Interupting Characters

Where do characters come from? Well, when a Mummy character and Daddy character love each other VERY much.... Not quite what I was thinking, but probably as good as a response as any I could come up with.

My plan was to write a mystery novel set in Australia in the 1930's. I have the plot, I have the characters and I started to write. That piece of work has now gone to the waiting room, because there was another character forming that needed to be written first. She was a tomboyish 11yr old redhead that lived in the 16th century and wanted to be a pirate.

I resisted, after all it was a period I knew little about. However this little girl was adamant. So I started researching and writing the story of The Pirate Girl. Very quickly other characters formed around her, such as the Duke that has become an outcast and knows nothing about sailing...or survival.

While working away at this story, another 11yr old girl asked to be written; this time a contemporary young 'preppy' girl who, along with her canine companion, enters dog shows and solve mysteries.

Both girls wanted attention and I loved them both equally. How could I choose between my characters? So I write both and sometimes when I work on one too long, I hear the other complaining (kids!).

I'm not sure why I am drawn to this age. Perhaps it is the in between time of leaving being a little girl behind but not into the teenage years yet. The place of what is left behind and what is to come.