One thing I’ve heard a number of times is write what you know.

Obviously that’s easier said than done with some aspects of the House Valerius series.

On the one hand; I’ve never drunk blood, I’ve never been in a helicopter, never been tortured (thankfully) and never killed anyone. I’ve never been in a gun fight; in fact, the majority of the scenes featuring gun fights were written before I’d ever even fired a gun.

On the other hand, I have lost people. I’ve seen someone I love die in front of me. I’ve been hurt; physically, emotionally, mentally. I’ve hurt people and I’ve done things I’m not proud of. But I’m sure just about any random person could say pretty much the same.

What I can do, or so I hope, is take those experiences and use the memory of them to make my characters real. To make them feel alive.

Where it becomes a little tricky is with my main character, Ash. I’ve already freely admitted that Ash is, essentially, an improved version of myself. Not an idealized one I hope, since I want to stay on the right side of Mary Sue-dom, but still I sometimes wonder how much of myself I put into Ash and how much about me can be read from him. I have some concerns in this area, especially with what I have planned for House in Exile, which I might go into at a later date. Also, I tend to be a less than open person, or so it seems, and the idea that I might be, for lack of a better way of putting it, giving away more than I intend is a little worrying.

I’m going to leave this thought here before I turn this into another worry session….

PS. I’ve noticed I’m using music references in my blog titles frequently. This isn’t deliberate. Probably.