Where Was I?

Holy HELL its been a long time. Almost… *checks watch* A YEAR??

If nothing else says “Jen, you are a bad blogger” like this, nothing will. I want to try to remedy that and post more often, because a LOT is going on. Maybe I can do a post or two a month…

…she said, hopefully.

Anyway, we circle back around to last time: Raven is born as my greatest and most important villain to give Kari challenges to face. Amongst others, of course; for instance, Raven does not make an on-screen appearance in my first book (Birth of the Storm), but she is playing games behind the scenes. Don’t worry.

Now, in regards to my anime obsession, I’ve mentioned Inuyasha and how it was an influence. Anyone who’s watched it probably can guess that since Kari had to be Inuyasha, she needed a Kikyo. An “opposing” force that would love her, but their relationship would be rocky on the basis that they could totes kill Kari.

Enter…Ari.

Yeah, I know. I don’t wanna hear it.

A month ago I would’ve written this post talking about how Ari is the bane of my existence. He is sweet and strong and perfect…he is everything in a love that I would have wanted. And I think that made young me very bitter.

In hindsight, maybe that’s why villains were/are so enticing. They exist much more readily than the honest good guys.

Ari is forgiving. He is a constant rock, looking danger in the face for Kari’s sake and never backing down. And until late last year, I couldn’t stand that.

I’ve gone through an evolution. Because he did, too.

It started when I was rewriting Book 2, where he makes a much bigger impact than Birth of the Storm. And in these rewrites, Ari stood up. He puffed out his chest and told me, ME, ”Hey. I got this.”

And by the gods, he did.

He spoke for himself. His dialogue and actions were reinvented. He was forceful and commanding, but not rudely. He got his point down and stood his ground.

And at the end of it all, he endeared himself to me. People think writers write characters, and that’s true. Absolutely. But sometimes they write themselves, too.

You get it, right? I know you do.

And if Ari, the good guy, can worm his way into my heart, he can do anything. And so can I.

…starting with these blog posts.