Authors Electric

I’m often asked how to invent a human character. Of course, you can use someone you know, or a facet of yourself. But sometimes that simply won’t fit, and you’re floundering around for inspiration. Really memorable characters aren’t just about outward appearance, they’re about personality and motivation and idiosyncracies. Appearance is important, though, and we all know that people are meant to grow to look like their dogs… You can be quite subtle about it, or completely blatant, as in this line from my book The Divide : Tansy always reminds me of a stabber-bird, thought Betony, with her long nose and her snaky neck. And it’s fairly clear that this imaginary bird in a magical dimension was based on one from our own world. So here are a few ideas for animals you could use, taken from my own photographs. The crane hawk - an elegant and efficient killer The Gorilla - a family-minded gentle giant The tortoise - a thick-skinned survivor The chamele...

          Have a look at this. Click on the link below, to go to the 'book.' Turn the pages by clicking the arrow at the sides, or by using the black tabs. KOKO             It's a simple little story about the famous Koko - the gorilla who learned to communicate using American Sign Language (it's claimed) and had a pet cat.           It's part of the library being developed by my friend, Alan Hess, a teacher, and myself. (Look along the toolbar at the top of Koko's page and, just to the left of the question mark and printer, you'll see a stack of books. Click on them, and you'll find the other books in the library.)           It's still a work in progress at the moment, but please bear with us. We're still knocking through and laying wiring, our hair is full of virtual plaster dust.       ...