May Blog Chain @ Absolute Write - character relationships

It's time for another Absolute Write Blog Chain, and this time our theme is as follows:

Show a character's approach to relationships in a short scene. A harmless exchange between mother and daughter? A submissive character overwhelmed by a dominant partner? A passionate lover's quarrel? A forlorn, unrequited letter?

Use your characters' interaction to show the dynamics of their relationship, show how they're growing together or growing apart, or just have silly fun. Character descriptions at the beginning are forbidden this time around--let them speak or act for themselves!

I've chosen an excerpt from CARNIVAL (after a loooooot of deliberation about which novel I should pick an excerpt from, since I considered about 3-4 different ones). This is the second book (sort of; more like a prequel I guess) in the SUNDOWN series. I'm not allowed to tell you about the characters, but have to let this writing speak for itself. It'll be interesting to see if it does or not:

Adelai helped the unsteady girl up and supported her on her feet. Then she started making the rounds saying farewell to the others. I waited eagerly for her to tell me goodbye too. This was my chance. I'd wait until she was gone, and then I'd slip out quietly and head back downtown. The CBD was within easy reach, only ten minutes walk away. And nobody here would notice my disappearance. They were all off their faces.

It was a good plan, until it dissolved before my eyes.

Adelai stopped in front of me. "You coming?"

"Um…where?" My mind was suddenly working overtime.

"If he wants to stay, that's cool!" the bartender called, and others added their agreement.

Oh hell no. I climbed resignedly to my feet.

"I told you there'd be a couch available," Adelai murmured, her gaze steady. "It's a bit crowded here. You're welcome at ours."

"I'm all right," I said. "I'll just head on home."

"How will you get there?"

My mind couldn't keep up. I just ended up staring at her stupidly.

She shook her head. "Well, there you go. You're coming with us. And remember, I'm the one who dragged you into this. I wouldn't want to leave you stranded." I went to protest, but she continued smoothly, "I remember you spent all your money, too." A small smile appeared on her face. "We're getting a cab, so why don't you come along? Our couch is really comfy."

I just stared down at her, increasingly frustrated with the situation, and with myself for being so slow-witted. I tried to buy some time to think by handing the bass guitar back to the bartender. But that didn't take long, and when I turned to face Adelai again, she was still watching me with an unreadable expression.

What the hell did she want from me anyway? She was being kind and generous, some might say to a stupid degree…but what did she get out of it? What would hanging out with a walking train wreck like me do for her?

"John!" she yelled out of the blue, startling me. She turned her head slightly in the direction of the hall.

I heard a voice call out faintly from elsewhere in the house.

Adelai called loudly, "We're going home right now! You coming?"

Another muffled response followed, and Adelai smiled faintly and shrugged. Then she gestured for me to follow her.

With consternation, I did just that.

Check out the other participants in this month's Blog Chain:

orion_mk3 - http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to this month's post)
Proach - http://desstories.blogspot.com/ (link to this month's post)
Yoghurtelf - http://thefarseas.blogspot.com/ (link to this month's post)
AuburnAssassin - http://clairegillian.com (link to this month's post)
aimeelaine - http://www.aimeelaine.com/blog (link to this month's post)
Della Odell - http://dellaodell.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)
jkellerford - http://jennykellerford.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)
juniper - http://www.katjuniper.com (link to this month's post)
Steam&Ink - http://steamandink.blogspot.com/ (link to this month's post)
LadyMage - http://www.katherinegilraine.com/ (link to this month's post)
pezie - http://www.erinbrambilla.com/ (link to this month's post)
xcomplex - http://arielemerald.blogspot.com/ (link to this month's post)
Inkstrokes - http://drlong67.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)
dolores haze - http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/ (link to this month's post)

A-Z blogging challenge "J" - Blog Chain (my character interviews me)

Okay, so this is another "two birds, one stone" moment, where I participate in this month's AbsoluteWrite blog chain, and post my A-Z entry for the letter J. At first we were going to interview our characters, but then orion_mk3 came up with an even cooler idea - have our characters interview us!).

I have decided to give the reins to the ghost of one of my characters, JD. FYI, "JD" is just what I'm calling him (his name does start with J, but in the novel(s) he's called by his full name, not JD). So, let's see how I fared under JD's interrogation:

JD appears to me in my dreams, crossing his arms and frowning at me. “So, what’s with all these ‘J’ names? I mean, you’ve got Jared, you’ve got Jules, and then there’s me! What is it, a J fixation or something?”

