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Character depth and the unusual in Synchronicity

My editor’s markup of Alchemy was an affirmation of the importance of character depth in any novel. I’m drawn to character combinations myself, with normal characters offset by unusual characters. While I don’t typically go for the gratuitously weird, I do occasionally add a character who is a caricature – in the book for humor, maybe.

In Synchronicity, I think the primary cast is pretty interesting, so I figured I’d tell you about them:

  • TRAVIS EDISON. Age 24, scarred by the death of his father at age 12, living in his mother’s basement. He is aware of coincidences and has a semi-firm belief that they are signs to be interpreted, learned from. Meets Meg Hunter the same night he finally gets a sense of a career direction.
  • MEG HUNTER. Age 26, a young nerd who blossomed late, driven and focused on her job. She is bright, successful, more than a little sarcastic and values her tight-knit, ex-Mormon family. But she’s failed to find a good match and feels some pressure to make progress on that front.
  • CARL JUNG. Long-deceased icon of psychiatry. Defined the collective unconscious, psychic archetypes, studied (to his professional detriment) synchronicity and alchemy. Pulled by God into purgatory to, ostensibly, evaluate the life of Travis Edison for evidence of synchronicity.
  • THE SKINWALKER. Age 150, Navajo legend, currently in elk form as penance for a life of evil. Seeks redemption, to have the human life he abandoned when he became aware of his powers. Still struggling with the means to reclaim his humanity, he targets Travis in the mountains above Salt Lake City.
  • GOD. Age: infinite. On the surface, the Judeo-Christian archetype of the deity because that’s how Carl Jung thinks of him. Actual nature somewhat undefined.

The secondary characters have important roles in the novel, though not all of them make appearances in Alchemy (the sequel). They are:

  • Mom. Travis’s mother, lovingly impatient with her son’s progress, the model of self-sacrifice for the benefit of others. She wants him to have what she lost, and more.
  • Matt Poston. Travis’s high school sorta-friend, currently working at the Bureau of Land Management in Salt Lake City.
  • Rick Rhoads. A caricature of the cranky old bigoted retiree. Obsessed with The Weather Channel. Bitter. Hates his son. Ignores his wife. Omaha, Nebraska resident.
  • Drew Rhoads. Rick Rhoads’ son. Completely unlike his father. Actor, generous man, still-closeted to his family though his father suspects he is gay. Absorbs the abuse with maturity. Omaha, Nebraska resident.

Of course, in Alchemy we abandon some of these characters and introduce a new batch. That’s part of the fun of drafting a novel: seeing characters come to life and explore the world you’ve given them.