Ripley from Aliens & Sarah Connor from Terminator
Cassidy has very little influence beyond ‘tough young woman with guns and a penchant for cursing’. At one point I imagined here betraying her allies because she has no use for them, but that quickly died off. So really I had a lot of trouble giving her depth beyond their goal and action scenes. She’s the one with the guns, has a knack for explosives, a big desire to survive, and rather tame in personality. Part of this is because she’s standing next to Lloyd and has to play straight man to his insanity. This is where her ‘Shut the f$*% up, Lloyd’ catchphrase comes from. So, what can I say about Cassidy?
I want her to show that she is fully capable of defending herself and still has room to grow as a character. She spends Crossing Bedlam under her mother’s shadow and it’s hinted that she might have spent a lot of time shielded from the worst. Yet she’s still pretty broken in terms of not getting attached to others and having no qualms about killing an enemy. There’s a scene where she has to face a biker gang in a fast food restaurant that really demonstrates that she’s a force to be cautious of. I think that’s a big part of her characterization too. Much like the action heroes of old, Cassidy reveals herself more by action than words.
This isn’t to say that she’s stupid or turns to violence immediately. She’s the one who put the entire journey together and acts as a guide for Lloyd and the readers. Early on, you can tell that Cassidy is big into making deals and staying out of trouble until she knows what the problem is. The polar opposite of her new friend, so there’s going to be some friction there. It is hinted that she might have dependency issues at times, but that stems from her never being on her own. There’s comfort in having a companion when the world has gone insane. Although she also occasionally hints that Lloyd is more property than friend.
Just writing this, I think Cassidy is a hard one to pin down in this book. You’re catching her soon after her mother is killed and she’s put her plan into action. The best way to explain it is that she starts out in a transition state and her journey will help her reach a point where she can move on. Hints of a more vivid personality and demeanor appear, but usually in action scenes. So Cassidy could also be an adrenaline junkie or just as crazy as Lloyd. Really hard to explain fully without spoilers.
I know it sounds like a lot of guesswork here and that’s odd for a character’s origin. It’s only that Cassidy appeared in my mind with no prompting, so she doesn’t have a template like most of my characters. Her origin is that of a thought stepping out of the mental mist and it’s still coagulating. I do want her to be tough and confident, but also show a touch of vulnerability like the other characters. Her world has been ripped apart in more ways than one and multiple times in her life. She reveals that she lost a baby brother in the first year of the chaos and her father disappeared after he got the family settled. Her mother did whatever it took to keep them alive, housed, and fed until they had some semblance of a life. Now that’s been taken too and one of the first things Cassidy does is trade the apartment that she’s called home for a decade along with most of what’s inside. She’s kind of cutting ties and on a journey to sever the final string before moving on with her life.
A lot of this has to inferred though because the characters don’t blatantly show their emotions and thoughts very often. So maybe this post will give people another side of Cassidy and also help me evolve her when I write a sequel. No idea which story to take for that though. So many choices.
Legends of Windemere 
Once in a while a character walks in that’s perfectly formed. Some of them have to grow on me. I’ll take either kind, but it’s nice when you already have everything in advance.
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True. I’m curious to see where she goes if I give her more adventures. As I said, being the straight man to Lloyd might hurt her a bit. She could soften a bit, but not too much. ‘Survivor’ is at her core, which might be why I can’t see her in romantic plots.
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Many times the straight man is the most important part. Lloyd might be like a diet of only desserts if she weren’t around. There are some wonderful non-dessert items I enjoy.
I’m occasionally applying a similar idea in my short fiction. I may write one about a supporting character from Will O’ the Wisp. They don’t have to come back, but it might be fun on occasion.
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Just thinking about how Abbot & Costello work as a team. Having only one wouldn’t be funny, but together it’s genius.
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True.
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I thought about Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor when you posted the excerpt. So yay! But what a sad history.
How cool that the character came so vividly to life.
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Cassidy definitely has a more tragic backstory than Lloyd. So I figure there has to be some level of distance between her and other people. One of these days I should probably give her a last name. 🙂
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Yes. 🙂
I love a journey story. We learn so much about a character through a rigorous journey.
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That’s one of the reasons I gravitated toward the journey tale. It allows me to introduce the characters and world without stuff seeming out of place.
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I’m liking Cassidy already. She sounds a lot like my wife.
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Always carrying a grenade in case of emergencies? 😀
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She always has a case of metaphorical grenades
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Those are even more terrifying.
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She is the best person to be with when times get tense. Heart of a lion
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Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
Meet Cassidy a character with hidden depths as part of the background to Crossing Bedlam.
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Thanks for the reblog. 🙂
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Very interesting. I love hearing about the origin of characters. In my own book series, my main character, Frank Rozzani, is a combination of the old-school Jim Rockford from the Rockford Files, and Michael Westen from Burn Notice. He has a lot of connections and is innovative, but he also lives in a trailer and gets beat up a lot. Thanks for sharing your inspiration.
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Love Burn Notice, so it’s cool that it’s one of your influences. I like how your hero takes some beatings too. The ‘never hurt’ characters lose appeal rather quickly. Is it an action thriller book?
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More of an old-fashioned who done it with some wise-ass banter. The three book arc includes a tragic backstory for the main character that he gets resolved in book 3…or does he. I’m having a blast writing book 4 right now.
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Banter is one of my favorite things to write. It’s becoming a lost art. I’ve heard there’s a decent market for the old-fashioned who done its.
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There seems to be. As I go to book signings, most of market seems to be people of a certain age. That’s fine with me. They have more time to read. I am inspired by shows like M*A*S*H* where banter made the show memorable.
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I grew up with old Spider-Man comics and Marx Brothers. There was a lot of banter in the 80’s and 90’s. Not as much the mean-spirited stuff as the funny back and forth.
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The Marx Brothers were the best. They were ahead of their time (and the censors) in many respects. The one time they got caught by the studio was when they were filming on a ship. Someone told Groucho is was traditional to throw your lei overboard (flower necklace) before the ship left. He picked up his female companion and threw her overboard. That scene was cut from the movie.
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Never heard of that. For some reason it doesn’t surprise me though.
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Dick Cavett told the story in a documentary. Of course, Groucho told him, so it may or may not be true.
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Love exploring your characters. 😀
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Thanks. 🙂
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YOU are welcome. 😀
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Thanks Charles I love the insights you give to your characters. Cassidy sounds a good companion to be with but also shows that when the shit hits the fan, you gotta do what you gotta do to survive. Again I say I`m so looking forward to reading the book when finished.
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Thanks. Good description of her. I’m still deciding if there’s ever a point where she’ll turn tail and run without her allies. Maybe I just haven’t found the right scenario. She’s one of those characters who always seems to come up with a plan.
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She sounds like a character with lots of potential, and though contemporary writing emphasizes three-dimensional characters, I think there are times when you want to leave some space for the reader to guess and ponder who this character is.
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I’m hoping she has potential. Definitely a lot of fun to write. With any luck, the first book does well and I can justify a sequel.
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