Zodiac Signs and Characters

As a professional astrologer, one thing I like to do in creating the back story for my characters is to give them a birthday, which of course, is their zodiac sign. It helps me tremendously to see the archetypes of the sign play out in the character's actions, decision making, thoughts, perspectives, and overall dialogue.

For example, in all of my time travel novels, the lead character, Andy Mackpeace, is a Gemini. His birthday is celebrated in Book I, In the Nick of Time. Andy is cerebral, (the Air sign), and thinks tremendously too much about his own flaws and foibles. Yet he is extremely intuitive and that is what not only gives him the doorway to time travel, but to connect with the bigger picture of the universe. He most likely has a Moon in Pisces.

His friends, Miranda Roberts and Roger Stanley are a different matter. I see Miranda as a strong Virgo: organized, level-headed, logical and prone to get upset over changes. Perhaps she has a strong Taurus influence as well. She must have a strong Mars or Jupiter in Gemini to give her her caustic wit.

Roger is a Leo. Ready for adventure, has the brawn to back it up, and has the deep rooted desire to be loved.

In THE PROMISE OF LIVING, Ryan is a Libra and Dave is a Pisces. Ryan has all the characteristics of a Libra with a little sadness thrown in for good measure. In this passage, he talks to his friend Nancy:
            “When’s your birthday again?” Nancy asked. “I forgot.”
            “October 8^th."
              “That’s right. Libra.”
            “You?"
            “January 3^rd. Capricorn.”

             “You do astrology?” Ryan winced at the bad grammar, the cheesy, awkward way he was feeling.

             “No, not really, just curious sometimes, about the way people act. Libra, hmmm, sensitive, good looking, artistic, vain. Yep, that’s you.”

In The Sculptured Rocks, Dan Buchanan is a Sagittarius. It makes sense: he's adventurous, ready to explore the ghost world that surrounds him as well as the loneliness that lies within him. He's gregarious enough to befriend a stranger and he sees the greater scheme of living in this life. Here is an excerpt from the novel:

            But the Sculptured Rocks was rarely crowded and today an older couple who lived around the corner from Corgie Street were sitting at the base of the third pool eating sandwiches. The woman looked up and yelled, “Hi, Dan!” and her voice echoed and bounced off the rock walls. I couldn’t remember her name so I just waved back.

The sun was hot and strong and I sat in the stillness and listened to the river flow by. The wind moved through the pine trees and their boughs bended and swayed, and I felt as if I had been alive for a million years. Sometimes I clambered down to the bottom and sat among the big boulders and dangled my feet in the water, like the couple were doing now, and sometimes I just laid down my towel and read a book until I fell asleep. When that happened, I was usually out for twenty minutes and I’d eventually open my eyes and sit up to a fresh new world, smelling the river water, the moss, the cool air as it swirled off the pools and I never felt more peaceful.