HEA. Well, I'm not promising.

So let me start with this. I prefer beloved characters getting their Happily Ever Afters. In fact, when the book ends and someone I love is dead, I sometimes get furious at the author. How could you kill someone I love so much? I read to escape the horrors of reality. Sure, some people want it more real. And sure, I want my characters to overcome obstacles. But that is the key word, overcome. When you kill someone I love, my heart breaks and there have been a few times that I have stopped buying books from that author because I can't take it that someone I love is dead! So why am I not promising? When I write a book or series of books, I have a basic plan. I know where I want to go with each book. However, for the most part, I let the characters flow through me and choose their own paths. Sometimes, this alters my plan and I have to think about things to get my peeps back on track. But when I'm writing, it's like I'm reading. My characters surprise me. Sometimes I want a certain set of people to get together and when I create a new character that meets them, suddenly I realize that the chemistry with the new person is so much more amazing that I have to re-work the book and fix it so that people realize why things changed. Once I have the first draft down, that's when I really start to go to work, fixing things now that I know the true path of my characters. Also, tying them to the new books, if it is a series. Killing someone off isn't really a choice, it's the way the story developed and my heart gets ripped out too. So all this boils down to I can't guarantee HEAs but I'll do my best to try. What about you? Are HEAs a must for you? Tell me about it on my comments page. Take care all!