April 11, 2012

Larry talks about ... creating his characters

Here is a post revolving around the characters in The Priest and the Peaches. Let me begin by saying that I am intimately connected to all of them. I feel what they feel, I see what they see and I mask what they mask. None of them are insignificant even if they only make a brief appearance and speak one sentence or even say nothing, like the pall-bearers at the funeral. It may be that I lean to heavily on the "omniscience" thing but I can't help it.

Let me begin with the character, Joanie. She is a high school senior. I am a man old enough to be her grandfather. So, for me, becoming Joanie is not an easy transition. But once I begin to dialogue her I begin to understand her. Suddenly I become Joanie and understand her thought processes, her anxieties, what she feels, what her fears are, her hopes etc. Then I turn off the switch, turn it back on and become six-year old Joey. I am now living in Joey's world which consists primarily of his home and immediate family. He does not know much more than that and at that moment, neither do I. Until I turn the switch off and turn it back on, Joey and I are one.

I believe that this interaction between me and all of the characters is an ongoing process as I write. I am not looking in at them but rather, I am in the pages with them. From Father Sullivan to the drunken lawyer, even the antagonist, Beatrice Amon, and Dr. Rothstein, the cops, Dancer, Scratch, and so on. Wow, talk about multiple personalities inside of one person's head. Thank God I can turn off the switch.

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