Books to Read, Cantos Chronicles, CL Walters, Character, Fiction Cami Books to Read, Cantos Chronicles, CL Walters, Character, Fiction Cami

My Top 5 Characters I've Written

If I thought selecting the favorite books from the stack I’ve written was difficult, choosing my favorite characters is infinitely worse. Why? I love (or love to hate) them all, but for the sake of this exercise and not because I don’t love these characters (who are like real people in my head), I will go through with this top 5 list. Here’s the criteria I used to help me decide:

  • Characters I’ve already written, not ones I’m in the process of writing.

  • The challenge of writing the character and the overall outcome on the page.

  • The way the character lingers in my mind after finishing the story.

  • How the character presented on the page with other characters

This presentation is in no particular order.


Tanner James

Truthfully, Tanner James from The Stories Stars Tell, jumped from the pages the moment I started writing his character. He was funny, daring, and heartfelt, but stuck in his small world. I loved getting to know this character and all the ways that his life influenced his choices. The first scene I wrote with him was the cliffside scene (I posted it to Instagram in a Sunday Snippet, here). The more I wrote Tanner, the more invested I was in The Stories Stars Tell.


Emma Matthews

Tanner’s antithesis in The Stories Stars Tell also tops the list. Here’s the truth, I struggle to write female characters. I’ve written about this before (want to read that: here), so when I stack up writing Abby, which was really the only other female character I’d written for ten years with Emma, I was able to present a more fleshed out young woman in Emma than I ever had before.

Griffin Nichols-Maxwell Wallace


I have decided to present this couple as a single character. Okay, this might be cheating, but hear me out. Griffin was really hard to write, and difficult to like initially. When you read The Stories Stars Tell (he’s Tanner’s best friend and not very likable) and  In the Echo of this Ghost Town, he is so flawed right at the onset. Enter Maxwell Wallace (specifically the gas station-convenience store scene which is the first moment I met Maxwell) and suddenly Griffin popped off the page. As character’s go, Maxwell is the shiny light and Griffin is a grump. She really makes him, but she also makes the story. I could have just picked her, but I feel like it’s their relationship on the page that makes them both so dynamic. So I’m sticking to this choice.



Gabe Daniels

True story: Gabe started out as a fallen angel, and in the original story Upside Down (it’s here on Wattpad if you want to read it but please forgive me. It’s not great. I was just getting started finding my own voice). He was this idealistic, mysterious outsider who was over-the-top heroic. Obviously, I couldn’t get this Twilight wannabe story to work, but I couldn’t figure out why. Not yet, anyway. While revising, I wrote this horrific scene which I can’t divulge here (it’s a spoiler) and I had this minuscule voice in the back of my heart saying, “that’s me.” I knew it was Gabe talking to me, but I was terrified to write that story. It didn’t go with the original paranormal idea, and it was dark. Really dark. In hindsight, my journey hadn’t taken me anywhere where I could have written that story and given it justice yet. I needed time. So, fast forward seven years after I rewrote Swimming Sideways and The Ugly Truth as contemporaries and that scene resurfaced. Gabe said, “See. I told you it was me.” 





Seth Peters


I feel like Seth started my whole journey, so he has a very special place in my heart. While I’ve been writing since I was a child, and I've written at least four other books (unpublished) before publishing Swimming Sideways, Seth’s character is the one that wouldn’t stop talking to me. Seriously, he’s a freaking nag. To be fair, if you’ve read Fallen (that Wattpad Monstrosity again), I left him trapped in the underworld, so his nagging was about getting him out (LOL), but then I changed everything up on him, and discovered he was trapped in the underworld in this world, not a fantasy one. Which led to The Ugly Truth.

Honorable Mention:Secondary Characters

I couldn’t leave it there, because I think secondary characters are amazing, and I have some really loud ones talking my ear off at the moment. I figure I’d share some that I was really proud of and loved writing:

  • Cal Wallace (In the Echo of this Ghost Town & When the Echo Answers)

  • The entire cast of secondary characters from The Stories Stars Tell. I mean really? Who doesn’t want to read more about Ginny, Liam, Josh, and Danny? What about Emma’s sister, Shelby?

  • Dale and Martha from The Bones of Who We Are. I especially loved writing Dale.

