Characters on the Couch: Kiersten Fay’s Kasima and Lex

I’m super excited to bring y’all a new Characters on the Couch interview! Meet Kasima and Lex from Kiersten Fay’s story The Vampire’s Masquerade, which is part of the Empires of Shadow and Ash box set, currently just 99 cents.

In Empires of Shadow and Ash, heroes are made, not born. If you enjoyed the Fever Series, you’ll love these 20 brand new stories from Kiersten Fay & 19 of today’s hottest authors in dystopian & urban fantasy.

1. If your character were to go to a psychologist – willingly or unwillingly – what would bring them in? Yes, a court order is a valid answer.

Kasima, my human heroine, wouldn’t mind going to a psychologist. She isn’t afraid to talk and get things out in the open, yet she always seems to attract the wrong sort of guy. That’s something she should probably work on.

Though he’s fairly carefree, Lex would probably have to be dragged kicking and screaming, which would be a difficult task for anyone who couldn’t match his supernatural vampire strength. When he isn’t helping out his clan, his goal in life is to just enjoy himself and never take anything too seriously, which might be why he’s never pursued a serious relationship.

2. Is the presenting problem one of the main internal or external conflicts in your book? If so, how does it present itself?

Most definitely. Kasima, as I said, attracts the wrong sort of guys, and in The Vampire’s Masquerade, she’s managed to draw the interested of a devil-may-care vampire. Their attraction is combustible, but Kasima doesn’t know if she can keep things casual between them. It’s not really in her nature.

3. It’s always interesting to see how people act when they first enter my office. Do they immediately go for my chair, hesitate before sitting anywhere, flop on the couch, etc.? What would your character do?

Lex is a definite couch-flopper. He’d put his feet up, drape his arms behind his head, and challenge the therapist to dig out his inner child.

Kasima would hesitate briefly before gingerly taking the chair. Yet she’d be open and honest with the therapist, and wouldn’t be afraid to answer tough questions.

4. Does your character talk to the therapist? How open/revealing will your character be? What will he or she say first?

Kasima isn’t afraid to get inside her psyche and examine her own subconscious. She’d be fascinated, actually, at what she might discover about herself.

Lex wouldn’t be so forthcoming. He’d use his natural charm and humor as a defense mechanism so he wouldn’t have to talk about anything too heavy. But eventually, if the therapist built a rapport with him, and with enough poking and prodding, he’d be willing to get down to the nitty-gritty.

5. Your character walks into the bar down the street after his/her first therapy session. What does he/she order? What happens next?

Kasima would order a white wine, middle shelf, and sit quietly, contemplating the session. She’d think about the therapist and how they’d gotten along and all the stuff they’d spoken about, the things from her past that might be holding her back in both her professional and personal life. She’d be ready for change.

Lex would go for something harder. “Whiskey. Rocks.” Then he’d make quick friends with the bartender and exchange stories, laughing boisterously. If he thinks about the session, it would be to wonder what was the damn point?

6. When you’re building characters, do you have any tricks you use to really get into their psyches, like a character interview or personality system (e.g., Myers-Briggs types)?

With each character I create, first thing I do is delve into their past and figure out what happened in their childhood or teenage years to shape the adult they’ve become. I want to figure out if a childhood trauma has damaged them in some way, or made them stronger for it. Do they need to be fixed, or are they the fixer.

Once I figure out their history, it tells me how they’re going to react to whatever I throw at them. For instance, in The Vampire’s Masquerade, Kasima grew up with some pretty wonderful parents who were madly in love with one another. That has shaped her view on love, and from the moment she began her dating career, she is in search of a love so strong.

It’s elusive, however. With a string of terrible boyfriends in her past, and both her parents gone, she doesn’t exactly realize how desperate for love she has become. She has found herself accepting some pretty rotten behavior from her current boyfriend, Brian, in hopes that he will shape up soon. I’m not going to spoil it, but he isn’t exactly the hero of this story.

You can meet Kasima and Lex in Vampire Masquerade, Kiersten’s contribution to the Empires of Shadow and Ash box set, which is currently only 99 cents. Grab your copy today!

Kiersten Fay is the author of the steamy paranormal romance series, Shadow Quest, in which she combines paranormal and sci-fi with loose concepts from lore and mythology. In 2013, her short story, Racing Hearts, was published in The Mammoth Book of Futuristic Romance. In 2012, via gravetells.com, she won Favorite Story of August 2012 for Demon Retribution, the third book in her Shadow Quest series, and received a nomination for favorite author in that same year. Before becoming an author, Kiersten worked as graphic designer, and now loves creating her own book covers.

While fully intending to continue her bestselling Shadow Quest series, she is currently working on a new dark fantasy series called Creatures of Darkness, featuring magic, witches, vampires, and whatever else she decides to throw in.

For release dates, sign up to the newsletter at www.kierstenfay.com –or– LIKE her on Facebook.