Top Ten Characters I'd Like To Check In With

I haven't done a Top Ten Tuesday in a really, really, long time. But I saw this week's topic and it really connected with me.  How many times have you read a book and imagined what life was like for the character after the story's end? I know I have. Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever find out.I certainly didn't know there would be a sequel (or two) to Oryx and Crake when I first read it. Margaret Atwood isn't known for writing trilogies, but I'm so glad she created MaddAddam. I didn't think there would be books after Wicked either (and I still have to read them). Sometimes that hope to know what happens to the lives of our favourite characters is fulfilled, but most of the time, nope, we don't get to know.

Here are my top ten characters I'd like to check in with - in no particular order:

1. Offred from The Handmaid's Tale - Never going to happen, because the ending is perfect, but I still wish I knew what happened to her.

2. Roland from The Dark Tower series - I will try not to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read the whole series, but I want to know if Roland breaks the cycle.

3. Harry Potter - Harry Potter!

4. Laila from A Thousand Splendid Suns - Did her life turn out okay?  It seemed like it would, but after such a difficult beginning, I'd like to make sure.

5. Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird - ... Oh wait....

6. Del from Lives of Girls and Women - I just want to know.

7. Lena from the Delirium series - That ending! Come on!

8. David & Tell Ullman from The Demonologist - That ending! Come on!

9. The Baudelaires from A Series of Unfortunate Events - Who do they become when they grow up?  (Do they grow up?)

10. The Time Traveler from The Time Machine - Where does he end up?

I refrained from including any series that I know has another book out or coming out that I haven't read yet.  As much as I wanted to include Blue Sargent (from The Raven Cycle) or Betsy Taylor (from Undead), I didn't, because there are books to read and maybe once I reach the conclusions of these series I won't be wondering (I know what happens to MaddAddam's Toby and Katniss from The Hunger Games). These are all characters that still capture my imagination. Who do you wonder about you close the book?

Call Roxanne, by Andrew Pyper

After reading Andrew Pyper's exciting novel, The Demonologist, I just had to read something else by him.  After a quick search, I found a free short story (I'm a sucker for a free short story), Call Roxanne.  (Also, I just finished Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxane!)  This is not a story about a girl named Roxanne, it is a story about a boy and his father.  Something is wrong with the boy and I think something is wrong with the father.  I thought the relationship between father and son was interesting.  I wish I knew more about them.  I loved the way the trip to the hospital was woven into the story without being obvious.  I thought the introduction of Roxanne was interesting and the way she popped back up at the end.  It ends so abruptly though, I wish I knew more about the boy and what happens to him.  Call Roxanne has definitely made me eager to read more of Andrew Pyper's works.

Breaks Between Books

How long are your breaks between books?  Mine used to be non-existent.  I frequently had the next book picked out before I finished the one I was reading.  It had nothing to do with the enjoyment of my current book. Even if I found the book all-consuming, crazy-amazing, I would still have something ready and waiting.  Not that I always read the book I thought I was going to read; I occasionally changed my mind, but there still be only a day between books.  With blogging, I like to get my thoughts down before I start something new. Often, I would throw down my points and then start the new book, cleaning the post up when I had more time.  What happened?

Lately, probably the last three or four months, it is sometimes days before I pick up my next book.  It's not that I feel like I'm in a slump, I've enjoyed the books I've read.  I loved, The Demonologist and The Flying Troutmans.  Blue Lily, Lily Blue and Specials had me riveted.  Why did it take me so long to pick each of those books? There were days between all of them.  I could have read another (short) book in the time it took me to pick something.  Is it because I have Emily Dickinson's collection on the go?  Usually, I only have one "currently reading" book at a time, but I started her poems months and am taking my time. The poetry is an ebook, so if I'm out, without space for my novel, I can take in a few poems.  I also find by spacing them out, I'm enjoying each poem more. (I'm taking lots of notes too.)  However, I don't think that's it.  I've been reading the poems for about eight months now and this change is newer than that. 

So, what is it?  Why am I now leaving so much space between books?  How long do you let go by before you pick up another book?

It's been two days since I finished my last book. 

The Demonologist

I think I loved The Demonologist.  The story was riveting.  I was up late many nights because I just had to know what happened next.  I loved the characters, I empathized with them, I shouted at the book, I gasped out loud.  I loved the trip the character took, from New York to Venice, Florida to Northern Ontario.  It was the road trip from hell, but it was amazing.

Why don't I know if I loved The Demonologist?  I am not sure how I feel about the ending.  Quite a few unexpected things occurred. The emotional climax hit, but there was no after-moment, if you know what I mean.  I didn't need an epilogue or anything, I just wish there was a little bit more. There were so many unanswered questions.  I had to double-check to see if this was the first book in a series, because it seems to be calling for a sequel.  I do appreciate the ending though, there's a certain artistry to it.

Last weekend, I met author Andrew Pyper and wrote a bit about my experience.  I wish I had finished the book before the meeting, because there is so much I want to know.  Not that I think I would have broken out of my bumbling shell and asked him any of my burning questions.  The film rights have been sold, will it end the same way?  Why isn't there more?  I thought there'd be more running, more hugging, more tears.  I did love O'Brien though.  She was amazing throughout the novel.

I appreciated that though this was a horror/fantasy type novel, with evil demons straight out of Paradise Lost, that essentially, The Demonologist is about a father looking for his daughter.  He loves her, she is so much like him, they want each other to be happy. Their relationship anchored the emotional context of the book; my heart was always pulled back to David Ullman's loss.

Kind of a Diary Entry....

I went to see Andrew Pyper speak at the WCYR monthly meeting.  He was fantastic.  I loved when he talked about dumping out his notes on a dining room table, then connecting them, eventually turning them into a novel.  So much of the process he described for himself is actually what I like to do or see myself doing, the more I write.  I wish I had said something about that to him when I talked to him.  He brought a box of his book, The Demonologist, to sign for attendees.  He was so polite and I felt so awkward.  Most people I know don't think of me as a shy person.  I can get really chatty, but when I'm faced with a room full of people I don't know, I get very quiet.  I get awkward. I don't know what to say.  

I was also in a bit of a rush.  I was squeezing this meeting in because I really wanted to see what a WCYR meeting was like and I wanted to hear Andrew Pyper speak.  Other things were calling to me, waiting for me to be done.  My Hubby helped, taking care of things until I got home, but I felt the pull anyway.

To sum up, I felt dumb and awkward when I met a bestselling author, instead of telling him how awesome his talk was.  Good job me.