What a Character! (So Hard to Say Goodbye)

Continuing as an indie author, the third book in my Gastien Series has been started.  I have about 17,000 words done.  It is so hard to say goodbye to Gastien himself!  This third book is about another characeter in the series, and he is vastly different from Gastien.

I have lived with Gastien in my head and in my soul for over a year.  I think I know him better than I know Caddy Rowland.  Sometimes, he feels more real than I do.  All of a sudden, I have to let go.  Let go and move on.  It is so incredibly hard to do so!  It feels like my firstborn is being ripped from my arms.  Yet, unless I do, Tristan Michel will have no voice.  He won't become real and readers will feel that.

Tristan Michel is very, very different from Gastien.  I have to keep reminding myself of that as I write book 3.  What worries me is that readers won't remember that.  They love Gastien. They talk about Gastien as if he were alive today and a close friend of theirs.  His story was extremely emotional for them. Many who never cry found themselves in tears. Gastien was full of passion and wildness.  A nonconformist. 

How will they deal with a reserved man who values tradition and family values? Will they pan the book, saying that it lacks the excitement and emotional intensity of the first two?  I am scared. Damned scared.

If they just give Tristan Michel a chance, I think they will find that he wrestles his own demons and is a time bomb waiting to go off.  That his story, too, is full of emotion and pain.  He is different than Gastien, but no less driven; no less conflicted.

Tristan Michel is begging me to open my mind and allow him to speak.  His story, although different, is no less important.  He deserves my complete attention and so, although I hate to, this blog is a goodbye.

It is a goodbye to Gastien, that bohemian bad boy who broke readers hearts and made them laugh at the same time.  Yes, readers hated him at times.  They loved him even more.  Ah, Gastien.  How I enjoyed your story.  It was a pleasure allowing you to speak through me. How I love you! I will miss you, my amie.  I will miss you.

R.I.P. Gastien Beauchamp.