh yes. Quite a bit.
Even without the convoluted and somewhat stunning relationships they have with the other characters, daydreaming and writing about what these hydra beings are like has been an adventure—alternating between fun, scary, and heartbreaking.
How does their consciousness work? Their physical forms? How do they interact with each other? How the heck am I going to keep track of the proper pronouns to use?
I have much more work to do to figure out the details. I must get this right. I need to flesh out all of the brothers’ histories, their…emergence stories…and everything they’ve been through after.
I’ve laid out the series for the next three books, and know that various “brothers” will factor in more and more, including casting some of them as leads in the next two books. I’ll be introducing more aspects of this unique lifeform as the series progresses, and am eager to share more of the concept and the characters with my readers.
And honestly, I can’t wait to meet the rest of the family.
Until then, I have quite a bit of backstory building to do. I’ll be playing in this world for years. <3
Welcome to Providence.
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