I
usually start a novel with an oceanic burst of inspiration. I have an
idea—maybe a visual image, maybe a conversation, maybe a scene—and I plunge
headlong into the story. That’s fun! It’s like the beginning of a romantic
relationship: all heady enthusiasm, dewy dreams, and passionate attraction.
But
shortly thereafter, by chapter 2, the hard work starts. A huge part of the
structuring of a novel comes out of character development. In fact, plot and
character are inextricable. So after leaping into a novel, I sit down and think
through each character in minute detail.
Among
the many ways I have earned money, and there have been a lot of them (ask me
about picking lobster bodies for a month after my freshman year of college), is
astrology. I studied with an astrologer who was famous for her work on dreamy Neptune.
I took courses and read books, and after being tested and certified by the
NCGR, the National Council for Geocosmic Research, I took clients and read
horoscopes.
It
was not a lengthy career. There were other, more compelling professions for me.
However, I retained a way to view and build character. So after the first
chapter or two of a new novel, I cast charts for each of my main characters.
These are not real charts in the sense that they arise out of a specific day
and time. They are invented charts. And they are more like shorthand than like
actual horoscopes.
For
example, Luca Bastardo in IMMORTAL has a hell of a Venus-Pluto square. It gives
him extreme beauty, and it causes him pain, loss, and a profound appreciation
of love. This may not be the most precise definition of the aspect according to
real, practicing astrologers, but it means something precise—and useful—to me.
Arthur
in FALLEN has Sagittarius rising with Jupiter in Aries, while Emma is Aries
rising, with a loaded sixth house. So Emma’s crowded sixth house makes her a
healer, and gives her a practical frame
of mind. I’ve played with her Mars, as Mars is her ruling planet. Currently I
think it’s in Sag, which gives her that strong attraction to Arthur.
Brian
Tennyson in THE LOVE OF MY (OTHER) LIFE is a Gemini-Cancer blend. He has the
persistence to stick with a mate that Cancer can display and also the
inventiveness of a Gemini. Tessa Barnum, his long-lost love, has a strong
Neptune, which gives her artistic talent.
It’s
easy to see how my familiarity with astrology lends me an extra tool for
creating characters….
Traci L. Slatton
Traci L. Slatton is a graduate of Yale and Columbia. She lives in Manhattan, and her love for Renaissance Italy inspired her historical novel Immortal [Bantam Dell], which is currently in film pre-production and reached bestseller status in Italy, Russia, and Brazil. Also the author of novels The Botticelli Affair, Fallen, and Cold Light, Slatton has published The Art of Life, a photo essay about figurative sculpture; Dancing in the Tabernacle, a book of poetry; and Piercing Time & Space, a non-fiction title on science and spirituality. Her romantic comedy novella The Love of My (Other) Life addresses the question: What worlds would you move to be with your soulmate? Her forthcoming novel, The Mission, is a meaty historical saga set during World War II.
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