I wrote this shortly after The Hanged Man became an e-book, finding a second life in digital form. It was published by Kensington Books in the mid-90s, the first book I did with editor Kate Duffy. I kept pushing it back and back, and then received an email from David Wilson at Crossroad that on Aprilo 11-12, he would be offering it free. I glanced at the date I had pushed it back to – and there it was, the synchronicity. It was on the dashboard for April 11. So there’s the synchro. And here’s the story:
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As a writer, I’m in awe of novelists who can sustain a character over multiple books and not lose their readers.
J.K. Rowling did it with Harry Potter. Suzanne Collins did it with Katniss in her Hunger Games trilogy, Sue Grafton has done it with Kinsey – who is now up to – what is it? V? W? – well, most of the alphabet. George R.R. Martin has done this not with just one character, but with an entire canvas of characters in Game of Thrones. Philip Pullman achieved it in his Dark Materials trilogy. Jeff Lindsay has done it with his Dexter books. Nora Roberts achieves it with any number of her 100 plus books. John D MacDonald did it with Travis McGee. Rob nailed it with his Native American Will Lansa and with his depictions of Indiana Jones. There are many other writers who have done this, too, but these are the ones who come immediately to mind.
There’s some sort of alchemy that happens between the writer and the character in such series. Boundaries between self and character vanish. The writers’ emotions, worldview, and concerns become those of the character – and vice versa. Now, there are writing instructors and pundits, agents and editors who will tell you this isn’t so, that it’s all about the writers’ talent and dedication and opportunities. While that’s certainly true, it’s not the full story.
Stephen King calls it “dreaming awake.” It’s a state of consciousness that novelists enter into when they are fully plugged in to what they’re writing. An altered state of consciousness, in other words, a kind of creative meditation that produces the unexpected plot twist, the strangeness of a situation or condition, the emotional resonance that captures the reader, for whatever reason. It’s also how synchronicity comes into play, as it did when Edgar Allan Poe wrote his unfinished sea adventure novel, The Narrative of Arthur Conan Pym, which described a fictive event that subsequently happened 47 years later.
In my experience, series characters are not easy to sustain. I did ten books on a married couple, Quin and Mike McCleary, who plied their private eye trade in Miami. By the tenth book, I was so irritated by my agent and editor telling me how the books should be written, that they shouldn’t have any metaphysical stuff at all, that I killed off Mike and intended to bring him back as a ghost. That didn’t happen. I changed publishers – and agents and there was never an 11th book.
I did four books for Ballantine as Alison Drake in a series that featured a single female cop on the fictional island of Tango Key. I liked Aline, I liked her life, the way she thought. I liked that she loved her partner, Kincaid, even though he was gone for long periods of time because he had a nomadic heart. She and that series gave me Tango Key, a fictional island 12 miles west of Key West that I have returned to time and again – in my fiction, in my imagination. I think, if I ever retire, it’s where I’ll live. It’s where I put Mira Morales in the four books after The Hanged Man.
Shaped like a cat’s head with very irregular proportions, Tango Key is a mystery even unto itself. Connected to Key West by a 12-mile bridge, an engineering marvel, the island has hills, cliffs, a history, and a mystical undercurrent that fits who I am. Just about anything is possible on Tango Key. Mira Morales, a single mother, owner of a successful bookstore, a psychic, knows it better than most.
It has taken me a long time to figure which of my characters I would stick through for 26 books, as Grafton will apparently do. And for me, it won’t be Mira. She lives on in her own alternative universe and the reason she does is because Category Five there’s a single paragraph that hurt the book’s sales. It was encompassed in a conversation between Sheppard, Mira’s FBI lover, and Nadine her grandmother, about real life, how the George W Bush administration had taken us to unspeakable places. That was in 2005, when the U.S. was as seriously polarized as it is now.
I remember running across an online review by someone who said, Let’s sink this book, this left-leaning travesty. Or something to that effect, and cited that particular paragraph/conversation in the book. I thought, Huh?
So the series ended a book later, with Cold As Death. I’ve written other novels and books since then, but oddly, seven years later, Mira sticks with me. She steps periodically into my dreams, she crept into Esperanza, she’s my buddy in crazy times. So the other night I played around with ideas for a new novel. I had been proofing The Hanged Man and Black Water, the first two books in the Mira Morales series that Crossroad is bringing out in digital format with a far better cover than what Kensington had. And I suddenly thought Mira might be my Kinsey Milhone, my Harry Potter, my Katniss, my Will Lansa.
