How do you decide what your characters do for a living? In my Jaguar Assassin's series, the jaguar shifter community is kept secret because there's an organization hunting them but they have to interact in normal society.
My assassin's work within the system to eradicate everyone that would harm the shifter community and/or reveal them to their enemies. But not everyone can be an assassin.
The fact that they grow fur and fangs also has to be kept secret. These are two of my determining factors when trying to come up with a career because hey, you can't just hang out in the jungle and hunt these days.
I write paranormals but there's another popular genre, urban fantasy that I find fascinating. Can you imagine a world where you live alongside vamps and weres or witches and warlocks? Would you want a gargoyle for a neighbor? Would there be a "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military because let's face it, they could be very useful. The possibilities are endless.
I think, for the most part your shifters job choices are determined by the community/society that you create and the story you want to write. How do you handle it? What are some of the creative career choices you've given your shifters and why?
You know how curious I am;-)
Paris
Enjoy the adventure of sensual romance
5 comments:
My first shifter novella, my heroine was a matchmaker and the hero was a lawyer. In my most recent shapeshifter novel, Diarmid is a police officer. That's definitely a career that lends itself to shapeshifters. They can smell a criminal - scent him to track him. All kinds of cool stuff. In some of my WIPs, I have shifters who are cops, musicians, and doctors. I think they can be whatever they want to be really and it's fun trying to figure out how their shifter abilities help them do their jobs better.
Great post, Paris!
Paris, great topic. I certainly give that a good deal of thought, depending on my story.
Sun Rocket chases down the bad cat shifters throughout the galaxy, rather harrowing not only because of her chosen profession, but because cat shifters aren't well-regarded.
Sable is basically doing a stint on the surface of Earth, since her home is in Inner Earth, to provide her powerful father with whatever intel he wants, to keep a cat-eye on the Topsiders. As far as fitting in, she's basically a good-time girl.
Zio has his own lucrative business and travels from spaceport to spaceport, rather at his whim, at times, since what he really likes is exploration, space and otherworlds.
Trail works as a tracker, using his many psi abilities to hunt bad guys or find someone in the backcountry of Arizona.
I'd think it would be cooler than cool to write an Urban Fanatasy story where a gargoyle is a neighbor.
Great blog, Paris. My shifters tend to own their own businesses or have very self-contained jobs. My current heroine is a sought after photographer...
Thanks for the wealth of info;-) Yes, I think it's fun to make their shifter abilities work in the real world and give them a slight edge. I also think it's great fun to make them liabilities also but you know me...what's the worst that could happen;-)
I'm with you guys -- find a profession where their shifter abilities would be assets. The Chase clan of werewolves, for instance, has built a real estate empire. Who knows how to manage territory better than a wolf? One of my wolves is a cop, which utilitzes his hunting skills. Among the coyotes, the Gray family runs a game farm. This lets them provide meat for the family and hunts for packs in a safe environment. Cody is a professional poker player; his nose lets him sniff out who's bluffing. His twin brothers run a catering service (coyotes like their food). Somewhere out there I'm sure you'd find a feline hairdresser. What cat doesn't want his/her fur to look fantastic?
Pat C.
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