I didn't.

And there are those that would argue that a bitch like me should be meaner to her characters. But, I can't. So they languish in la la land with nary a scratch. Also, my heroes are weak. They are spineless, and confused, and just a bore to write (goddess help you if you are reading them). I love my heroine. Heroes, not so much.

Reading a well executed villian really gets my blood going. If they are well written and multi-faceted, I often like the villan more than the hero (see, I really am a bitch). I can't seem to make my villians evil either. They are also spineless and weak. Side characters, the ones with wierd quirks and strange personalities, they are my friends. I can write side characters all day long. The next logical step would be to knock off the characters who aren't working, and bring in the ones that do. If you are an underperforming character, you get shoved into the back of the stage so the ones that shine can entertain.

But I love my characters.

All of them.

So, what do I do?

When I wrote my first novel, I figured out after a good amount of time, that my heroine was not who I thought she was. I know the character I wanted to write - she was going to be one of those alternative kids with a great sarcastic wit, who always knew the right thing to say and her hair would always look good (I have hair issues. A demon controls my hair, but that is for a short story....later). The character I ended up loving the most is a motherly figure with a temper that rolls along at a low boil until she explodes, and then she can't control herself. I still don't think, even with the edits I've made on that book, that her explosions are enough.

So, now here we are at book 2 (long story short - getting my M"F"A, instead of my MA, so I have to start a new work...no more edits on first book. Move along. Next story's simmering. Let's get this thing cooking), and I'm screwed. Heroine - love her. Villain - meh. Side villain jr. - love her.

I'm about to kill them all and start over. I think a Category 4 hurricane will do nicely to get rid of them all.

Sigh.

Typical.

So hang on, sit tight, and maybe I'll get this thing working before I turn 40.

My gray hair says that may be soon.

Yeah.