Finished!

Here's to the memories. These are my souvenirs....I close my eyes and go back in time. I can see you smiling. You're so alive....Nothing lasts forever.     ~Souvenirs by: Switchfoot

 I guess I probably should let you know that I've finished Dawn. This book marked a couple of milestones in my author journey.

1. I officially went insane on this book and talked to the characters. They haunted me and ignored me and got mad at me and talked to me. 
2. At 254 pages and 68,264 words, it's the longest book I've ever written by more than two times. 

My characters came alive and I love them to death. I almost cried killing Chris in the beginning and as much as I enjoyed writing this story, I was tortured along with Ray and Aura. I'm sorry, both of you. I love you, if that helps anything. And I'll miss you. 

View my synopsis here. 

If you're interested in reading it, comment and I'll send it to you. I need help editing. Major help. :) 

Farther along we'll know all about it. Farther along we'll understand why....We'll understand this all by and by.... I wondered why the good man cried, the bad man thrived.      ~ Farther Along by: Josh Garrels

Guest Post by Aurora "Aura" Simms

Once upon a time, I dreamed of a hot guy riding into my life and sweeping me off my feet. I envisioned myself as the damsel in distress. He would see me. I would see him. We'd fall madly in love and he'd rescue me. Carry me away from my awful life. Away from my mom and her constant lectures. Away from my little brother and his constant teasing. In my dreams, he'd love me like no one had in a long time and we'd live happily ever after.

Actually it was different than I'd envisioned. I was in the high school parking lot and I backed my car into Chris's on accident, gained a ticked-off mom, a one-time meeting with an averagely cute guy (though he was too short in my opinion) and a dented car, that actually wasn't mine at the time. Somehow he figured out that I did housecleaning to earn money and told me he'd tell his mom about me, since she was always busy and could use the help. He actually followed through, so we were kind of stuck with each other each Sunday evening when I'd help his mom with their apartment and often stayed for dinner. He always made me feel special, even if he just smiled at me as I passed him in the hall at school.

So looking back in hindsight, I guess, in a way, my dream came true, with a few revisions that ended up being for the better. It wasn't quite the love-at-first-sight meeting I'd wanted, but he loved me more than anyone had in a while. I specifically remember the day he told me he loved me for the first time and I cried, because that's the first time someone had told me that in almost four years. I only wish we could have lived happily ever after.

Pain and Suffering

I've found that I can discover key things about my characters through the way they handle pain. Now this may seem completely obvious, but I'm going to give you an example anyway, between my main character, Aura, and her younger brother Ray.
When the story starts, Aura's boyfriend, Chris, dies in a car crash. Ray was driving the car at the time it crashed, so he feels responsibility. So each of them have sufficient suffering that I put them through. *evil writer cackle* They each handled their pain in different ways.

Aura yelled at God, got another job, refused to think about Chris and basically shunned anything that reminded her of her pain.
Ray started doing drugs and did anything in his power to make his pain go away and got angry and defensive when anyone told him he shouldn't be doing what he is.

So, here's what I learned through observing these things:
Aura: 

1. She's a person who believes on just pushing through.
2. She's a person who wants to blame someone for her pain.
3. She believes that forgetting and ignoring what hurts her is the solution to her problem 

Ray: 

1. He's a problem solver.
2. He doesn't like being told what to do.
3. He believes that he doesn't need help and that he can do everything on his own. 

I just thought this was interesting. I figured this out after I'd written half the story and it helps shape their character. Try it!

And, one more thing: I'm ecstatic! I found a song that perfectly sums up the lie Ray believes. It does have a lot of screaming in it, so if you don't like that, don't listen to it. It's called Damage by Red.

Now the damage is done. I can't escape, can't run, can't undo what I've done. All I do is damage...It's destroying me...I'm sick of the misery...I am human debris....I'm a catastrophe. Take this away. It was just a mistake. Save me.