Almost Real

Currently watching "Magic Beyond Words-The J.K. Rowling story" and loving every moment.  There truly is something about seeing an inspiring story about an author who defies the odds.  Even more so, seeing any form of similarities between the hero of all Miss Jo and myself.

One thing has happened that I feel I share--but this one thing is all I need. 

Watching the scene play out--perhaps as it did originally--when Jo shut her eyes on a train and saw a small boy with a lightning shaped scar.  In this dramatic portrayal, she asks his name, and he doesn't answer.  Then, opening her eyes back on the train she breathes it.
          "Harry Potter.  Your name is Harry Potter and you're on your way to school--Wizard School."

I've been writing since I was old enough to string the sentences together.  I still have my first "book" that I wrote--three chapters total I think.  I have several short little stories I wrote in notebooks that I used to draw in. When I was thirteen I started what I believed would be my first real book.  It was utter tripe, let me tell you that.   Borrowed ideas and terrible lack of plot--not to mention it moved far too quickly.   It lacked, well, everything.  It wasn't any good.  No character had ever really been real to me.  I hadn't met any of them and wanted to know their story.

When I was either seventeen or eighteen, I went to the movie "X-Men 2" with my family.  I enjoyed the film; on the way home I listened to contemplative conversation about the ending and what it meant.  My mind, however, began to wander--as my mind often does.  I thought of what it meant to be a Phoenix, even as Harry Potter had defined it.

And then I saw her.  A girl with fiery red hair and blazing green eyes. The best thing about her was that she didn't just stand there.  I saw her the way you see spiderman on top of a building.  That crouched stance, staring down at something with an intense glare.  Her hair whipped about her face, and...

And I couldn't stop thinking about it.  I couldn't help thinking about Phoenix and what she'd be able to do.  The ideas just kept flowing--The Daughter of the Sun and the Moon, given up for reasons that I honestly didn't know yet.  To be raised by a normal family in a tiny town in the farthest reaches of...

Well, of a place.  I knew that much.  When we reached our home, I casually asked my brother if he would read a book about a girl like Phoenix.  I had so few details that it was a very general question.  I asked him if he thought it'd be interesting--and I asked the question in a way that might make it seem like it was a book I was considering reading, not writing.

My brother turned to me, thoughtfully considering my question.  After a few seconds he shrugged and said "Yeah, I'd probably read that.  It sounds good."
My brother doesn't read all that often, but the books he does read are carefully selected for his enjoyment--he's not one to waste his time with pointless storyline.

I casually smiled at him and said "Oh, really?  It's just an idea I had...I think I might start writing about it."
His eyebrows jumped up and his mouth pursed into an intrigued or thoughtful state.  "Good.  You really should.  I think it's a good idea."

And then I was off.  I dreamed, planned, and plotted.  Then I wrote.  I didn't get very far before I realized it was COMPLETELY wrong and tore it out of my notebook.  I rewrote.  Then I stopped again--rewriting once more.

That was so long ago now.  Alright, it was about four-ish years ago.  It feels as though it were ages.

I someday hope that--like J.K. Rowling--I will see my book displayed on shelves in the stores.  To see people sitting and reading it at coffee shops.  Even to do a public reading for anyone who would actually attend.

If you're a writer, tell me if any of your characters jumped out at you, their story following as you dreamed of them--or if you thought up a setting first, or maybe a premise.  Perhaps you didn't even know your main character until you tried to think of who would make your idea most interesting.

I'd love to hear from you.