In the 1932 film, Grand Hotel, Greta Garbo said, "I vant to be alone." Actually, what she really said was 'I want to be alone', but I needed you to hear the Swedish accent. (Anyway, I digress. It happens.)

Like Greta, I too prefer to be alone. The thing is -- I never am -- even when I am. You see I have all these people hanging out with me in my head. Just as in real life, I don't necessarily like them all, but what can I do? I created them, and now I'm stuck with them.

Before I can put characters into my stories, I have to get to know them. You spend a lot of time learning about the person you plan to marry, and you interview a potential employee before trusting him with your business. It's the same with characters. I need to know who they are before I plunk them into a novel, so that I'm sure they can do the job.

Initially I may be drawn to the sound of their voice or their manner of speaking. It could be the freckles on their nose that first catches my attention. It might be a funny habit or a dry sense of humour. Perhaps it's the way their mind wanders or how they anger easily. Maybe it's their preoccupation with money. It doesn't matter. The point is that little by little, I get to know them, until eventually I am as familiar with them as I am with members of my own family. I know how they will react in a given situation, what they will say, what they will think and how they will feel.

And though much of their back story won't ever find its way into the novel, I know their background too. Anecdotes and incidents that explain why they are who they are. Many authors write this information down -- kind of like a police suspect board. I just keep it in my head, and though I might not share it with my readers, every piece of information helps the character maintain his or her identity. They aren't flat paper cutouts; they are individuals with personalities, wants, needs, likes and dislikes, flaws, and strengths. They have a past and a future. (Well, unless I kill them off.)

The tricky part is finding out how the characters respond to each other. How do they play together? In the same way that you as a party host consider how guests might get along, I as a writer must consider the same question for my characters. The truth is I often don't know until they come together in a scene. I have an idea about how I want the scene to play out, but if the characters respond credibly with each other, something completely different than I had planned could happen -- and the story takes an unexpected turn. Surprise!

You're probably thinking I'm being silly. After all, I'm the writer. I can make anything happen that I want. I can try, but if I force my characters to react out of keeping with their nature, readers aren't going to buy it, and the story will fall flat.

To avoid that, I must constantly become the characters I have created. Before they so much as raise an eyebrow, sigh, or mumble, I have to dive into their skin and perceive the situation from their point of view. Then when it's the next character's turn to take the stage, I hop into their skin. So, if Maeve snaps at Declan, I have to become Declan and evaluate the situation from his perspective and within his nature, before he reacts. He isn't going to do or say what Bradan would, nor the queen, nor Enda, so I can't have a generic, preconceived response -- even though that would guarantee the plot moved on as planned. The only way I can get my characters to play their parts credibly is to become them, and if that means altering the plot accordingly, so be it. 

It's like putting on a one-woman show. It's a wonder my mind hasn't turned to mush. Some might argue, it has.  

• The book, Sybil, (1973) by Flora Rheta Schreiber about a woman being treated for a multiple (16) personality disorder was made into a movie twice -- first in 1976 starring Sally Field and Joanne Woodward, and again in 2007 starring Tammy Blanchard and Jessica Lange. 

• Shirley Mason, the real-life subject of the book, Sybil, later (like after the book made a ton of money) admitted that she had faked her condition.

• Before her 1976 role as the psychiatrist in the movie, Sybil, Joanne Woodward starred in The Three Faces of Eve (1957), but this time as the DID patient. She won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance -- three ... three ... three roles in one!

• DID individuals sometimes exhibit different skills and talents as they change from one dissociative state to another. eg. - change their handedness or speak foreign languages.

Though there are no characters in The Seer Trilogy suffering with DID, King Owen -- the queen's brother -- sometimes hangs on to sanity by a thread. Below is an excerpt from the final book due out in the fall, The Sorcerer's Revenge. In this scene, Queen Ailsa and King Owen, prisoners for many months, have been brought before King Redmond so he can decide their fate.

      The handsome man who’d sat at the Great King’s right hand was no more. If Queen Ailsa was thin, King Owen was skeletal. It was a wonder his bones didn’t clack and clatter as he walked. Against the opulence of the castle chamber, he was naught but a grey shadow. Maeve supposed it was the combination of grime coating his skin, the filth of his clothing, and living without sunlight these past months. His long, dirty hair fell into his eyes, and judging from the incessant way he scratched his head, it was full of fleas. The manicured goatee had become a scraggly beard running wild down his throat. But it was his eyes that caught and held Maeve. They shone brightly from sunken sockets and darted from side to side as if unsure what to look at. Maeve shrank farther into the niche.

      King Owen’s wrists were shackled, his ankles too. The heavy chain hanging between his fetters clanked and scraped the stone floor as he shuffled forward. His smell preceded him, and even from a distance the foul stench found its way into the alcove.

(A heated conversation ensues between the king and queen.)

      Finally Queen Ailsa broke the spell. “If you haven’t brought us here to gloat, you must have another purpose. What is it?”

      This whole time, Maeve had kept one eye on King Owen. He had remained quiet during the exchange, but not disinterested. She watched his eyes. They reflected the man within. Crazed—yes, but also sly. Like his sister, his spirit was far from broken, his mind far from empty. He was assessing the situation, waiting for his chance.

      King Redmond began to speak again. “I wished to see for myself if confinement had changed you—if it had stirred remorse in you.”

      The queen snorted. “Why? If we are repentant will you release us?”

      King Owen fell to his knees and clasped his hands in supplication. “Sire, I beg your forgiveness and mercy. I was a fool to turn against you. Such a wise and compassionate ruler this land has never known before and never will again. Undeserving wretch that I am, I ask you to give me another chance to prove my loyalty. I shall be forever your humble servant.”

      Maeve was stunned. The king and queen seemed equally shocked—until King Owen winked at his sister, and they both burst out laughing.

• As I wait for the next round of revisions for The Sorcerer's Revenge, I work on Bran, the story of the sorcerer as a boy. It's not a prequel or sequel to the trilogy, but more of a spinoff. Though my publisher hasn't made any commitment, I'm crossing my fingers she will publish it.

• Hoping to see some cover art for The Sorcerer's Revenge within the next month or so.