My heart pounded.
Sweat beaded on my skin, yet my mouth went dry.
There was nothing left to do,
For he must die.
A MOMENT OF SILENCE PLEASE.
I did it. I killed off a character. Boo-hoo. He was someone's brother and son, someone's friend and cousin. He had a girlfriend--yeah, I wacked her off, too.
Obituary~until a new home is found
Embree Miller ~ 19yr-old young man with biceps the size of tree trunks. His curly hair clung tightly to his head, but stray ringlets jiggled across his tan forehead. The rings of light exuding off him were always studious and nothing like his outer veneer, which was bigger and more like Popeye up close.A self-proclaimed botanist and plant lover, he was a real earthy guy. One would believe him a tinkerer of metals and engines, but his true love was found in germinating flowers and creating new herbs.
And then there was Regina, his significant other ~
A 17yr-old brainchild, she fashioned the cutest cropped cut, worn behind her ears. Her chestnut hair shimmered in highlights. The green of her eyes was vibrant, and she had a bounce to her stride. Short and stocky in build, she loved to wear baggy sweatshirts but well-fitting jeans. The pencil laced behind her ear was usually all the jewelery she needed to wear.
But do not mourn forever, beloved. They will be sadly missed, for the time of their absence. We will trudge forward, in hopes that both will be resurrected in a sequel to Marked Beauty.
Just believe...
I have so much more to tell you, but can't just yet. Hee....
So, tell me about those characters you've had to say a fond farewell to. Was your heart broken??
Cute post,well, sad. It's hard to kill them off. I have and cried. It's not fun, but they have fallen for the good of the story. :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't killed off anyone else yet. Can't wait to hear what else you have to tell us.
ReplyDeleteYAY-- I so loved this!! Poor Embree!
ReplyDeleteyou killed Embree? Poor thing. I hope his sacrifice was not in vain...
ReplyDeleteOh god! I cried like they were a real person!
ReplyDeleteYou whacked her off? LOL.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. It's tough to do but makes for better, more believable stories.
How brave, Sheri!
ReplyDeleteLove the new blog look! OOO... how exciting you've got something cooking. Can't wait to hear about it. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, this is too funny! Yes, I've wacked off characters, but it wasn't too hard to do, and the result was worth it. I ended up writing in a new character instead, and he had a much bigger role in the story than the BBF ever did. :)
ReplyDeleteAw, now I thought you had REALLY killed them (not just removed them from the story!). But the loss is the same, I imagine! :) Can't wait to hear your news...!
ReplyDeleteOh, boohoo! It hurts to kill off our darlings!
ReplyDeleteWith my fantasy romance series, there's a war and with war comes death. Last week or so, I killed a major character. I cried and had to stop writing. I had to wait before I could write the other character's reaction to it. It was rough.
ReplyDeleteSome of them break my heart, but some of them just have to go. Death serves a purpose in some of my stories and I have to have some extras to fill the graves with. lol
ReplyDeleteI am sad that there may be one of my ones that I have grown partial to that may have to meet an untimely demise, but we will see if I can save them.
Love the names btw. :D
I think I might have shed a tear for your characters, =( I've not killed one yet, but I'm considering it for my new WIP. This is painful for me, ugh, but sometimes in order to make a story great you have to do it. "Kill your darlings" ~Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
ReplyDeleteIn my very second book I had to kill a character. But it was a sequel/prequel, and she was dead in Book 1, so I knew it was coming. But still, when I did it... she was a wife, mother, best friend... I felt really, really sad.
ReplyDeleteAnd it SO helped w/writing the other characters' responses... good stuff! :o) <3
As a chapter book/PB author, I haven't had to kill anyone...yet. I don't know if that makes me happy or sad, though. I might be missing out on something. :-)
ReplyDeleteAwe no! I kinda love killing off people if it can hit me as meaningful. I can't kill them off for no reason though. Sounds like you had a good reason! Still sad. I think it's more that emotion that I like than actually killing characters.
ReplyDeletehi miss sheri!
ReplyDeleteyikes! you whacked them. eeeek! ha ha. i didnt ever whack one but i did put two in that froze chamber where you could defrost them if you could need them for another story. sometimes you just gotta do that so your story could be lots better. cant wait for the tee hee??? :)
...hugs from lenny
Aw,
ReplyDeleteSo difficult to let them go, isn't it? I've had to do this a few times, and it never gets any easier.
I killed off an a-hole. It felt good :)
ReplyDeleteI've killed off characters. It's never easy to do, but sometimes it's necessary for the story. Just remember that when it's hard on the writer, it will be hard on the reader, too. And in some ways that's a good thing.
ReplyDeleteSo far I've whacked villians, but the next book will be different.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent ode to a character that is no more! It's hard isn't it?!
ReplyDeleteLove the name Embree! I've only killed off my villains--it's more fun. *grin*
ReplyDeleteHah! I need to clarify. That would be whacked, not wacked. B'cawk!
ReplyDeleteYou all are awesome. Thanks for the comments and the hugs. ";-)
My condolences. :(
ReplyDeleteI did kill off a much loved character in my epic fantasy. He was the protag's best friend, a ladies' man who was secretly engaged to his true love because her brother (the head of the family) hated him and would have disowned her, and he had a dysfunctional relationship with his demanding father who felt he could never live up to the memory of his other son (who died as a child). It was a sad, sad day, and sometimes I do consider rewriting it to bring him back. The book just never was as much fun to write once he was gone.
Good for you! I am musing on killing off one of my NaNo characters, but will wait until later. I need her for the word count!
ReplyDeleteNothing like offing a character to shred the old heartstrings. Of course, I end up bawling like a baby when I do it, but sometimes, they have to fall on that grenade. (Wow, I just used three idioms!)
ReplyDeleteI killed a character off once and I caught so much flak from my beta's and critique partners that I had to write him back into the story. I was fine with it, but apparently no one else was. :)
ReplyDeleteI killed off one character I loved -- but he had to die because history said he did. That didn't make it any easier.
ReplyDeleteI have cut characters from stories -- regretfully, because their presence was no longer required -- but once they were gone I scarcely missed them.
I always cry when I read a book where a major character dies. When I kill one of my own, it's really weepy time. Coincidence, on my blog I talked about killing off your character. Must be something in the air this week.
ReplyDeleteYup, I've killed off characters. Also brought one back to life. ;)
ReplyDelete