  • There’s a bunch of new characters showing up in some new stories I’m working on, but those are top secret for now. Join my newsletter if you’re interested in hearing about those books before anyone else.

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Books for Teens, Books to Read, Fiction, YA Fiction, YA Contemporary, YALit Cami Books for Teens, Books to Read, Fiction, YA Fiction, YA Contemporary, YALit Cami

This-Then-That: YA Contemporary Edition

A Staircase worth of YA Contemporary.

A Staircase worth of YA Contemporary.

Another week. Another installment of THIS-THEN-THAT. For all of you who commented either here or on Instagram, and in the IG Story for this week’s installment, thank you! Let’s do this again.

A reminder. THIS-THEN-THAT is a game that uses this format: If you liked THIS title, THEN you might enjoy THAT one.

This-Then-That.

The theme this week is YA Contemporary, which I have discovered is probably one of my favorite categories right up with YA fantasy. I didn’t realize it until I started pulling titles from my shelf and watched the stack take shape. So many good stories…

Same format as last week. Left side are the THIS titles and the right side are the THAT titles.

Here we go. . .

This

That

For your consideration (because I write YA Contemporary. :) . . .

Earlier this year, a bookstagram friend on IG, Lavinia (@instaraygram) who helped with last week’s post read The Cantos Chronicle (the books I wrote). She said she loved them . . . and asked me if I’d read Brigid Kemmerer? She said, “Your style reminds me of hers.” I hadn’t, but I was immediately intrigued. So I scooped up all of her titles and FELL IN LOVE with her (so what an honor to be compared to her!) So one more This/That . . .

THIS

THAT

Finally . . . Join me on my IG Story (@cl.walters) to help with next week’s theme: YA Sci Fi and Dystopian. I need your help.

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Book Marketing, Book Playlist, Books for boys, Books for Teen Boys, Books for Teens, Books to Read, Cantos Chronicles, CL Walters, Coming of Age, Conflict, Fiction, fiction - mental health, Independent Author, New Fiction, Playlist, Swimming Sideways, Teen Books, The Bones of Who We Are, The Ugly Truth, YA Contemporary, YA Series, YALit, Young Adult Cami Book Marketing, Book Playlist, Books for boys, Books for Teen Boys, Books for Teens, Books to Read, Cantos Chronicles, CL Walters, Coming of Age, Conflict, Fiction, fiction - mental health, Independent Author, New Fiction, Playlist, Swimming Sideways, Teen Books, The Bones of Who We Are, The Ugly Truth, YA Contemporary, YA Series, YALit, Young Adult Cami

Indie Author Marketing: Update No. 7

If I thought I didn’t know if I was coming or going last week, this week it’s all about staying put. I’ve had to park it. At home. Social Distancing. And with no end in site, it makes me wonder what’s to come? Well, hopefully I’ll offer some interesting content. Here’s a vlog brought to you from the inside of my bathroom (LOL) as I reflect about this week.

In the grand scheme of my Independent Author Book Marketing road trip, the vehicle sort of stalled on the side of the road. I got pulled over by the police and escorted to the next motel where I’ve been directed to hang out for the next couple of weeks. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Great. What does this mean for book marketing? Long term, I don’t know. My events might be shot. Short term, I’ve got Social Media.

One of the things I mention in the vlog was publishing the Book Playlists on Instagram for each of the books in The Cantos Chronicles. One of the biggest necessities of marketing is identifying the target audience. As a YA Writer, I’m speaking to teens, specifically 16-18 year olds (though I’m beginning to wonder since my books seem to have a crossover adult appeal. This begs the question: am I marketing to the correct audience?) Since art of all kinds speaks so loudly to me, and every teen I have known speaks music, I decided a playlist might be a solid interactive experience).

I’ve begun to consider that this isn’t a short term game, but a long one. I’m in the process of building a relationship with readers. That’s going to take time and consistency. So while we might be “In the Wait” (Oh hey, head over to Wattpad to read those short vignettes if you’re interested in them), I need to continue to be vigilant in offering the strongest content I can to showcase who I am as a writer and as a person.

Rerelease day for The Cantos Chronicles is right around the corner (March 31, 2020) though they are available for PreOrder. Two more weeks!

Next Week: Indie Author Marketing: Update No. 8

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