Fear.
It’s a powerful word with a wide reach. Everyone has fears, whether they’re deep and sometimes overwhelming, or minor and controllable. Everyone handles fear differently, sometimes in ways that are unexpected or misunderstood.
In Demitri’s Devil, both the hero and heroine seem outwardly fearless. Demitri has been trained to lead his tribe. He’s the sort of man others respect and generally won’t cross unless they’re looking for a fight. Patricia is an independent woman with physical as well as emotional strength. Even if she wants to do something, if she’s told to do it, she’ll rebel just to prove that no one gives her orders.
Demitri’s cool, calculating nature and Patricia’s fiery one are definitely important and often helpful parts of their personalities, yet they’re also defense mechanisms. Both characters are dealing with underlying fears and though they don’t outwardly cower, inside they have doubts.
Their fears almost keep them apart, but ultimately their understanding of each other’s weaknesses creates an unbreakable bond between them.
As a writer and a reader, it’s interesting to uncover what makes characters act a certain way and fear can be a driving force behind the actions of fictional as well as real people. Discovering Demitri and Patricia’s underlying fears surprised me a little, but it helped in writing them because it made them real to me and I hope it makes them characters a reader can connect to.
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