Characters are the Driving Force of Every Story

My first novel, The Highway to Glayden, was probably my worst bit of writing.  Notwithstanding the bad use of adverbs and poor punctuation I still believe it remains one of my best stories.  One day I hope to revisit it and write it the way it deserves.  I think what set this story apart was the great characters in it.  Even now as I search to find an agent for my newest series The Dream Keeper I have found that agents and publishers are looking for stories that are not moved by the plots but by the characters.  After all it is the characters that should motivate us as readers to continue through the story.  They are what we fall in love with, not the plot.  One day I hope to rewrite The Highway to Glayden and I hope when I do the thing I won’t lose is the wonderful characters that came from it.

The Highway to Glayden, tells the story of a self-doubting young man who finds himself alone in a world of magic, mystery and excitement.  After the murder of his parents to highway thieves, Aaron, a boy of fifteen, finds himself in the midst of his own search and soon becomes the target of the evil imp army.  Unbeknownst to him, Aaron carries a portion of a secret amulet of great power.  In what has now become a tragic world, Aaron and his friends must face the journey to make it to the refuge of Glayden the city of the king.  There they hope to gain the aid of the master wizard Demmad, but all hopes may be in vain for the imp’s hands have stretched wide over the land. In his quest to find his true character, Aaron is led through a world were a young man’s doubts and fears can be shed away and he can be found wearing the victor’s crown.

In life’s many journeys, you may travel far, but the road can only lead you to find out who you are...

So remember it’s all about your characters.  And that’s my key on what drives a story.