How Characters Come to Life: Russ from Cursed on the Prairies

How Characters Come to Life is a segment about the actual characters from my books or from the books of authors I know. It gives the reader a little secret about where a character comes from and why and how this character affected the author or the reader.

Russ from Cursed on the Prairies was a voice I heard in my head. Oh my gosh this young guy nagged at me. I had no idea what he wanted to say, but he kept telling me to just sit down and trust him.

Usually, I get inspiration from visual things like pictures or real stories I find in my research. Best I can remember was that Russ was born not long after I wrote Ghosts on the Prairies. I was daydreaming, really trying to get into a book from a different series known as The Grey Chronicles, when Russ first spoke to me.

With his voice came the image of the Sacred Oak from Legends on the Prairies which wasn't even written yet. He stood by this tree eating a cookie, in my daydreaming, and he was filthy. He'd just fought a mud monster for sure. With a chuckle he said, "You really think them crazies would come to our town and burn crosses, and us folk would just stand around and be cowards?" With that bold statement, he popped the rest of the cookie in his mouth and grinned.

Well, of course I didn't think anyone should be bullied by hate groups, but what could they do? I didn't want this young guy to be hanged either. The only way to figure it out was to write it down. And so I set my Grey Chronicle story aside and I did.
And so Russ was born. I have no idea where his name even came from, he just whispered it to me like he did Kit's and Isabelle's and even Cal's. Russ is so content with life. He enjoys the simple things, and never asks for more. He's a teacher at heart, called to serve this way and he sees little gems of hope in everyone.

Russ is torn between the real world and one that seems somewhat realer. He can sometimes see spirits, depends on how grounded he is in that moment.
What I love most about Russ is that he puts no value on things. His family is his world and he latches on to certain people and would not only die for them or even kill for them but he will curse his soul for all eternity to keep them safe. Plus, I love that he made me step out of my comfort zone when he fell in love with Isabelle even though that was not the plan. Ah, Russ.

I hear him chuckling now, eating his cookies.

Ever have a voice in your head? A character that just speaks to you? Inspired from an idea?

Cursed on the Prairies is out now. www.tanyareimerauthor.wix.com/books