Prairie Fire —DJuna Shellam The Write OWL— Episode 20

Prairie Fire

DJuna Shellam The Write OWL— Episode 20

In Episode 20, Prairie Fire, I talk about how Praire Fire, the book and the character, came to be named, and discuss a little about her role in the series, as well as her personality.

Prairie FireAs with most of my characters, Praire Fire somewhat appeared out of nowhere. In fact, she took the place of another character I thought would fill that role that I conjured many, many years ago. Sometimes, for me, I make plans for a story, but then when I start writing the story, it has other ideas. Yes, the story has its own ideas about how things should go. Sometimes I feel as if I’m more of a stenographer taking dictation from my master—I mean, my Muse—than a writer.

In the end, as ever, I’m completely happy with the appearance of Praire Fire. She has turned out to be a fun character to write and get to know. She can be extremely lovable; yet, she can also be absolutely infuriating. But isn’t that true with most people? She’s definitely not one-dimensional, and when Prairie Fire falls in love, it’s a crash landing for sure.

What’s a bit funny for me is that I always start out with the desire to write the perfect character, meaning the perfect “one” for me. Why not, right? I mean, being a writer is like ordering at Burger King—I get to have it my way. But, alas, it never quite works out that way. I seem to end up writing characters I wouldn’t date if you paid me. I wonder why that is? I suppose it would be worth a trip or two to a shrink, but you know what happens to a “trip or two,” when it comes to shrinks, don’t you? That’s right, one or two trips turn into a year or two of analysis, and before you know it, it’s been twenty years and you still don’t know anything—and your shrink now owns a yacht.



Check out The Em Suite Series at Amazon.com. Best read in order from The Incredible Transformations of Alice Hollywood, Book One, to Mackenna on the Edge, Book Two; and finally, (at least until Book Four is finished and published) Prairie Fire, Book Three.

SPECIAL NOTE: As I am in the final throes of my big move, it is highly doubtful I’ll release an episode this Sunday or next Wednesday as I’ll be traveling. I might do something off-the-wall if I can, but once I get to where I’m going, I should be back to releasing two episodes a week.

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