Have you ever had your focus fictional character disagree with you? I had my first encounter when Morgan Madrid, the main character in Next of Kin, my crime fiction novel in progress, not only refused to be interviewed for this blog, she gave me a tongue-lashing so strong it could be described as “hit me with both barrels.” Her disagreement was about the setting and theme for the draft of the third book in this trilogy, not the first one. It shocked me so, I couldn’t blog last week. Even now, I don’t dare repeat her conversation. Here’s what happened.
One evening when sleep evaded me, I tossed and turned in restlessness. I used that time to prepare questions for Detective Madrid’s interview. That’s when she appeared, like a vision, but it turned into a writer’s nightmare. She stood facing me, a scowl on her face, her amber eyes glaring. With no greeting, she peppered me with her demands for book three.
Without spoiling the last chapters of the current manuscript, I can only disclose that it involves a career change I made for her. In that draft manuscript, I switched Madrid from a detective with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) to a private investigator with her own business. Not once did she mention that I kept her connected to MCSO with a fictitious position that allowed her to remain a part-time special investigator with that department while she pursued her PI interests.
I had created a strong-willed woman who forged her way toward a higher level. Through her thoughts and a conversation with Sergeant O’Sullivan, her superior, I revealed the steps she had planned toward the rank of commander of a different district so she didn’t butt heads with Captain Rojas, her ally. That evening, she went beyond strong-willed and became obstinate and belligerent with repeated blows that kept me awake.
I’m puzzled how she knew about book three—she didn’t tell me—but she slammed me with her demands to stay in law enforcement, even if not MCSO. “I’ll decide when to leave,” she said.
So I took a time out from revising Next of Kin, the first manuscript, to draft the first chapter of a different theme for book three. I couldn’t give her a higher level in the MCSO to gloat, so I moved her out of state. When it’s time for that book, I hope she doesn’t refuse to go.
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