For this guest post I asked Corinna a simple question, and got a pretty interesting answer. Check it out below:
What are some of the challenges and rewards of
creating a character who is a skeptic, in a story where the supernatural is
real?
Pearl Blackthorn
would call herself a diehard skeptic when it comes to the paranormal. While
this is an accurate description of her character, she can’t deny that she has a
fascination for it, even if it’s only because she wants to explain it
rationally and neatly.
One of the most
difficult challenges of creating the character of Pearl Blackthorn was to make
her skepticism convincing while at the same time allowing room for a sliver of
doubt. Gradually, this crack in her skepticism is pried a little wider as she
begins to have experiences that she has difficulty explaining rationally.
The task of
developing her character was made somewhat easier by her friend and fellow
investigator Harry Raymond, who at the time of his wife’s death had a
paranormal experience of his own. Harry is a firm believer in ghosts,
poltergeists and demons and wants nothing more than to prove to Pearl that they
exist. His enthusiasm for the supernatural makes an interesting and often
humorous contrast to Pearl’s disbelief.
The rewarding
part for me is the fact that I got to explore my own views on the paranormal,
some of which are conflicting. I had a lot of fun creating scenarios which
seemed at the outset to be supernatural events and then turning them into something
quite rational, while leaving a sprinkling of doubt.
In the sequel Darkside and Back Pearl not only finds
her skepticism for the paranormal challenged, but also her understanding of who
she is and where she came from.
Corinna
Underwood