The Devil Inside (aka: Luc)

Yesterday wrapped up my EPIC 1313 Followers Personal Demons Twitter Contest! A ton of you entered, and three of you walked away with signed copies of Personal Demons. Congrats! We're three follower away from the EPIC 666 Followers Personal Demons Contest here on the blog. It looks like it will happen soon, so I've got some fun Halloween prize packs in mind! Spread the word and keep watching the blog!

So, my post... Last month I did a guest post for Tor Teen. It was about having Luc in my head. You can read the post in its entirety here. I'm posting the meat of it below, because it dovetails from my Monday post, where I talked about characters coming to life in my mind and gradually making their way onto the page. I know it sounds crazy and, at this point, I'm okay with that, but I've gotten to know Luc, Frannie and Gabe pretty well by now. Not only do they have conversations with each other, but they include me now too. They've also stepped off the pages of Personal Demons and are making there way into the world on their own. They've all done interviews and Luc in particular seems to be in demand. You can read interviews he's done here, here and a new one that posted just today here.

So, without Further adieu, here's my guest post from Tor Teen:

Personal Demons is the story of Frannie Cavanaugh—a good Catholic girl with a unique skill set—who finds herself in a battle for her soul between Lucifer Cain, who works in Acquisitions for Hell, and Gabriel, the angel sent to protect her.

When I started writing Personal Demons, all I had was a name: Lucifer Cain. I knew he was a demon because…well…his name was Lucifer Cain. What I didn’t know was how much fun it was going to be writing from inside a demon’s head.

One of the things that makes Personal Demons different is that we get the opportunity to hear Luc’s side of the story from his first-person POV. Because we’re in his head, we’re in on his inner dialogue as he muses about things from the unique point of view of a demon. He’s lived a dual life, moving between two worlds, so his perspective reflects that. Through the course of the book, we also get to see how Frannie messes with that perspective as he struggles to define feelings he’s never experienced before.

For example, here’s a snippet of Frannie’s and Luc’s first exchange from Luc’s POV:

 I watch her write “Frannie and Luke: Steinbeck chapter 26 outline” in her composition book, and for some reason it really bothers me that she spelled my name wrong. I fix it before answering her. “I think he made some choices that he’s now got to pay the consequences for.” One of which is eternity burning in the Abyss.

She looks at me, all incredulity. “Just that simple, huh? No extenuating circumstances. No second chances?”

“Nope. Don’t believe in second chances.” The Underworld’s not big on that concept.

She shifts back in her chair and folds her arms across her chest, scrutinizing me. “You’ve never made a mistake? Done something you were sorry for?”

“Nope.”

“Everybody has something they wish they could undo.”

I lean toward her and gaze into those sapphire eyes. “What do you wish you could undo, Frannie?”

She shudders when I say her name, and I realize I’m being unfair. I pushed a little power at her without really meaning or needing to. But I like the reaction.

When she replies there’s more than a hint of pain in her tone, and the faint scent of rose—sadness. I search deep in those eyes to find the root of it. “Lots of things,” she says without breaking her gaze.

For some reason, out of the blue, I don’t want her to hurt. I feel Hell-bent on making her happy. Just the tiniest push is all it would take…

Stop it. Where the Hell did that come from? I don’t even recognize the sensation that passed with that thought. Demons don’t have feelings. Not like that, anyway. This isn’t a charity mission…I’m here for a clear purpose, and Miss Frannie Cavanaugh is showing promise. Lots of promise.


This passage gives you a peek into Luc’s thought processes. He’s pretty cocky, being a Creature of Pride and from one of the top echelons of Hell. But from the minute they meet, Frannie makes him question everything he’s so sure about. She makes him see shades of gray when he’s convinced everything is black and white. At times his perspective is humorous and other times poignant, but it’s never boring. I hope you have as much fun reading him as I had writing him.

And there you have it. I'm possessed. Writing from inside Luc's head is one of the funnest things that I've ever done. I'm in the middle of writing the last book of the trilogy now, but I have a feeling Luc will still be hanging around in my head long after I've typed "the end" on Hellbent.