I am being teased by an elusive character who wants a role in Book Two of The Dauntless Series, and I don’t know what to do with her yet. Perhaps you will have a clue.
I imagine her in Leavenworth–a wild-haired woman dressed in lumpy, mismatched layers. One day she is sitting on a bench watching trains go by. Later she leans against the wall of the general store. One afternoon she enters an empty cafe and gets fed. No money changes hands. A couple weeks later, when she asks for a handout in a different restaurant, the owner tells her to come back after the rush hour. Everyone recognizes her but no one really knows her.
I smell tobacco on her clothes (a disgrace for 19th century women). I hear her humming under her breath and repeating snippets of the conversations around her. She makes pithy observations to herself. When she discovers that Annie has married Daniel, she takes an immediate dislike to both of them. I call her Iris.
Iris is a nuisance. I try to write about Annie, but Iris fills my field of vision. I need to deal with her, but I don’t have enough information. Yet.
How Elusive Character is Connected to the Story
At the end of The Truth About Daniel (Book One of the Dauntless Series), the new Mrs. Anthony leaves her familiar world with a husband she barely knows. When he confesses that there have been other women, she is disappointed but not surprised–after all, he is 40 and she is 20.
I have a feeling Iris wants to tell Annie Anthony something about Daniel’s past, but the message must be teased out of the cryptic one-liners of a wandering mind.
How did Iris get this way? Does Daniel have something to do with her disturbed condition? Is her hatred of him justified? Or is someone trying to use Iris to destroy Daniel?
If you have any clues about Iris, chime in on the comment section of this blog. Or email me at Jeanne@Verbalimagespress.com. Your insights might give my overworked imagination a rest. Or your inspiration may find its way into Book Two!