Kat - Character Dissection
Kathrine Dixon, Character Insight and breakdown
Did I know this story was going to be this big? Absolutely not,
When I first started writing this book it was just a story of time travel for Daryl to get his family back. I loved the real story characters development and I didn’t want to lose that. But I wanted no one to remember except Daryl. For dramas sake I decided he had to work to get their memories back.
Daryl first fell sick at the quarry just as a story prompt to not get Merle to stay. Then I thought well what if he’s sick from time travel jet lag kind of thing? And so Memory fatigue was born.
There was so much in these time travel mechanics and Daryl was so focused on his family that it was getting too much. He couldn’t be thinking about all this AND his family/future/past. He needed something- someone to consistently go to and ask for help/ be able to come up with a quick quip about a theory.
Glenn was my first choice since he was such a nerd for time travel. But then it changed his character too much for my liking. Glenn was also the same story as Daryl. To many family things to worry about that didn’t leave enough time for time travel research.
I needed an OC, someone in the background to help and calling. So Kat was created
Kat was a filler name, a nickname long forgotten and I just never changed it. It fit her too well and the name stuck. I wanted her to come from a medical back ground so the group would finally have a doctor, the army felt like a good place to start. A little thinking about her parents made me realized Kathrine would be a realistic given name and Kat would be a nickname.
Kat was made so Daryl would have a time jump expert… but suddenly Kat was a bit to pretty, She treated him a bit to kindly. ill be honest I write romance so the answer was clear. She couldn’t just be an OC in the background she was too important to the story, she had to be Daryl’s S.O
Not only does Daryl gain his family back he HAS to make new ones along the way. Not to mention it was unrealistic that he didn’t save anyone on accident and the quarry was a perfect set up. Not to mention Daryl doesn’t go anywhere without making at least one family member
Kat served many purposes, Time jump researcher, doctor, love interest, new person, and most of all giving not only Daryl but the group a person from the beginning of the apocalypse
And most important? Her being a doctor AND an unfamiliar face to nearly everyone. It was essential to taking care of memory patients.
Daryl even says as much, that she wouldn’t be able to take care of memory recovery patients if she had lived first timeline.
Well anyways. Kat wasn’t supposed to be a big character but after writing chapter one for the first time I realized whether I liked it or not, she would be.