Character Relationships

Authors sometimes describe their work as either character-driven or story-driven. I'm confident that Earthen Vessels can hold its own in terms of action, but at its roots, I believe it's more about the relationships between characters. Here are my favorites:

Maggie & Marc – Basically, they annoy the hell out of each other – what could be more attractive than that? Their budding relationship is interrupted, leaving the reader to wonder if they will ever get the chance to pick up where they left off.

Quote: “Dear Lord,” Maggie prayed, “Please grant Marc safe passage to town and back.” It wasn't that she cared so much one way or the other about Marc, but she would prefer him to come back alive to help her out of this mess.

Caleb & Beryl. I think Caleb's is an exaggerated example of a common feeling: “I wish I'd done more for the sibling who's now out of reach.”

Quote: These last seven years, Beryl’s name had always been followed by words like misfortune, abuse, and tragedy. Now ... in Caleb’s mind, ... her name was peacefully rolling around with words like hope, and home and miraculous. [pg. 296]

Caleb & Inez. “Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.” They're attracted to each other on a superficial level despite (or because of?) it being so wrong on every other level. Definitely not a healthy relationship.

And now Luis had a new problem to contend with, namely, how to keep Inez quiet without prostituting himself in the process. The agonizing pleasure of her touch was so intense in his memory, he struggled to remind himself what exactly would be so terrible about prostituting himself…just for an hour or so, two or three times a week, more if she insisted. (Capitulo 10, pg. 160)

Stay tuned for more!