The difficult thing about writing stories which incorporate real news events is that some of those events can be fairly harrowing. As a result, this week, I needed to ‘take a break’, and do something not quite connected.

That little something was a bit more character development for what will be Volume 10. Omigosh! I am into double figures in terms of the number of volumes in the Diaries of the Cwn Annwn series.

So back to this character. Some of the author and writing sites which I use have discussed whether it is necessary to be ‘inclusive’ in your characters. For example, should you have a variety of types: white, black, Asian, American, British, European? The list is endless on that front alone. Add to that the question of should all the romances be M/F, or should you include M/M or F/F? If it is all M/F romance, is the male the stronger character or the female? Who takes the lead? Follow tradition or do something a bit different?

The character I chose to explore further this week is called Cerys. She was introduced in “Alpha”, but has not had much else to do in subsequent books. The issue I chose to use to explore her character more was related to something in the news, in that Cerys was living away from the Pack, in the UK, because of ‘something’ which happened in the USA, which meant that she was ‘revealed’ as a supernatural character. But, in “Alpha”, she is quite clearly a Sentinel, a soldier. So how would her character work if transplanted away from Pack? Would she miss them? Did she have friends elsewhere which in part compensated for her lack of Pack? Would she meet someone, her Mate  perhaps?

So many questions, and attempting to find answers has been fascinating. I have encountered a few new writers as a result, and that has been part of the enjoyment. Suffice it to say that young Cerys has a surprise or two lurking for Volume 10. Best think of a name for the book then.