Lovers

Writers are dangerous creatures....we can kill anyone we want without penalty and torture people beyond recognition. We are creators and destroyers of worlds. 

And all of it comes with the single flick of a pen. 

So yes, writing is going well. 

I've been trying to keep up with my writing as well as I can with this busy weekend. Friday it was a spend the night, Saturday it was work and today is school work. Tomorrow will be friends again, and Tuesday is class. 0_0 It's almost insane to say that on top of everything else that's going on in my life--that I'm trying to write a novel. It's completely deranged, but there again so am I. It fits well I suppose. 

Today's current 'thought' is on my characters. Primarily the love interests. For those of you that don't know--the two love interests of my main character Johanna are Alan and Wolfe 

I made the collage, but I don't own the pictures. All credit to their respective owners. 

While my story isn't about the romance, there is a small romantic element to it...but only marginally. I'm not big into love stories, and since this is all about war--I try to make their story more...gritty. 

Okay, first love interest is Alan. 

He's more of the secretive loner, but unlike most 'loner lovers', Alan is a very compassionate and caring person. He's protective, that's one of his biggest aspects. However, as the story progresses he has to come to grips with the fact that he can't protect the people he really cares for. He also has a dark secret that he never wants to come to light, and while he knows what he did was for the best of his family--he still regrets the fact that he was pushed down to that level.

Alan is a bit aloof and has trouble accepting help. His strength is quiet; he doesn't make a very big deal out of being strong in difficult situations. Alan is Johanna's rock really, and his calm demeanor soothes her in the chaos. She doesn't rely on him exclusively for strength, but he does help her. Basically, Alan is a strong man who can handle a strong woman. Their relationship is much more evenly divided and both draw stability from the other. 

Alan is the 'good guy' in this story. I hate books where the girl is primarily attracted to the male lead because of how attractive he is, or 'cool' he seems. Most male leads are jerks, and that's a dangerous image to sell to young girls. Telling them that a 'bad boy' isn't something they should be wary of is very VERY dangerous! Here's a little tip--bad boys are just that--they are bad. DON'T get involved with them. 

The second love interest is Wolfe, and he's more of the "bad guy".

Wolfe is arrogant, self absorbed, yet ferociously loyal. 

Wolfe comes from a difficult situation, and carries a lot of anger around in him. He's the polar opposite of Alan in that while Alan is burdened by guilt--Wolfe is burdened with hate. Wolfe's isn't dangerous, but he does have some issues. So a question you may be asking is why would I put a 'bad boy' in the book if I'm so opposed to romanticizing the bad guy image? Well, that's just it...to show it's no good. Wolfe is a troubled individual, and Johanna does become involved with him as a friend to start with. However, their relationship crumbles as Wolfe becomes more and more engrossed in his anger. 

There are good points to Wolfe, one of them being that he is very loyal. Wolfe isn't really the betraying type. He's a bit self absorbed and cocky, but he's not a traitor. He's also a protector, but not ins the same way Alan is. Wolfe is more of a clumsy protector, he wants very much to keep the people he cares about safe--but his own selfishness gets in the way a lot. 

Wolfe's journey is one of redemption. His struggle is with his own selfishness, and while he does pull himself away--Johanna does NOT carry him through it. Wolfe changes yes, but not completely. He's a complex character with a lot of major flaws, which ultimately leads Johanna away from him. 

The two are polar opposites, even though they come from similar situations. Alan had a difficult past, but has chosen to not let it turn him into a monster. He fights against it. Wolfe has let his past take over, and he has directed all his anger at others. Johanna's relationship with Alan is healthy, and her's with Wolfe is unhealthy.

I've recently really started focusing on the details of these relationships, and it was a really big decision for me. Since I knew that both men needed to be different, but at the same time still have some common element that attracted Johanna to them--I decided to make on relationship good and the other not so much. I want to show that a good man, even though he may not be the 'coolest' of the two is always the better choice.

I also wanted to dispel this. 

I don't claim to be a great orator of the way love should be, but I do believe that selling the bad boy image to young girls is dangerous. So I don't want to do that with my writing. Again, I'm no great lover...as you all know...when it comes to love I'm just sitting in my corner like this: 

Haha, see y'all next time!