The Letter Game

Before I can really jump into this post, I have to add some background:

I just finished a book written by Caroline Stevermer and Patricia C. Wrede entitled "Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Coffee Pot". This book was delightful and it has left me thinking about it the past couple of days. As said on their website, "the book has been described as 'Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer have J.R.R. Tolkien to tea--or chocolate." I had read books by Patricia C. Wrede before and loved them, but I wasn't expecting much from this book. I decided finally to pick it up and read it and I loved it. It was fun and different (like all of Wrede's work).

The story was fun, truly Jane Austen meets Tolkien, but it wasn't just the story that captivated me. The style of the book was in letter form. Normally I am not a huge fan of this form of fiction, but I liked this one. I found out after finishing the book that the two authors played what they called "The Letter Game" to write this book. They each picked a character and then decided on an era and then they wrote letters back and forth to each other as if they were each their own character. They could not collaborate on the plot at all, it all had to come out in the letters. After finishing the letters they realized what a great book it would be and tidied a few ends up and got it published.

Okay, background finished, here's what I wanted to get at:

Some people express intimidation after reading a great book or seeing beautiful art or hearing moving music; they feel like they could never measure up and it makes them depressed. Every now and then I feel that way, but usually things that I have enjoyed inspire me. I see great photography and I want to do that and it inspires me to push on. I hear beautiful music and I long to create music like that, so I practice the piano or oboe or singing. This book was not a great piece of literature, it was just an easy fun book, but it has served to inspire me. I want to write. I want to come up with stories and characters that capture peoples imaginations and emotions. The only thing I feel intimidated about is the imagination it would take...I feel like my imagination is weak. Perhaps someday though it will be ready.

I have been thinking lately, trying to come up with a character and setting that I would use in a Letter Game. I don't have it yet, but it's fun to think and dream up a friend. What kind of character and setting/era would you create?