As I continue to discover new writer blogs, I find myself continuously amazed at the generosity of indie writers who share what they’ve learned. There are so many awesome people out there that it’s hard to know where to begin, although a few come readily to mind such as David Gaughran, Susan Kaye Quinn, Armand Rosamilia and Robert Chazz Chute (and then there are all the wonderful podcasts such as the Self-Publishing Roundtable, the Self-Publishing Podcast and the Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast). Having been in this game for only a year, I can’t tell you how helpful this open and free exchange of knowledge has been.

What’s been on my mind lately is just what can a relatively new indie writer like me bring to the conversation? As you can see on my blog, I often reblog posts from those more experienced than myself about indie publishing. Although, I did offer an attempt at contributing by sharing some information about my recent book launch for Streetlights Like Fireworks. That would have been much more impressive had my novel soared to the very top of the rankings and become an instant phenomenon (but at least it got up into the #2,000 range for a bit and collected some nice reviews, which made me happy).

One thing that occurred to me is that maybe I could add by offering some observations about how writing about a certain topic can start to affect a writer’s outlook or at least create a preoccupation. Well, at least for this writer, lately. To a degree, what comes to mind is an actor cast to play a role and, during the time it takes to produce the movie, wearing that psyche for a while. Evidently, when filming Lincoln, Daniel Day Lewis stayed in character for three months, requiring even Stephen Spielberg to address him as “Mr. President.” Well, what about writers inhabiting their characters? I realize there’s quite a bit more separation here but I know that I’ve definitely woken up from dreams within which I’ve been interacting with one of the fictional characters I thought I left behind that evening when I shut the lid on my laptop. Thankfully, I like most of my characters and I haven’t yet written any particularly dark stories. What of the writer spending six months inside the head of a psychotic killer or even an amoral broker? I mean, that has to have some sort of psychological effect. Naturally, writing horror comes to mind. I know I wouldn’t have an aptitude for that to begin with but I can’t imagine hanging around in Stephen King’s brain (although I sure wish I had his talent).

For me, I think the most view-altering aspect of my writing so far has been continuing to develop my YA series about the afterlife, which kicks off with Jump When Ready (Jump #2 will be out soon). In many ways, these are lighthearted books. I mean, as lighthearted as they can be given that they’re about a bunch of teenagers coming to terms with what it means to be between lives while those they knew struggle to carry on without them or even move past them as they continue living. Still, these books require me to spend a fair amount of time imagining what might happen to us after we die. You might find this surprising, but the afterlife is a topic people generally try to avoid. (Okay, maybe you don’t find that surprising.) Sure, maybe when we’re drunk we’ll give it a whirl but usually (and, thankfully) the topic soon changes to something less morbid and scary. After all, what could be more frightening than the basic truth that each one of us has an expiration date, the clock ticking before someone wraps us in our first baby blanket. Right, I know. Who wants to think about that?

I don’t think of myself as a morbid person. Although you might wonder, why then did I decide to write about a bunch of “dead” teenagers? Or, for that matter, why does almost everything I write feature a ghost in there somewhere? Clearly, there’s some sort of fascination with the afterlife going on with me (at least subconsciously). As I continue to create these afterlife stories, naturally I have to speculate more on what might happen to us on the other side (or if there is another side where anything does–the scariest part being that maybe there is no other side and nothing happens). I’m not a particularly religious person (okay, I’m not religious at all) but the idea of reincarnation seems to make the most sense to me, although maybe more as some sort of reuse of energy than any actual preservation of personality. I do find some comfort in this (which is, of course, why so many people are into religion—it’s comforting except for that stuff about sin and hell). At the same time, when your fictional characters are already “non-living,” you can’t help thinking maybe more often than you otherwise would about mortality. Honestly, it’s not unusual for me lately to be walking down the street or spending some time with my family and suddenly find myself suddenly thinking how one of these days I’m going to cease to exist, as is everyone around me (which isn’t comforting one bit, especially when looking at my kids). So, I may not exactly be Daniel Day Lewis wearing Lincoln around for three months but writing about life after death definitely affects what I think about and how I feel each day. Not that it’s all bad. After all, my characters are having a good time remaining perpetual teenagers living together in Halfway House while sorting things out and trying to help people they left behind.

I’d love to hear from other readers and writers about this. Do you find yourself wrapped up in your characters’ worlds, their psyches, their obsessions? How do you separate from your creepy creations (or do you love them for their creepiness?). Readers, do you ever find that a novel or series at least temporarily alters the way you normally look at the world? Does a character or fictional world alter your perspectives in profound ways or make you consider things you otherwise might not?

If you’d like to find out what my YA characters experience in their version of the afterlife, check out Jump When Ready. So far, people really like the story, so it’s definitely been worth spending some time pondering life after death. Although, coming up with a way of being addressed as “Mr. President” for a while might be good too. Yeah, I’m off to get my top hat now…