Character confusion and complete consternation

Okay, so much of the problem I'm having with my WIP is coming from the criss-crossing my characters seem to insist on doing with each other. I should have known when I titled this story, Tangle of Matter and Ghost, that I was sure to curse myself.... and this Voodoo hex may have no cure >_<

Quick list of characters:
Aggie Joseph Billy Ralph Chester Jefferson Ambrose Charlotte
Emily Aldia Benjamin Esther Letty Marie Jebediah Granny
Preacher Nathaniel

Now the ties:
Aggie/Joseph-- Runaway slaves dabbling in Voodoo

Ol' Gray Granny-- Healer that taught Aggie "healing" Voodoo, not what she now practices

Ambrose/Charlotte-- Carmichael family, parents of Emily and Esther, also underground railroad station masters

Emily-- Mother of Aldia, wife of Benjamin (who runs off, leaving wife and daughter to fend alone)

Esther-- Orphanage mistress where Billy is kept until he runs off and meets up with Aggie/Joseph

Letty-- Mother of Marie, who "runs" to the Carmichael station house on their way to freedom

Jefferson-- Slave master of Aggie/Joseph/Granny/Letty, hires bounty hunter to bring his slaves back

Nathaniel-- Bounty hunter tracking Aggie/Joseph and eventually Letty/Marie

Billy/Ralph/Chester-- All wind up binding themselves to Aggie and become part of her "band" of travelers

Jebediah--Brickmaker/contractor that Ambrose hires to build his house, built on cursed land (Indian slaughterings), built with cursed bricks (bones of the Indians ground into the clay)

And, all of this is happening with the Civil War as a backdrop--
It's the balance between the emotional connections of the characters and the tragic histories of slavery and war that I'm hoping to find.
That, and to be able to lay out the back-story of the cursed land and the Civil War battles without devoting great lengths of chapter space to them---- they are meant to be a 'backdrop' after all, and not another sub-plot ...oy

A to Z reflections....

Another A to Z challenge comes to an end--- another collection of posts and poetry have been written, another deep breath of relief is released. For my fellow bloggers that survived as well, it's another 'challenge-completed' notch carved into the writing desk. I've come to enjoy my yearly foray into the world of all things alphabetical. This was my third year, though it was only the second year I had a workable theme (which made the challenge substantially easier than the first year I attempted this challenge.) And, though my first year was difficult because my focus was so scattered, I found this year was more difficult because I lost the enthusiasm that came with the first year excitement----excitement which helped me plug along until the end of the challenge. Year 3 was a success in the sense that I completed the challenge, though, this was the year that almost wasn't---- Somewhere about a third of the way through the challenge, I seriously considered

A million lives, beneath a single sky.....

Though our feet leave different prints,our tongues sound different words, there's a mirrored rhythm in the beating of our hearts. Though born in different worlds, our eyes sharpened 'neath different moons, there's an unspoken truth in the warmth of our touch. We may walk in different strides and dream different dreams, we may speak in different voices, maybe swim in different streams. It's plain to see, when dark night falls, as all the stars shine through, that underneath it all, there's no difference 'tween me and you.

Bitter Honey

Weaving dreams of beguiling gold, a future's price for happiness. What secrets do you, determined, hold? asks the summer wind's soft caress. A guarded name, a hidden hope. Spinning wheels clutching time, grasping straw that falls away, What dreams may come, we soon may find, won't recall at end of day. A cherished life, a memory lost.

From the Inkwell, From the Vein.....

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