All the characters in my books are imagined, but all have a bit of who I am in them - much like the characters in your dreams are all formed by who you are. ↗
I directed 24's pilot. I felt we should follow the characters around as if we were a documentary crew, using available light, hand-held cameras, split screens, sound that isn't always what it should be, to suit the reality of the premise. ↗
That is what I define as a novel: something that has a beginning, a middle and an end, with characters and a plot that sustain interest from the first sentence to the last. But that is not what I do at all. ↗
The relationship between reader and characters is very difficult. It is even more peculiar than the relationship between the writer and his characters. ↗
It's not hard to read about death abstractly. I do find it tough when a character I love dies, of course. You can truly miss characters. Not like you miss people, but you can still miss them. ↗