Today I write. What to write is the question I have to answer.

I suppose I can give an update on the novel’s progress. It is coming along. I have done a basic story outline, which outlines the major events that move the story forward in 25 chapters. I also have the internal and external conflict outlined in each chapter. The biggest hurdle I have had is fully fleshing out each character’s purpose and internal motivations for making their choices and from whose perspective the story should be told. I discovered limiting myself to one was hindering my progress. 

Currently, I am struggling with the final piece of the puzzle. Edward. Gramps is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. He’s got no magical power but worked for the government in military intelligence. Which feels slightly cliche but logical. He spent the last decade of his life protecting his magical wife, and resistant Granddaughter, with the help of a specialized support system. 

Edward knows what is coming. Knows the part he must play, but he must leave clues for Mels to follow because he is being watched. (This is where I am coming up empty.) His stalker is not skilled in blending into a crowd or going unnoticed. He’s an intellectual, not a spy. He is smart enough to insert a mole into Edward’s midst, but he’s fumbling through otherwise.

Edward is concerned by his continued presence. He does his own investigating; builds a dossier. Allows himself to be stalked. (To what end?) 

Mels doesn’t know about the Linked. Doesn’t know about her mother’s efforts against the Linked, with the Awakened. Which is why her mother was murdered. She doesn’t know about Devana. She knows that she has a gift that allows her to see a person’s aura. Her gift was passed from grandmother, to mother and down to her. She doesn’t know the event that triggered her own awakening or that she is awakened. Gramps has kept her in the dark about the two factions. He has done his best to teach her with the knowledge he was given before Serena’s murder, but the rapid decline of Gram’s mental faculties made it difficult.

Edward would be looking for nonmagical solutions to guide Mels because he saw what happened to her when Serena was killed. He feared she would shut down again. Which would be wrong, obviously. 

So, I guess my question would be what clues would be given, and how should they be given? Her gift is seeing auras (if you want to get scientific, a person’s energy signature, and I love mixing science and supernatural.) Perhaps that will be an advantage Edward could use to guide Mels to the clues she needs to piece her puzzle together? 

Losing a mother would be hard, losing one to murder even more so. If she withdrew into herself, Gramps would have to look for a way to help her. Especially if she was still young and learning to navigate her powers. With little to no guidance from her ailing grandmother, who was the only one who understood the gifts, adolescence is hard on a child under the best circumstances. He enlisted the help of a shaman in a desperate bid to help him navigate the tragedy. 

In the decade since. Mels has grown into a complicated young woman. She has sufficiently learned to control her gift. Though she has yet to fully understand it, viewing it as a type of disability she has had to learn to function around, that occasionally comes in as a handy tool. She has managed to work past her anger and resentment over the past, but the PTSD will never fully go away.

Because of it, she is hyper-focused and perceptive. Her gift essentially makes her a human lie detector. (Words are careful, auras are brazen.) Which has gotten her into trouble over the years. Mels stands up for what she feels strongly about, and she has a strong moral compass. Folks view her as a difficult woman.

I think Edward would have to play into that moral conviction in order to get her to understand that she is the only one who can make a choice and that it is the right choice. She will have to walk down memory lane and learn about the key events that lead to where they are now. Learn the truth of her past to prepare for the future.

So, it looks like I need to walk myself through the healing process before I can find out how Gramps shows Mels the complicated truth. Without breaking her. 

Thanks for reading; if you have any ideas or suggestions, feel free to comment below. 

As always, thanks for your continued support.