How Complex is Thy Character?

The Read:  Funerals are terribly time-consuming [and emotionally draining] even when expected and a mercy.  I can't image what a widow and family must go through.  It's bad enough when you're only peripherally involved.  One last event and my life can go back to normal.  I really do prefer being a hermit.  --  All this by explanation that I haven't been getting much reading done since I've been squeezing my writing time in between events.

I finished Savannah Russe's In the Blood, the fourth of the Darkwing Chronicles.  [About vampires, yes, I know, but I read it anyway]. As far as I can remember I haven't read any other books in the series.  At the same time, the book was easily self-contained and stood on its own.  I don't know if I'll go looking for any other in the series but I did enjoy this book's main character's quandaries while searching for a bunch of kidnapped girls.  In this case:  vampires 1, terrorists 0.  A nice little thriller that was easy to read while watching the news (which is what I did to finish it). --  Fortunately, the news has been fairly boring.

Since I'm still journaling Maren, I'm looking at a lot of articles I've clipped [torn] out of Writer's Digest and The Writer.  The gist of these seems to be "stick a characteristic on your characters", and a lot of published writers seem to do just that.  Actually, Daphne seems to have more problems than just trying to rescue the kidnapped girls and be a moral vampire.  (an oxymoron if there ever was one) ... 

She also has problems with her mother interfering in her life.  How does a 400+ vampire have "mother" problems?  It's easy when your mother is an 800+ vampire, which leads to interesting questions of vampires breeding as well as being turned.  The explanation of vampire procreation wasn't given in this book, and I doubt if I'll go looking for it, but I'm thinking there might be the makings of a twist somewhere in there.

Oh yeah,  there were "man problems" but that got solved by her breaking off the relationship and sending him into hiding so he wouldn't be corrupted by the vampire lifestyle.  [Mama was insisting boyfriend/fiance be turned.] 

So, I'm faced with the problem of how many problems should I give Maren.  Haven't really thought of it before ... though by default, my characters have all more than one problem.  Now I think I have to do it consciously since I always enjoy plots with more than one note.

Progress:  Maren.  Thinking of having the book start in this world ... sort of.  Actually, in my never never California.  I do have to change the town's name I think.  I've already used Hardscrabble twice.

Emma.  Did get the query and synopsis rewritten ... again or is that again and again?  Whatever, I've sent it out to four agents to see if my query can hook a couple of partial requests.  

Trivia:  See above.  The only good thing I can think of about funerals is that you get to chat with people you haven't seen in ages.