The conclusion to “Moby Station” is now live on www.chaoticgalaxies.com! This nine part short story depicts Ollie and Curt’s investigation after their home, Moby Station, has a sudden ‘drive-by’ by an Order ship. Everyone on the station is frightened, unsure if there is a reason the Order came so close to their station, or if it was just a coincidence. Curt, one of the few in charge of the station, decides that he can’t leave it to chance, and must investigate. In “Poison” we finally discover the answer to this question, but will it ease their fears, or only grow them?

To those of you who enjoyed Moby Station and the characters the live there, I say, don’t worry, they shall return. This is certainly not the last time that we’ll see Curt, Ollie and Zoey. I wholly intend to continue to write short stories about Moby Station as there are lots of unanswered questions, especially surrounding Curt and his past.

I was a day late updating this blog but those of you who are following the website as well will see that I did actually update on Monday! I’m still working on my consistency and will continue to do so. (But feel free to drop a comment if you see that I haven’t posted my Monday update. Every little push will help me conqueror this deadline thing!)

Another thing that I was less than on-time with finishing was the WriYe Blogging Circle for February! As I don’t want to fall too behind (and there is a March topic already up on the forums), here is my Blogging Circle answers.

What is the main motivation behind your characters? Where do you come up with that motivation? Do you tend to use the same sort of motivation in every novel, or do you tend to mix it up more? What is your favorite example of character motivation?

Each character I create has their own unique motivation, many of which are strong driving forces within the novel. For the most part I design the world/universe that my characters are going to be inhabiting first with my rough idea of the story I wish to tell. When I design my characters I find that each of them represent both a part of me and an emotion. I have certain characters I like to write for when I’m in different moods, and this helps shapes the character.

For example, when I’m in a bad mood I find myself turning towards characters like Ash from my Chaotic Galaxies Series. Ash is an angry character who’s motivations are to find his lost siblings and get revenge for his family. When he gets in conflict he basically sees red and channels his inner rage, especially when slavers are considered. When I’m in a playful mood I’ll turn to characters like Cody and Bek who are simpler, carefree characters. When I think of each character and their motivations I think of the emotion behind them. Hannah is a driven, highly determined character and when I think of her I think of her as a driving force to get what she wants, no matter what. Its this basic emotion of the character that influences her motivation in the Chaotic Galaxies Series of becoming a star. She’ll do almost anything to achieve this goal and no matter what trouble she finds herself in, this is always in the back of her mind, pushing her forward.

I like to think that my motivations for each novel is different as I try to come up with the most unique characters I can for each novel world/universe.�� There may be similar emotions behind some of the characters (Like Ash and Raysell from two different universes), but their motivations are always a little different. I like to make their motivations different enough that even if you can’t remember the characters name, you always remember who they are. (For example, Ash is the one who’s trying to find his siblings or Rox is the scorpion chick who’s been exiled from her world)

One of my favorite examples of character motivation is probably from a character that had a very strong revenge motivation. She’s one of my very first characters and her name is Mist. (Also known as BloodMist when she wants to scare others) Mist is a vampire from a unique origin and when her youngest, and weakest, sister is murdered by her family she goes into a fit of rage. With her new found vampire strength she charges after her brother to prove to him that she isn’t as weak as he thought and to have her revenge.

Her brother was a character I intended to keep throughout her short story series as the main villain but her motivation was so strong that when she first confronted her brother over her sisters death she destroyed him.�� I found myself writing the first thing that ‘popped into her head’ and when I was done the scene I was surprised that my main villain was already�� dead. Of course there was no rewriting the scene, as that would change the character too much. The only way to proceed was to change the entire series itself and put another character into that main villain category. (there were lots to pick from after all)

This is my favorite example of character motivation because it was so strong that it pretty much overwrote my entire plan for the series. Then again, that’s what I’ve always liked best about the Mist character, she’s unpredictable! I find that the first crazy idea that pops into my head for her is often the one I go with, without taking into consideration the consequences to the main story.

Bonus:

Share with us an excerpt from your current or completed novel(s) that demonstrates your favorite example of character motivation.

Since I mentioned Mist above, I thought an except from her short story series would be a good idea for this bonus ‘question’.

���������������������� ���I will NEVER be yours,��� I spoke coldly. ���You are diluted!���

���������������������� He came at me then, took my wrists in his hands and slammed me against the wall, nearly knocking the wind from my lungs.

���������������������� ���You ARE mine! I made you, I gave you this life, and I can take it away just as easily,��� he shouted into my face, a smug look on his face.

���������������������� I think he expected me to back down, to be the feeble girl that I had always been, but I didn���t. My supernatural blood surged in my veins and ignited the rage barely contained below the surface.

���������������������� ���You are a fool to think I would submit to you. If my life is what you want, then take it!��� I challenged.

���������������������� He raised his hand to strike me. His smug smile turned to shock him as I pushed back against him with all my might, sending him to the ground. In seconds he was on his back on the floor and I had my fangs deep in his neck. I drank with such speed that I was afraid I would choke myself. He gasped but I did not stop. I drew out his life blood so swiftly that he could not even fight back, all he could do was stare blankly at the ceiling, his mouth moving in words he couldn’t quite find. When his body went limp under me, I tore my fangs from his soft white flesh and pushed myself to my feet.

���������������������� Victor looked up at me with wide, frightened eyes. He looked like a shrunken shell of his former self. His skin was whiter than I thought possible and the colour had drained even from his ruby lips. Blood dripped from the wound at his throat as I studied them. I watched in fascination as each drop squeezed out of the wound and slid down his neck, leaving a small stain in their wake. Each drop made such a delicate little noise as it hit the floor that I was captivated by each one. These droplets finally stopped and I stood looking down at him again.

���������������������� ���I will never be yours Victor,��� I told him calmly, coldly.

���������������������� I crouched down next to him, watching his eyes as he blinked in shock, as if unable to grasp what had just happened to him. He tried to raise his hand towards me, but it fell uselessly back to the floor. No matter how hard he tried, he could not even get a sound to pass through his lips, not even to curse me.

���������������������� ���You are not worthy of me, none of you are. That���s okay though, because that will soon be remedied.���

This except is actually from a university project for a creative writing course I took years ago. It was written in a style that I would never have used if it had not been a school project (it was written in a diary style which you can’t really see from this except, thankfully), but I’m actually quite happy with how the story turned out, even if it did not follow what I’d planned for it! I hope you’ve enjoyed it, as horror and fantasy are also genre’s that I love to write.