He's so much fun to write, for one thing. I love a character when I don't have to worry about readers finding him sympathetic. And I think everyone knows by now that I find amoral characters the easiest to write (I suck ASS at writing heroes). I know he's a total prick; everyone knows this. Some readers like (or love) him, others seem not to. But I absolutely love him as a character. Unconditionally. It's 'cause I get him.
I'm privy to Michael's full character arc; what he was, what he became, what he is now, and what he will eventually be. He wasn't always so bad—Michael was a good person who suffered tragedy. You'll notice in his exchange with the mysterious Elizabeth that he doesn't exactly come across as the typical Michael you know and loathe. He used to be a very different person. After all the tragedy in his life, in another person's book, he might have become a hero with a sad past, rising above circumstance to right wrongs. Or he might have become a semi-dark anti-hero, tortured by past memories, wanting to make amends...
But, of course, in my book he became a total prick, and ultimately took on the role of both antagonist and mentor to the main characters.
Before he became a prick, however, Michael did some horrible things—unforgivable things, in fact. It's implied in Surfacing, and I'll say it unambiguously here: he is (uh, figuratively) a monster. One character will later ask him explicitly what he's done, to which he replies, “Worse than you'd like to imagine.” And when all those things come to light, I'm not sure whether or not readers—or the other characters—will forgive him. Will he be redeemable? Does he even want to be redeemed? When asked by readers before, I had to answer truthfully: I don't honestly know if he's sorry for anything he's done.
A few words about other characters seen here...they'll come up again. You'll know part way through Part Two who exactly Anne was to Michael, and more or less what happened to her. Elizabeth's role in his life will become clear and I'd like her to make an...appearance, of sorts, a little bit later. The “old man” in Michael's final dream is never officially seen in CotA, but I will explain him at some point.
And I'm not even going to talk about Merri—her past will be known in Part Two, so just hang tight.
Though it won't come up in the story for awhile, you will—at some point—see Michael as he once was.
And maybe you'll just love him a little as well.
—
----
"She wrapped evil around her like a large, evil Mexican serape."
Author Commentary
I liked writing this story. Why? I heart Michael.
He's so much fun to write, for one thing. I love a character when I don't have to worry about readers finding him sympathetic. And I think everyone knows by now that I find amoral characters the easiest to write (I suck ASS at writing heroes). I know he's a total prick; everyone knows this. Some readers like (or love) him, others seem not to. But I absolutely love him as a character. Unconditionally. It's 'cause I get him.
I'm privy to Michael's full character arc; what he was, what he became, what he is now, and what he will eventually be. He wasn't always so bad—Michael was a good person who suffered tragedy. You'll notice in his exchange with the mysterious Elizabeth that he doesn't exactly come across as the typical Michael you know and loathe.
He used to be a very different person. After all the tragedy in his life, in another person's book, he might have become a hero with a sad past, rising above circumstance to right wrongs. Or he might have become a semi-dark anti-hero, tortured by past memories, wanting to make amends...
But, of course, in my book he became a total prick, and ultimately took on the role of both antagonist and mentor to the main characters.
Before he became a prick, however, Michael did some horrible things—unforgivable things, in fact. It's implied in Surfacing, and I'll say it unambiguously here: he is (uh, figuratively) a monster. One character will later ask him explicitly what he's done, to which he replies, “Worse than you'd like to imagine.” And when all those things come to light, I'm not sure whether or not readers—or the other characters—will forgive him. Will he be redeemable? Does he even want to be redeemed? When asked by readers before, I had to answer truthfully: I don't honestly know if he's sorry for anything he's done.
A few words about other characters seen here...they'll come up again. You'll know part way through Part Two who exactly Anne was to Michael, and more or less what happened to her. Elizabeth's role in his life will become clear and I'd like her to make an...appearance, of sorts, a little bit later.
The “old man” in Michael's final dream is never officially seen in CotA, but I will explain him at some point.
And I'm not even going to talk about Merri—her past will be known in Part Two, so just hang tight.
Though it won't come up in the story for awhile, you will—at some point—see Michael as he once was.
And maybe you'll just love him a little as well.
----
"She wrapped evil around her like a large, evil Mexican serape."