I was fretting about how I didn't want to write a female character needing to be rescued because bleh, so I was planning out a way to do something else.
My husband: "Just make it Adair. It's always Adair. The bad guys don't even set out a box trap with a pie inside anymore. It's just a box with a drawing of a pie, he's that dumb. Adair is the Princess Toadstool of your writing world."

My response: "Oh my gosh, my damsel in distress is Chowder!" (Adair is so very much like Chowder from the tv cartoon.)

I guess this means that a.) I don't write stereotypical gender roles, b.) This series is frequently comedic, and c.) I now have the mental picture of one of my male MCs in a pink frilly princess dress. And yes, Adair does end up in the "damsel in distress" role far more than any other character. He's so trusting and oblivious!

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Okay, now for the "Dear Characters" post!

Dear Etri (the Sentinel),
You're supposed to be the smartest character in this series, but you've been acting even more oblivious than Adair. You're just really bad at reading meaning into what other people are saying, aren't you? Is it a language barrier thing or is it just that you don't understand flirtation? After writing Blythe's heartbreaking flashback, I don't know how she's continued to put up with you. Sigh.

Dear Blythe (the Curator),
I'm waiting on you to figure out that you're connected to the other two, so stop arguing with them and do something that'll let me play with the trio link. I'm curious what's going to happen if I make it so you're the one who gets injured. You can't get a premonition about your own injury, right? Are you guys picking up emotions from each other? That'll be interesting when Etri doesn't emote and Adair's emotional state is perpetually set at "happy, excited puppy".

Dear Adair (the Master artist),
Look at you, coming up with an idea to go undercover to talk with one of the corrupt art dealers! I love that you painted Dali's "The Persistence of Memory" only with pies instead of clocks.
PS: Here's a clue-by-four. I think you might need to beam Etri over the head with it next time.

Dear Chantrell (the caged musician),
You were so spunky when I had you in book 1! What happened? The plot's making you way too passive when I know you're not. Maybe once Gilly sneaks you out, you'll come out of your shell. I hate that you have to be rescued, but since it's another girl doing it, it's probably okay. Please try to do something against your sister on the way out! She is going to burn your beloved garden.

Dear Sapphire, Obsidian, Ametrine, Pearl, and the rest,
What happened to you guys? This book was supposed to have a lot to do with the carnies, but you've barely been in here! That said, Ametrine, WHY are you winking at me and saying I should use you as a main character in a later book? You've had three lines of dialogue and all I know is that you used to be a stablehand, you're a courier, you're probably gender fluid, and you don't put up with Blythe's sarcasm. ... Actually, that last one earns you points in your favor. I'll see what I can do about getting you into a later book with Chantrell and Gilly. You intrigue me, kid.


~Meri, the writer who has reached the week three blues where all I want to do is rewrite this into something pretty. But I won't! I will finish building this framework so the second draft has a foundation.