You ask if the first person narrator’s voice can change throughout a series – I certainly hope so. I’m writing such a series – where my protagonist has to grow as a person and learn who she really is.

I woke up thinking, Whoa! What kind of woman could do that? I’ve trained in various martial arts, I’ve studied and taught self-defense, but I know I’m not capable of that kind of instant action. I wondered how on earth this mystery dream woman got to be so capable. It’s taken me three books to find out. I think I’m really beginning to understand Aud.

So, no, she doesn’t surprise me now. However, she can occasionally infuriate me; she can be so obtuse. (Dornan’s voice, in Always, is at times perilously close to mine: ‘Aud Torvingen you are deeply stupid.’) Some of the other characters, though–for example Kick, who is so new to me–do surprise me.

As for voice, first person is, hands down, more challenging. For me. I found it easy enough at the beginner level (my first short story, more than twenty years ago, was in first person–you can read it for free on my website: nicolagriffith.com/sunpath.pdf), but through three novels with a protagonist who changes and grows yet remains an unreliable narrator, that’s hard. Part of me is definitely looking forward to playing with third person for a while. I feel the urge to experiment with a combination of epic and intimate. It should be enormously challenging (which in this context = fun, at least for me). But I don’t want to let go of Aud.

Did you ever feel like you, the author, diverged from Aud? Did she ever move in a direction that made you sit back and say, “Whoa!”? Or maybe put another way, has Aud ever surprised you, the person who surely knows her best?

Second thought (told you that I’m wordy). The first person versus third person is something I’ve thought a lot about. I find that each offers a certain level of intimacy and openness (getting back to the hardboiled versus noir idea we played with at the LBC). When it comes to first person, the narrator picks and chooses what to reveal and conceal while third persona narrators have different limitations. Which point-of-view do you find more challenging?

Yeah, an essay question if ever one existed.

Slow River–haven’t thought about that one for a while. That was my first big experiment with voice –and the last time I used third person. It’ll be good to get back to that (though what is probably next on my plate is a huge historical novel).

Nicola