When the Dead Speak

Last week, Carina Press author, Inez Kelley, did an interview where she talked about how the dead speak to their lost loved ones in her books. The interview got me thinking about how in certain television shows, you always wonder when someone dies whether or not they are going to stay dead. This phenomenon isn't limited to fantasy shows either (Tony Almeda anyone?), but it is most common there.

Of course, as soon as I started on this train of thought, I began pondering if there were any characters I'd killed that I would want to bring back from the dead. And if I did, how I'd manage it.

You see, I'm okay with characters coming back, as long as it makes sense. For example, when Dean came back from hell on Supernatural. He didn't know how he came back at first, but within a couple episodes of the season, he and the viewer found out, and most important -- it made sense within the mythology of the show.

So, if I was going to bring someone back, it had to work. In fact, I wanted the coming back to be important to the story I planned to tell. That's kind of a tall order.  I'm working on a couple of potential series right now. In one, there's only one character I'd consider bringing back, but the way I'd have to do it isn't appealing. It would change the character in so many ways I'm not sure if I'd like him anymore. Then there's the other story with the character I didn't feel quite got to tell his part of the story. I felt bad about him dying, but I couldn't see how to bring him back.

Then I had this image of him come to mind reminiscent of something zombie-like (I know that's vague, but I don't want to give too much away). I tossed around a couple things, and once I was done juggling ideas, I threw one at my husband and said, "Does this make sense?" He asked a couple questions, but agreed that it would work.

I'm working on another project, but I wanted to jot down the beginning of the story I envisioned for this character. It's only four paragraphs long, but within that I found the other thing I needed -- the link between his re-birth to the story. It needs a lot of fleshing out, but I think it could be something really fun.

Even though I didn't think I'd ever bring someone back from the dead, sometimes when the dead speak, it's a good idea to listen :)