Tobyn

It occurs to me that characters, when sufficient amounts of energy and time are spent with them, become as real and as unpredictable as the flesh-and-blood people around me. Case in point: Tobyn Reyes Gemini, the "hero" of my Clans series. He's mercurial to a fault, spectacularly incapable of fidelity, and slavishly devoted to his schemes of revenge. He's also occasionally sweet and gentle, with a (well buried) spiritual side and a surprising capacity for love. I can tell you what he looks like, what he sounds like, even what he smells like. I can tell you his favorite color, and his favorite food. I can tell you his hopes, his fears, his desires, his plans, and his pet peeves. The one thing I can' t tell you is what he's going to do next.

I have paragraph-length synopses, really more like reminders, describing the large-stroke plot events for each book in the series. Somehow, despite Tobyn's very singular way of moving through the world in erratic zigzags, he manages to hit his marks when the time comes. I still don't know how it happens.

This is one of those moments where it's best not to think too hard about it. I'll just quote Geoffry Rush from Shakespeare in Love and leave it at that: "Who knows? It's a miracle."