Two days ago, I started brainstorming the back stories of new characters who appear in the sequel to “Thaumaturge” with the working title of “Weapon”, which might be changed because my principal character and narrator is uncomfortable about being referred to as a weapon, even though she refers to herself as one in an earlier chapter of the sequel. It seems that imaginary characters have second thoughts, just like their human creators.
I’ve written thirteen chapters of the sequel, and Caritas, a heroine who must remain anonymous, has experienced up close and personal what can happen in life-and-death struggles. Sure, she has super powers that came from the lightning flashover and her unusual Near Death Experience, but, after several instances of using her amazing gifts, she has become frightened by the prospect of becoming overconfident in using them to the point of abusing them. So, as weird as this sounds, my principal character revealed her concerns to me one afternoon while I was gazing at a blinking cursor, trying to write my characters out of a tight spot, plot wise.
It seems that Caritas Thaumaturge found that quote by Lord Acton in my memory cells: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Her input is appreciated, but now I mayhave to create an alternative title!
I’d like to make her a little edgier as she continues to rescue victims of human trafficking and witnesses the cruel toll on the victims, but I also want her to remain true to her idealism. BTW, did you know that idealists are the least common personality types in humanity? Her idealism is my fault, because I was labelled as an idealist in a psych. test.
Recent news coverage about transgressions in our nation’s Foreign Workers programme, and the ongoing struggles of “wage slaves” in the service sector, and the selling of children as young as six years old into slavery in third world countries, have made me seriously question my ability/intelligence/talent to write novels about modern-day slavery. What with political confusion/unrest/violence in third world countries, and the effects of global warming on traditional farming practises, and the deplorable conditions in textile/manufacturing/mining companies in third world countries where children as young as six years of age work criminally long hours to produce products that we in the western hemisphere will buy for our children without thought, I’m feeling totally inadequate to be able to do justice to this horrible, and growing problem.
Write what you know. Yeah, right!
I fear for the generations who follow us. I fear we’ve become the masters not only of our destruction, but that of so many other species on our beautiful, blue marble planet, and we’ve got no one to blame but homo sapiens.
Good grief! Who, in their right minds, would ever leave us in charge of anything?