About a year before I started writing
Ensnared v 3, I wrote a couple of stories that were to be an excerpt
of the later novel. They stories were called Enthralled and
Enthralled 2. The central theme of the stories is how Andreas is
actually getting off on being Darius' pleasure slave and develops a
need to be possessed by Darius that way. This still remains a big
theme in the current novel. But there is a major divergence in the
plot from what I wrote in the short stories. The nature of that
change is what I wanted to talk about in this blog.
Character Logic
When characters are written well, they
behave in a predictable way according to their personality. Andreas
is very open and friendly once he knows he can trust someone. Darius
is very close to Mykos and that is a strong incentive for Andreas to
build a relationship with him. Mykos has a similar temperament to
Darius. He has the dry sense of humor and a tendency to tease those
he likes. By the end of Volume Two of Ensnared, Mykos was growing
fond of Andreas. Additionally, they spent a couple of months in the
closer quarters of the Cosimo Tower where Mykos was there for most of
their meals and many of their evenings. Logic dictates that they
would be close enough by the beginning of Volume 3 that Andreas would
not feel the need to formally invite him for a meal to have a
conversation with him. While I really loved the scene in Enthralled 2
between Mykos and Andreas, it made no sense when I really thought
about it.
Still, I wanted the fun of the
interactions I had in the short story. In the current novel Mykos can
be annoyingly playful when Andreas least expects him to be. This
leads Andreas to the conclusion that Cosi are an exasperating group
as a lot. I get to show a side of Mykos that was not as prominent in
the first books. And those scenes were a lot of fun to write. Not
fighting the logic in a character's behavior can result in some truly
magical and unexpected moments and scenes that were never part of the
original plan.
Another theme Enthralled was that
Darius was not finding time to be with Andreas, so drastic measures
had to be taken to get his attention. Well, that didn't fit Darius'
personality. He would never neglect Andreas, especially when he's
feeling stressed. Neglect isn't the worry in the novel. Andreas is
now fretting over being inadvertently injured by a huge, stressed out
Cosi. On top of that, Andreas and Mykos have to convince Darius that
he must be trained as a proper Dami Owner, so Andreas can prepare to
be a proper Dami in some really hairy situations. Of course, training
is very, very sensual. This pushes all kinds of dangerous buttons for
Darius. These are great opportunities for some amazing love scenes
that all stem from their character traits. But there is also
potential for a lot of trouble when Andreas uses his sexual magnetism
to push the buttons of their enemies. Andreas is realizing his power
as a pleasure slave. He decides that he's tired of others trying to
provoke his Cosi into ruin. Andreas is out to do some hard pushing of
his own. Of course, he has to keep Darius from over reacting. Andreas
is one busy guy in this book.
These steps are all completely logical
for Andreas to take. As a Crew Leader, he always waited and watched
to get the lay of the land before calculating a strategy. He had a
lot to wrap his mind around in the first two books. In this one, he
knows who he is and is fairly comfortable straddling both worlds. And
he is also embracing the complexities of being a Dami to such a
powerful being. He plans to use that in every way he can to protect
Darius. The biggest challenge will be getting Darius to trust his
plan enough to do what he needs to do.
Thus, it can seem that the characters
are causing mayhem to my plots, but it's far more orderly and logical
than that. I just have to remember how these guys are constructed and
make sure my plots work with the traits I've already developed in
them. There is a lot less hair pulling and mindless drinking when I
do.
Cover Art Update
I'm happy with my sketches, but I am in
no way ready to execute a full color cover that would be good enough
to publish. My line art just isn't refined enough in any of the
digital programs and my coloring skills are worse. I reached out to
the fans on the page to find someone who could help me. To my
surprise and delight, one of our favorite people – a very talented
artist – offered to help me with the post production on the
sketches. Her name is Christina Poag of Kittie Cakes Designs
https://www.facebook.com/kittiecakes?fref=nf&pnref=story.
I've even figured out what I want to do for the cover designs
(they'll make nice posters, too).
If everything continues at the current
pace, we should be putting out the first part of Ensnared v 3 in
June. That means that the proofreads will be getting pages within the
next week or so. Crossing fingers.
The short story Enthralled can be found here:
Enthralled 2 can be found here on page 12:
