Fully Alive

It's a daunting task, you know, trying to follow a blog post that came about as a result of an almost religious epiphany, one that not only solved the whole problem of what the hell the last week was all about, but also set me on the course that'll finally finish the book I've been working on for so long. I mean, how do you follow that? Not to mention there's the added pressure of feeling that the blog has been on a red hot streak since the first 'Gwen Stacy' post, and I want to keep that momentum rolling along. I'm aware that right before my X-Mas Trilogy Stray Bullets was just pretty much here, passing time, and I wasn't doing anything particularly inspired with it. But since I started the Search, and thanks to an added dose of chaos into my humdrum life, I've gotten back on my creative footing with this here thing, and I've really enjoyed writing for it. I also can't believe I never came up with the Lori and Lucy rivalry years ago for the Joyride, because that is such a Libbyesque idea at heart.

Let's talk about the epiphany a little more. Sometimes an idea will seem great during the late evening hours, but will then seem a lot less shiny in the harsh morning hours. Not this time. If anything, I was even more excited about this creative path than I'd been when I wrote the post about it. I kept thinking about it all day, playing devil's advocate, pushing and pulling on it to find the cracks, kicking it around, and I think it's airtight. It's the way to go. And the more I think about it, the original ending seems far too harsh and cruel for any reader who's gotten that far into the book to have to swallow, and it seems like kind of a cheat or an easy way out. I'm glad I figured that out now instead of much later.

And the expansion of Quinn's character has led to a whole pot pourri of other ideas. I have any number of scenes involving her in mind now, plus a few meetings between characters I hadn't expected to meet, a few meetings between characters who maybe should never meet, a confrontation where two people unite to defeat the common enemy, a scene where Laurel transcends being an awesome sister and becomes a complete badass, and a scene where I borrow from what is my very favorite moment from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (don't worry, it doesn't involve any kung fu). All in all, the later sections of the book are filling out quite nicely, and it all sprang from that one epiphany like the Big Bang occuring.

Ah, but you know what else? I'm fine again. Last week's big angle involving Amy has brought me through the fire and out the other side ... and I'm fine. While in the middle of it, I was far less than fine indeed, and I didn't know what to do, and I didn't know how turning that girl away would not then become a big regret that I'd carry around for years (similar to the old situation with Krysten, which took me years to get past), and how I'd get myself back to normal. Then the idea about the book hit me like black lightning and it was like I was Born Again, to steal a phrase from a competing religion that I don't adhere to. But "born again" is pretty close to what did happen. The angst is gone. I don't mean that I feel less angsty; I mean it's GONE gone. And I'm fine. I'm not depressed, or angry, or any of that. It's all gone. I'm even perhaps better than I was before it started, because without Amy coming after me, and without her staying over on my couch, the big idea wouldn't have come. This is what comes of living in a universe run by a crazy woman who is indifferent to all of us -- bizarre things happen with seemingly no rhyme or reason that result in even more bizarre circumstances. But thanks to the Nice Lady, who has some sort of plan for all of this chaos, it works out for the best.

By the way, I do realize how crazy I sound when I get to talking this way. Just so you know.

Now, getting back to Quinn. The character as I see her, as a younger version of Samantha, is going to be quite a delightful creature. Seeing as it's the writer who's going to be writing her saying that, I realize I'm biased, but you'll see. But since it's going to be a while before you meet her in the book, I thought perhaps there might be a way I could visually capture some of the essence of Quinn, including the ever-present ponytail, by using yet another comic book reference. Obviously, Quinn doesn't have Amazonian powers, but Wonder Girl here does possess some of the same fine attributes as Kelly's young friend, including a whole truckload of charm and grace.







Season Two will be in the mail soon. And then I have some serious work to do.