Thursday 15 May 2014

Nothing In The World Like Her...

Wow, so, it's been a while since I've done a post describing a story, hasn't it? Well, since I'm about to start the first draft of the final Cursed novel, Damnation's Door, I thought it would be a good idea to get back on it. So this post is going to be about Dro's powers, how I came up with them, and how dangerous they might become...

Way back when I was writing Cursed in a different time period, I was still messing with what kind of powers a creature like her should have. The definite one was spontaneous combustion on a supernova level. There were a lot of reasons for this, but in the end it came down to one simple truth: I needed Dro to be virtually indestructible, I needed her to be a gentle soul holding onto something terrifying, and I needed her to potentially go out of control. Nothing suit the bill for that quite like fire.

Dro's not a big sword wielder, but if she was, this is what she'd look like.
It didn't make sense to me to give Dro just one power, so I gave her ones that contradicted each other: Healing, aura reading, enhanced senses, some telepathy. I figured it would add a little more mystery as to what she is. Admittedly I struggled a bit when I was coming up with other powers for Dro to have. I mean, spontaneous combustion can be useful if you're looking at wiping out an entire block of enemies, but obviously I couldn't have her use that power all the time. A story can't be all destruction. Usually. So I worked on subtler abilities that would classify her as something that couldn't fit into any category, but would make sense when it became clear exactly what Dro was. When readers find out, hopefully they'll have the same "Ahhh, that explains it," thought process.

The fire Dro can create subconsciously through her nightmares is without question the deadliest power she possesses, but that doesn't mean her other abilities don't disturb her or her adopted sister Constance. I haven't played into the telepathy as much as I would like (though that might change as I continue editing through), because Dro isn't the sort of person who wants to dabble into other people's thoughts. Most of this is due to Constance. They know each other like the back of their hands, but Dro understands that Constance doesn't want to be reminded of all the dark thoughts she has. She sees all the pressure her older sister goes through without needing to get into her mind, and she's willing to trust other people to a degree Constance won't even go near.

Okay, okay, not a photo, but I love this quote, and it totally fits Dro.
Being capable of so much destruction is a huge burden on Dro, and she struggles to keep herself contained, always afraid of what she could do if she isn't careful. Her biggest fear is using her powers in combat and having Constance die in the cross fire. I won't spoil anything coming up in the future, but let's just say that Dro's powers are only going to keep growing and take her down some intense, unexpected roads.

What urban fantasy writer doesn't love experimenting with wild crazy abilities? Who doesn't sit back and wonder: "Okay, if I had this power, how much damage could I do with it?" Even now, I take the time to think about how deadly Dro can be if she doesn't understand what she is and how to harness her abilities. Damnation's Door is completely planned, and it's going to be a wild ride. I think I've done a good job building on Dro's internal conflict, and hope that readers will find her just as interesting as I do. After all, I wouldn't have made her look and act like an angel if she didn't have the powers like a demon.

Amy

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