I like to think that my characters have independent lives and have lived before and after my account, thank you very much. In Balloon Animals and Living Dead Lovers 1 tertiary character appears and crosses over into both books in a single scene. I'm currently working on a new novel, yes, a black comedy or tragicomedy and characters from Balloon Animals and Living Dead Lovers may pass in and out of a scene if chronology of events allows it (if characters happen to live at the same time) or happen to be from the same area but don't know each other personally). Characters take on their own lives and live and pass in and out of each others lives like you and I do.