Why did the characters act that way?

Comment:

I love your book Shiloh. It was well written and had a lot of detail. My class and I just finished the book, and we get to watch the movie on Wednesday . I was wondering if you could answer a question. If you could, the question is how did you come up with the way the character’s act? What inspired you to make them act that way? Please respond soon.

Phyllis replied:

If the characters didn’t act that way, there wouldn’t be any story.  There has to be motivation and suspense to keep a story going.