I know…right? It sounds like an ad for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is coming to Blu-Ray!” But for this blog, I am actually speaking about the writer’s mind.

I work and talk with writers on a daily basis and the one thing it seems we all have in common is the fact that we have hundreds of voices talking inside our heads at any given moment. Albeit, some are the voices of our kids screaming at us that whatever we just said is “Not fair!” Other voices are our co-workers who are mumbling and grumbling (just like we are) about the job. And even others, are from the good-cop/bad-cop living inside each one of us telling us what to do and what not to do. But the others…oh, yeah…those tons of others…those are the characters we can’t seem to get to shut up (even though we really don’t want them to). They are the ones taking us to different locations, filling us in on what their next steps should be on the pages of the next novel; they, in fact, become our best friends. 

Matthew and Emily have spoken to me for a good, long time. Emily’s deep voice mutters a lot and actually sounds like me, but Matthew is always far more helpful and entertaining. When I first heard him at the age of thirteen, he was that voice that was trying to help me through a difficult time. And as I aged, he kept right on talking. At the time, I had no idea The Angel Chronicles would come out. The first time I even wrote about the angel/warrior team it was in a diary entry as a kid, so I had no inkling that their adventures would become a tale to be told.

Leah Tallent is also a person in my head. She’s the head librarian of the NYPL that’s the ‘star’ of the Tallent & Lowery adventure series that I write. I never knew when I first heard her - which was after I first walked into that stunning library and decided that no matter where I went in the world I WOULD come back and beg the owners of that place to let me live in their basement until I died a quiet death from reading - that Leah would give me the really cool puzzles that she’s ended up giving me. When 13 - the first Tallent & Lowery book comes out December 1st - I will finally have Leah in my hands - just like I have Emily and Matthew now. That will be one of the most heart-wrenching things for me, because the voice in my head will become completely real.

When I talk to writers, they sound like the ‘kid on Christmas morning’ and it is a total rush. I know how they feel. And when a writer begins to talk about the voice in their head that they’re concentrating on - it can be anyone from the ‘hot guy’ that we all long to have walk into our house with a bouquet of flowers, to the poet, the independent woman, the teen with a crush on her favorite demon or monster…you name it, they’re in there.

This is actually one career (and maybe the only one) that allows us to claim all those voices in our heads. With this career, we can have a whole bunch of personalities, but without the need to pick up a cleaver and take out the neighborhood.

I am so thrilled with all these people talking to me - although it does make me zone out every once in a while at the wrong times (you know…when you’re supposed to be listening to your boss?), but, hey, what can you do? And in Book III, the ‘voice’ premise will be a huge part of Emily and Matthew’s life, so I look forward to addressing that when my fingers next hit the keyboard for them.

So if your husband, wife, child, or even if the dog tilts his head and looks at you funny, just know that you should be very grateful for those voices. They make writers (and readers) who we are. And if you don’t disappoint them, they won’t disappoint you. Just think, one of these days maybe we’ll all have coffee in the NYPL and bring our characters along for the ride. Or…we’ll find ourselves face-to-face with Nurse Ratched and then we’ll know that we were wrong all along - and that we really are crazy!

Until Next Time, Everybody,
Amy
Myles raised his hand and touched Anya’s dark curls that were spread out on the fluffy pillow. “You’re pretty.”
“And you, Master Myles, are handsome. Just like my Gregori.”
The little boys giggled as she reached out to tickle them.
“You’re going to teach me things. Daddy said so,” he continued. “But Brighton says you should get up for breakfast instead of making the whole household wait for you.”
A shot of alarm raced through Anya’s body. “What time is it?”
“Nine,” Gregori said. “You slept for a long time. You should come downstairs, Anya. There’s lots and lots of good stuff down there. Drake can make anything.”
Anya raised an eyebrow. “Drake? Well, you have been busy this morning. Already met the household, have you? I hope you haven’t been bothering anyone, Gregori. Remember, we’re guests...workers in this house.”
Myles shook his head vigorously. “No. Daddy says you’re family now. Come on.”
Anya used all her energy to abandon her comfortable bed and rush to the closet. After unsuccessfully trying to flatten her thick, wavy hair, she came out of the room to find a brand new dress laid out on her bed; a lovely green dress with matching jacket rested on the elegant quilt. Hearing a bell ring from downstairs, Anya raced to put it on. She straightened the velvet material—molding it to her body. Anya felt like the Tsarina, herself, as she swiftly walked out the door and down the hall.
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