H is for Helen: A to Z blogging challenge

Helen Braeburn isn't a very happy woman when you meet her at the beginning of Going Through the Change. She's 63 years old, fairly recently divorced, mildly estranged from her grown daughter, overweight, lonely, and her feet hurt. On top of that, she's having hot flashes that make her physically miserable. 

"Sometimes, Helen felt like she had spent her whole life waiting to be “old enough” and then had crossed over into “too old” without finding out what it was she had been waiting for."

Then, something strange happened.  Helen found that she could project her internal heat outwards. She could make fire. At first, she didn't even believe it herself. That condo fire was not her fault! Then she was excited by what she could do. When she met up with Dr. Liu …well, let's just say that Dr. Liu was gasoline to her fire.

Helen, as drawn by +Charles C. Dowd

Helen was the first character I created for this book, and she was also the one who surprised me the most. You know when writers talk about their characters "taking over"?  This was one of those characters. She had definite ideas about where her story should go.

I'm glad I followed her, because she took me on quite a ride. I hope my readers enjoy reading her as much as I enjoyed writing her.

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This posting is part of the A to Z blogging challenge, in which bloggers undertake to post every day in April, excepting Sundays, which amounts to 26 postings, one for each letter of the alphabet--preferably along a theme. My postings will all be about my debut novel and my experiences writing it and seeing it published.

Blogging A to Z is a great opportunity to connect with some excellent bloggers and interesting people. I encourage you to check out other participating blogs, too!
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