Please Read This Post!

Lately, I've been having lots of malware problems on my blog. Apparently it keeps blocking people and coming up with a warning that if you proceed to my site, it could download a virus on your computer.

So I think I've finally gotten it fixed.

Although, I'm not sure if it's only showing up for some people, or if it's COMPLETELY fixed now.

If you didn't see the warning when you visited my blog, please comment and tell me! If you did see the warning, well, I guess it wouldn't have allowed you onto my site. Either way, let me know!

Thanks!

--Jess

If you're having problems like mine, here's a really helpful blogger forum where you can post a question and people can help figure out what's wrong and how to fix it.

Your Star

So I've been thinking a lot about my characters lately.

In my first draft of From the Ashes, all of my characters were really flat. They had no histories, no connections, and very little life. They were characters in a story, and that's all.

What did I do to fix this? Or at least make it better?

Multiple things, actually.

First thing I did was make a 'cast'. If my book were a movie, who would my ideal cast be? It was really fun (and time consuming) to find people who'd work, but I finally settled on the top four.

Okay, now since I'm paranoid about being sued for using someone else's pictures (it happened to Roni Loren) unfortunately I can't just post them.

But here are the four Main Characters and who would ideally play them:

Jenn Proske as Jaina Indera (MC)

Matt Lanter as Altaïr Kasev (MC)

Taylor Lautner as Azad Viraak (Antagonist)

Logan Lerman as Liam Rodan (Supporting Character)

So those are my top four. By the way, the link leads directly to a picture, and it's pretty much exactly what I imagined them to look like. Still haven't settled on the 'perfect' Jaina, though. (Any suggestions?)

Anyway, that's the first thing I did.

Second, I wrote a backstory for each and every one of them. Not just those four. I mean like, all twelve important to important-ish characters in Book 1.

But of course I couldn't just stop there.

I had to make backstories for people that show up in Book 2 and 3, and sometimes for people who don't show up at all! Like Azad's dad...

I wrote so much about each person in fact, I think I could write a whole novel about most of them. (There's an idea!)

And, since I love music so much, I chose a song (or a few) to go with certain people.

The one I'm currently obsessed with is one that totally describes my Antagonist. He lost something very important to him in his past and it made him the 'bad guy' he is.

The song is called Your Star. Yes, of course it's by Evanescence!

The video has the lyrics in it so if you're not good at hearing the words, you can read it.

Do you guys have trouble making your character realistic? Have you written backstories for your characters? Have you chosen an ideal cast? Share your thoughts!

Happy Wednesday!

-Jess

P.S.

Check THIS out if you want something to post about today! It's really fun :)