Plight of Secondary Characters

Secondary characters. They are not always essential, and are usually only in a story to build the main protagonist into something believably “real,” but I find myself falling for them time and time again.

Once Upon a Time

When I enjoy a story, most likely it has a secondary character I've fallen in love with. Sometimes I might dislike the main protagonist, but like the secondary so I continue reading or watching. And for a series, I’m a big fan of lifting a character out of secondary status and dropping him into main protagonist status. I watch anime, and shows will have a cast of many, but still claim one as the main character. More than likely, I don’t care about the lead and only watch for another character(s). In short, I love me some secondary character action...but sometimes I feel not all writers agree with me.

07 Ghost

If a secondary character is equally important to the plot, but is not designated with the prestigious title of “lead” or “main,” he has the ability to be killed off and replaced. This is the trouble with liking a secondary character—they die! Death is always hanging over a secondary character's head. It’s happened to us all. We fall in love with a character, and seven episodes in or four chapters deep, he (or she) is killed off for added drama and tears.

I’m all for heartache and drama, but I tend to fall for the one character out of twenty who is destined to die. It happened so many times, I braved a sea of spoilers for a new video game by looking up my favorite guy online just to check whether or not he would bite the dust and leave me screaming at my TV screen, cursing the writers who would take him from me. (He lives, btw)

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Do you fall for a secondary character(s), or do you focus on the main character(s)? Are you just as cut up over character death as I am?

Reinventing Long-Loved Fantasy Elements

I'm a gay romance author and I recently broke an unwritten golden rule of fantasy I wasn’t aware existed. I wrote a gay romance novel called Water Waltz and gave angels hollow bones for flight. Angels are referred to as weak because of their bones, but they do have rejuvenating blood so it evens out in their favor. And while they are weaker than the others in the world of Water Waltz, they are not pushovers. I’ve received a review or two and a few emails about how readers disagree with my take on angels.

There’s no actual rule in fantasy. That’s what makes the fantasy genre evolve and gives it that special something that brings readers back. (All my personal opinion, of course.) I “reinvented” demons, angels, devils, and faeries for the world in Water Waltz and removed biblical ties. My angels are not angels of old. I might as well have just borrowed the term for a man with wings. I took liberties with the term devil and demon as well, making it separate races with different strengths and weaknesses.

Changing classic creatures is a not new practice. Vampires tend to evolve with each new adaptation. I do remember a backlash about sparkling vampires so maybe certain aspects really are untouchable...

I enjoy taking fantasy elements and changing them to fit my imagination. I also enjoy reading fantasy with a new take on classic ideas—especially with gay romance tied into it since that seems to be all I’m reading lately. Fantasy creatures don’t come with strict guidelines. That freedom makes fantasy fun and only bound by one’s imagination. Do you have a favorite fantasy novel that "broke the mold" of its time?

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Water Waltz is available now from Dreamspinner Press:

In a land where humans are enslaved as sexual toys, angels and demons are in constant conflict with their playthings. The demon Varun works with STAR, an organization devoted to human liberty, and it’s a never-ending battle.

Two years ago, the angel Triste broke Varun’s heart by choosing to be his butler instead of his beloved, giving Varun no explanation and no hope. However, that doesn’t mean that Triste will simply sit back and watch as Varun takes the human Elden under his protection, and Triste’s secret investigation will unearth terrible secrets, including the kernels of a pernicious plot.

Despite appearances, Triste and Varun are still in love, and Varun may well risk everything to protect Triste and discover why the angel left him heartbroken. But a still worse danger hangs over them as they seek to calm the threat of a catastrophic war.

Yaoi and Gay Romance

If you want to learn more about yaoi and gay romance, come back on June 22 for Manga and Romance Blog Hop! If you have a yaoi or gay romance blog or website and want to sign up to participate, please visit the main page here. We’re colliding two cultures, yaoi and romance, and partying all weekend! There’ll be a grand prize and a few authors are offering prizes as well.

There's no coffee in Podunk

No offense to those of you who are living in a true Podunk place, but Albuquerque is far from the definition of Podunk.

pic from wikipedia

 Once upon a time I remembered watching a movie with two of my closest friends. This movie had an FBI agent from Dallas moving to Albuquerque, NM. It recently came across highly recommended to me by Netflix, so I figured I'd watch it again because maybe when I was younger I didn't know what was good. 

No, even now it sucks. I thought--back then--that it was an old movie or at least set in the 1980s. But no. This is a 2004 production.

outside of Starbucks

Let me tell ya, don't listen to this movie. We have a Starbucks. Actually, we have a LOT of Starbucks. Gallup is not a part of Albuquerque even though they are close. We happen to have more than two FBI agents and a big ol' building separate from the court house to house them in!
The city has a population of 535,239 and this population requires coffee and law enforcement!(and donuts for that law enforcement)

Oh and contrary to popular belief, we are not run on horse and carriages like the wild west. I promise. I'd probably be a bigger fan of horses if this was the case.

from wikipedia