I tilt my head in thought. “Honestly? It just happened that way. Don’t accuse me of having some master J-name plan or something, because I didn’t.”

He shrugs. “Okay, take it easy! But look, I really want to know—why’d you have to kill me off? What’d I ever do to you?”

“I’m sorry about that—I really am. But I had to kill off the absolute nicest character I could find—and you qualified. At least you went down happy, right?”

“Well, that’s true,” he says thoughtfully. “I was doing what I love best. Still, I brought such shame on my bandmates—did you ever think how my death would impact them?”

“I’m really sorry, but it had to happen.”

He lifts his brows. “Okay, don’t even say it was for character development! I’ve heard that one too many times.”

“But you’ve got to admit Jared and Louise were just way too pukeishly happy—I had to mess it up for them somehow, didn’t I?”

“Still!” he protests, “They’re such good people! And they’d already gone through so much.”

“Listen, I was hurting too, man! I was hurting for them. But as Louise herself once said, ‘Life needs the ups and downs...doesn’t it?’ So in a way, she kind of asked for it.”

JD’s eyes flash with anger, an emotion he very rarely felt while he was living. “That’s crap! You need to seriously rethink what you do for kicks—killing people off, throwing spanners in works, tearing lovers apart.”

“Gee, JD, I’ve gotta say, you’re a lot more feisty as a ghost.”

He frowns. “I’ve had a lot of time to stew in my own angry juices, I guess.”

“But at least you got teamed up with Orestes in the afterlife, right?”

“True,” he says with reluctance. “That dude is hilarious.”

“He is. And I’m glad you guys get along.”

JD mutters to himself. “Still, it’s no excuse!”

“Look, is there anything else you wanted to ask? I’ve got to get going...I’ve just finished draft #3 of book 1 and I need to get onto the next version.”

He rolls his eyes. “All right—one last question. Those two are gonna be happy in the end, right?”

“Oh yeah, don’t worry. Credits will roll and the audience will be left with one seriously huge Happily Ever After.” After a moment I add, “Any future misery will be off camera.”

“Errr...that doesn’t really reassure me much...”

“Seriously,” I say, reaching out to squeeze JD’s hand. “It’s going to be okay. Now you really should go off and rest in peace.”

With that, he begins to fade.

And here's a list of other participants:

orion_mk3 - http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com
LadyMage - http://katherinegilraine.com
COchick - http://joannchaney.blogspot.com
Steam&Ink - http://steamandink.blogspot.com
xcomplex - http://www.arielemerald.blogspot.com
pezie - http://www.erinbrambilla.com
aimeelaine - http://www.aimeelaine.com/blog
auburnassassin - http://clairegillian.com
Della Odell - http://dellaodell.wordpress.com
Juniper - http://www.katjuniper.com
Proach - http://desstories.blogspot.com
dolores haze - http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/

March Blog Chain (AW) - secondary characters

Well, finally I get to participate in one of these Blog Chains, and this is what our fearless leader came up with for March:

Tis time for another blog chain. This month’s theme is Surprising Secondary Characters. Write about a secondary character that surprise you in some way. There is going to be two parts, so please read carefully.

Part one: Describe the character in your novel in 50 words or less.

Part two: Post a scene that shows why this character is special in in 100 words or less.

The goal is to be creative, have fun and discover new blogs. So, step on up and join in the March’s blog chain. Don’t forget to include a link to your blog on the thread.

So, without further ado...my character is taken from SUNDOWN, and is one of my favourite minor characters ever.

Part One:
Edgar Delaney is an embittered rockstar who hates most people. He's touring as a guest guitarist for a headlining band, whose members are some of his best (and only) friends. He spends his time backstage reading Jodi Picoult novels, drinking pineapple juice and rolling his eyes.

Part Two:

"So…what does a person have to do to become a rock star?"

Edgar shook his head. "Don't tell me you're aspiring to it?"

I laughed. "What if I don't have a choice? What if it's in my genes?"

"It's not. But since you asked…you'd have to do things like: sleep with all your friends' spouses; snort coke off the stage while your band was in the middle of playing a song… Hmm, smashing up a few hotel rooms would help—tried that one yet? Oh, and pissing on the crowd is always a deal sealer."

Participants so far:

Ralph Pines: http://ralfast.wordpress.com

Me: http://thefarseas.blogspot.com

Proach: http://desstories.blogspot.com

Knotane: http://knotane.wordpress.com

LadyMage: http://katherinegilraine.com

Dolores Haze: http://dianedooley.wordpress.com

Orion mk3: http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com

You're next!

If you check this thread and sign up, anyway.