Terrible Admission

I have a terrible admission to make. I OFTEN forget if a Fam is along with his/her person. Then s/he disappears from the scene. Eventually, (end of 4 single spaced pages yesterday) I remember. Yesteray I wrote: WHERE IS ZEM? ADD ZEM!

But, you know, it is often easier to keep the Fam out of the scene and send them somewhere else.

The first thing I consider is: Would the Fam add to this scene (and I know many of my fans would think a Fam would always add to a scene, but that is NOT the truth). But sometimes the Fam must be inserted and that is tricky.

The next thing is: Would the Fam him/herself, want to be in this place at this time. In this particular instance, since hero Jace doesn't want to be there, Zem doesn't either, and unlike Jace, he has the option of flying away. :)

And though, of course, I feel a little guilty when I forget them, I don't feel AS guilty as the first time it happened, like OMG, HOW DID I FORGET THAT! (Well, Drina WAS my cat Diva who ran the household).

I do recall the first time, it was in Heart Choice, when hero Straif and heroine Mitchella were in the glider on the way to the Clovers for a party. There they were travelling along and no DRINA! (who loves to be admired) So I backtracked and inserted:

Drina kept Straif company. She watched him lay out the flower-bed, made comments, chased and ate moths and napped in the sunshine. She was happy until her collar arrived with "one puny diamond and heavy spells," then went to her room to sulk.......

"The glider has arrived," the Residence said. "Mitchella waits in the front. The FamCat refuses to visit Commoners in an ugly collar."

Since this is exactly what Drina would have done, it worked!

Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again.
Robin