Hello All, First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who participated in last week’s word count challenge. It was a tough commitment to make, but the reward was worth the effort. Our winner, Deniz Bevan is proof of this. She came in with a whopping seven-thousand words for the week. Great job Deniz. Enjoy the chocolates and the book. You earned em. Denise's dedication to the craft had a galvanizing affect on me. After dedicating a couple of months to developing my characters, I finally put the finishing touches on their bios. As you all know, characters drive a story, so it's important to create individuals with poignant and unique personalities. This can mean the difference between a character who has the charisma of a cardboard cutout, and one that is extraordinary and inspiring. Since I hoped to achieve the latter, I decided the best way to draw inspiration for characters was ...