And just as suddenly knew I didn’t want to go backward. I love Mira and her world, but s a writer I’ve moved beyond her. Other ideas are simmering. I’ll have to see where it all goes. Even if a novelist lives in complete isolation, he or she is never alone. The characters they have created crowd in, whispering, demanding, cajoling: C’mon, make me real.
Trish, many years ago, one of my most astute instructors, a Buddhist, taught that everything, every thought, every individual, every Being, has its twin image on some level in the astral planes. He stated that every fictional character in every novel or even every cartoon, has its place in another dimension on the astral planes.
So it makes such sense that Mira, and ALL yours and Rob’s characters, including Indie, live and have their Beingness in a different dimension, a different reality, if you will. I tend to think we visit those realms often in our sleeping dreams, and I KNOW I visit them in the alpha state! Wherever Mira is living, hopefully she may decide to make another appearcne in OUR dimension! Of course, you will know if or when this occurs, and her “time” here may very well have completed its purpose. But goodness, what a trip while she was with us! Same with Indie, Rob, and all of both your characters in each book. They LIVE!
so, are you saying that mira is not “real”? that she’s just the product of your imagination? oh, dear…that’s so hard to believe! i mean, to me, and to many others, i know she’s “real”…
i, too, love mira and her world – and as much as i would love having her come back, i know what you mean about having moved beyond – and certainly as her creator you know when that time is – just as you will know if and when it’s time to have her move forward to the place you are –
wonderful story of your journey through writing, trish…always fascinating…
and i totally agree with the comments regarding rob and indiana! just the other night harrison ford was on letterman and watching him, my mind wandered to all those IJ movies and to rob’s alter ego….
so great that your books continue new lives in new format for us all~
Actually, I feel like Mira lives in an alternative universe!
Rob’s depiction of Indiana Jones is absolutely flawless. When he’s in the author/character mind-meld, every line of Indy’s dialogue and mentality is perfectly consistent with Harrison Ford’s definitive characterization. And the fact that Rob makes it look effortless is just stunning. Each book really is like watching a new movie.
As an amateur writer, I’ve found that characters take on a life of their own after living inside of your head for a couple years. After awhile, you’re not even writing anymore, but channeling an alter ego. I just put my fingertips at the keyboard and let the magic happen. 🙂
Absolutely right about rob’s descriptions/dialogue in Indy books, Dale. And yeah, when it flows, it IS like channeling!
Great description of how characters become very tangible, and vocal. 😀
And vocal…Yeah. Invading your dreams.
Yep, I remember! It was wonderful! Mira became very tangible for me, as did the other characters. Although I connected with and enjoyed Esperanza, I’m nonetheless more connected to Mira and her group.
Debra recommended a book I’ve started reading: Songlines of the soul. The woman’s a jungian therapist and an abductee and there’s an awful lot of material about synchros.
Amazing how your mind can make these characters come to life. I have to write about the real world, but love to read fiction. Love to abandon real life and live through the eyes and heart of another. People who can create that are incredibly talented. Congrats on getting all of these books back out to the public.
Fascinating insight – is a character sometimes like a child’s imaginary friend who becomes very real to them?
Great description! I never thought of it like that, but it fits!
What a fascinating perspective on writing fiction. Did you record your Mira dreams? She may be writing parts of her story for you. Right now, I’m really enjoying Aliens in the Backyard, which is wonderfully written, but I sure hope they stay out of mine.
Glad you’re enjoying it! I sure hope they stay out of my backyard, too!
I have recorded Mira dreams in the past, but haven’t had one in a long time.
If it were me, I might want to gather my past Mira dreams and journey back into them, awake, and have a conversation with her; maybe share what some of your fans are saying and see what she thinks.
That sounds like a good thing to do, Adelita. Thanks.
I love Mira and miss her.
Don’t let one stupid person end her mystery.
I understand how you feel but I also think that Mira is calling to you too.
I may have to return to her eventually. We’ll see what develops!
I miss Mira. I read each novel as it was initially released and could hardly wait for the next one. I feel a bit unfinished, as Mira’s relationship with her FBI love interest didn’t seem resolved. I’m hoping that maybe one day she’ll stir Trish again to write her into another story!
Mira is how you and I connected, math.