Scary

Page 58, Chapter 4. Tracy has her hands full now and is getting involved in the murder investigation. I wrote a scene where she learned, up close and personal, the method of the murder, and when I was finished with it, I felt as if it had really happened. (One of the dangers of writing in first person POV, I guess.)

I took a break to get myself in hand and started to wonder, where does this stuff come from? I invented a grisly sort of end for my victim and a pretty nasty way for Tracy to find out about it. But the whole plot, not of the book but of the bad people in it, and what lengths he/she/they are willing to go to for their own reasons, how did my imagination come up with that? Who are these people I invent?

I've been asked a number of times if I write people I know into my books, and the answer is an emphatic "no." I even avoid naming a character with the name of someone I associate with so that no one thinks there's a parallel or connection. My characters simply materialize and develop themselves as needed. And the heinous things that some of them do? I don't know. Perhaps a conglomeration of all the news stories I've heard and read, bits and pieces that seem scary or shocking. If I can scare and shock myself, hopefully my readers will be too. That's part of what people read fiction for, right?

As serious as all that was, I still managed to inject some humor, absolutely necessary for Tracy. There's a new character who made the scene today, and he has a sense of humor too. Should make for some good banter between them.

Had a couple of ideas for a title. "Three Faces Have I" or "Game Faces." But usually I don't really have a final title until somewhere near the end. I'll see where it all goes and then decide.