The Diner

The scenes at the diner are fascinating scenes in On Black Wings, and they have this scary horror movie vibe to them. It's an enclosed place, and Jessica can leave at any time, yet she is bound there more by her need for companionship than a physical limitation. Everyone else will die if they step outside, yet she is actually more safe outside than they are. She's held there by a sense of community and belonging, people in search for answers as much as she is, and there is a dynamic to that group and situation that grips my attention.

That irony of her being more safe outside is a key element here, and she likely doesn't even realize it. She is still identifying with normal people more at this point and it shows. Later she discovers more about herself, but this was a fun contrast to her predicament and transformation that is highlighted in this part of the book.

I loved writing this scene, and it is one of those situations I could spend chapters on, but the relentless pace of her story had to move along. Still, it is a key moment in her journey, and also plays a role in the future as well. When I was creating this, I never realized the power this place would have, it felt like a random moment and a window into other people's lives on this terrible day. It gives you as a reader a chance to see what other people are going through, and it brings home the terrible scope and nature of the disaster in the book.

The characters too, I love the characters in this scene. They all have their ways of coping and reacting, and not all of them survive to the chapter's end, unfortunately. They are a group of people at the end of their ropes, and some of them do things that would not make sense on any normal day. Still, some of them are strong and hold onto their roles and responsibilities as a way of coping, and that is a sweet and memorable thing. Some of them make very bad choices as a direct reaction of her arrival, and this is a catalyst to move the story on.

And the character introduced at the end of the chapter? I had no idea he would be that important later. Jessica surprised me with her later decisions, and it took the story down a very fun and gripping path at the end. Had she made different choices the story would have been very different, but his arrival and how he sets up the end of the book was just a magical discovery for me. It's fun to let your characters do the driving for you sometimes, and as a writer, going with the flow and making the magic happen.

This is very much my writing style, I love the unpredictable nature of strong characters who drive the narrative. I do not know where they will go, and I let them drive and push things along as things happen and they react. Sometimes they take the initiative and the story changes in major ways. Other characters may not appreciate those moves, and the chess game is on.

Those battles, those fights behind the scenes that you only see parts of, those are the things that fascinate me and keep the situation in the book moving and unpredictable. Of course, the traditional story and narrative pieces must be in place, but it is an extra dynamic level that I love writing in my books.