Tag Archive for: Famous Fictional Characters

The Writer’s Creative Mind

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My husband, Bob, and I were enjoying our morning coffee recently
when he looked out the window at the fence of live bamboo. I’d planted it to
avoid looking into our neighbor’s living room. And of course, I’d placed
containers in the ground to prevent the plant from spreading outward and
conquering the world, as bamboo likes to do. What caught Bob’s attention was
the height it had achieved. He suggested pruning.

My fiction writer’s imagination immediately went to work and
I recommended getting a couple of panda bears to keep the bamboo trimmed.

“Well, that’d be different, but that’s not what I had in
mind,” he said, looking at me like I’d lost my mind. “Tree trimmers can do the
job.”

It’s moments like this one, where Bob’s practical solution
and my imaginary one remind me fiction writers have vivid imaginations!

In a stream of consciousness, I thought of Lewis Carroll, the
British author, who wrote Alice in Wonderland. Carroll’s creative
mind shines through from cover to cover in the characters, plot, and story. And
it’s a children’s book! Though adults are captivated by its originality
too.

In the story, Alice falls through a rabbit hole into a
wonder-world of anthropomorphic creatures, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the
White Rabbit, and the Queen of Hearts. Alice’s stable and innocent world is
challenged by the adventures she encounters in Wonderland.

Over the years, the story’s meaning has been studied and
debated. Critics suggest Alice showed signs of mental illness, as did other
characters, like the Mad Hatter. Reviewers have even questioned if Carroll was
on drugs when he wrote Alice in Wonderland. While others state the
story is a child’s progression into adulthood.

What we do know is that Carroll’s characters and surreal imagery
have influenced film and literature, especially the fantasy genre.

So where does this lead me? Back to the imagination of fiction
writers. Whether we write steamy romance, espionage, science fiction, cozies, or
mystery thrillers, we often start with a kernel of truth. After that, our creative
mind takes charge. We don’t have to invent anthropomorphic creatures like Lewis
Carroll did. As authors, though, we must create compelling characters!

I take a quick look out the window. My bamboo fence has shot
skyward another six inches. Just since I started writing this blog!

Can you imagine that?

Kathryn’s books –
The Nikki Garcia Thriller series and her short story collection – Backyard
Volcano. Available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082H96R11

Kathryn Lane started out as a starving
artist. To earn a living, she became a certified public accountant and embarked
on a career in international finance with a major multinational corporation. After
two decades, she left the corporate world to plunge into writing mystery and
suspense thrillers. In her stories, Kathryn draws deeply from her Mexican background as well as her travels
in over ninety countries.

https://www.facebook.com/kathrynlanewriter/

Photo credit:

The Mother of Invention

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By Kathryn Lane
Writers are always combing
through ideas for stories. We take in a lot of information and through our
individual creative processes, we select the characters, plots, themes, and
settings that we bring to life. Great authors, like Arthur Conan Doyle and Margaret
Mitchell, invent characters, such as Sherlock Holmes and Scarlett O’Hara, that endure
over time. Then there are authors who have penned novels that have changed
society. A few examples are Homer’s Odyssey, Cervantes’ Don Quixote,
Toni Morrison’s Beloved, George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Margaret
Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series.

For most writers of mystery and romance,
we don’t look to change the world. We intend to entertain.
But COVID-19 has changed our
world. When I read or hear the news, I realize we have a plethora of ideas that
can and will influence our work. For example, in mystery novels, a detective might
attend a funeral service to glean information through observation of the
attendees. Now that funerals have gone virtual, will that detective be able to
gather information by watching the service on-line? Instead of seeing the
interaction among the mourners, the video feed will limit the view of the
gathering and the detective’s ability to catch suspicious nuances.

COVID-19
has ushered in hi-tech innovations, such as a bar “The Crazy Gypsy” in Seville,
Spain, whose latest hire is a robotic bartender. One android bartender can
serve hundreds of beers in an hour. If this innovation is widely adapted over
the next decade, gone will be the days of human bartenders conversing or
scaring customers in a movie or T.V. series. Think Moe in the Simpsons,
Sam Malone from Cheers, or Lloyd from The Shining.  


Besides hi-tech applied to daily
life, this pandemic has also brought a return to low-tech yet wonderful traditions,
like the milkman who leaves containers of fresh milk, cheese, and
organic fruit and vegetables near the front door. Now the milkman can be blamed
for love affairs, fathering children, witnessing crimes, or even killing
someone.
Innovation is great. Without it,
we’d still be in the stone age. What I worry about is the loss of human
interaction. Kids’ birthday parties and graduation ceremonies becoming drive-by
events. My husband and I watched a video stream as our grandson “drove-by” to
pick up his high school diploma. To me, it was sad that we could not be there
in person and celebrate after the ceremony. But as we watched the students
drive by, every single one of them was smiling and looked happy.
Crises are the mother of
invention, as the saying goes. The world will adapt. And so will we. Since I’m a
person who enjoys the “personal touch”, I was elated when a friend, Shana
Fabio, stayed in touch not by using Zoom, but rather by sending cards through
regular mail, such as the watercolor she sent us. We were touched to receive this
beautiful hand-painted card, showing family members. A card I can touch, place on
my desk, and admire. I love it!

Who is your favorite fictional character?
Kathryn’s books –
The Nikki Garcia Thriller series and her short story collection – Backyard
Volcano. All available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082H96R11
About Kathryn Lane:
Kathryn started out as a starving artist in oil painting. To
earn a living, she became a certified public accountant and embarked on a
career in international finance with a major multinational corporation. After
two decades, she left the corporate world to plunge into writing mystery and
suspense thrillers. And she says she loves what she’s doing these days!

Sherlock Holmes: Photo credit: dynamosquito on Visualhunt.com / CC
BY-SA

Bartender
Robot: Public Domain

Watercolor:
Used with permission from the Fabio Family