In my last entry I talked about my one truly evil character, Tacito the Psychopath. Since then I have finished the chapter that describes his childhood. I found it difficult to write. For that reason, I guess I’ll never be a profiler. They say to be good at that job, you have to get so far into the criminals head that you actually become a psychopath yourself. The major trait of this character is his lack of morality. He feels no guilt, has no conscience, nothing he does or could do, bothers him. It was hard trying to think how a child from age 5 to 14 would behave if his mind were wired this way. You also have to consider that they are charming, personable, and would do anything to get their way. Lying, cheating, stealing, murder, torture, and all the rest are their tools of trade. They are so good at it, that you tend to not believe that they are doing those things. So fifteen hundred words later, I finished the chapter where he reminisces about his childhood. I have submitted the chapter for critique at this week’s writers’ group meeting. I hope they can help me polish the piece so that it sounds frightening.
I also managed to edit an earlier chapter to give it a little more depth and write a new chapter about a group of men arranging for a drug deal to go down. That chapter was fun to write and I was able to add another new character, Chico Rascón, a lieutenant in a drug gang. I love that name, the way it rolls off your tongue. I met with Larry on Monday and discussed the writing we had done to date and went over the details of some of our characters and how the changes we have made will affect the rest of the book. Larry is working on a chapter that will create some tension between two characters we have in the newspaper business. I also made a list of the characters we have in the book so far. It’s four pages long. I had no idea that we had that many people in the book. I just hope that we don’t confuse the reader too much.
We had a little sun here in Lima this week. It felt good. There has been so much rain and cold here in Lima this winter that I am ready for spring to arrive. I’m also looking forward to my trip back to the US to visit family and friends in October. I haven’t accomplished much the past few days but hope to get a lot done by the end of the week. I am relieved that the US Congress finally reached a deal on the debt ceiling. I was in fear of not receiving my social security checks for a bit. That doesn’t mean that I am happy with the outcome. I have a feeling that the US is on a downward trend, not only as it affects its citizens but the way the rest of the world will perceive it. Not only does the government of the US need to get its head out of its ass, the American people do also. Whatever happened to open and honest debate in our country? Why can’t people compromise on issues of national importance? We have become a nation of ME instead of US. I don’t think it’s too late but we are getting closer and closer to that point.
Happy Hump Day everyone. Enjoy the rest of your week.