A new friend

A while back another contributor here, Christi, blogged about ending a manuscript. How it was hard to let go of the characters she'd created.
But, my post is about the other end-- the beginning. How much fun is it to create a world filled with people I made up!
I create stories from a "vision". I'll get a flash of a scene, just like from a movie, and voila! There's my story idea.
Recenly, I had three flashes for stories. I had to really think about it to decide which one to write. Two were about cowboys, people I know a little something about.
But I chose a mercenary and a damaged SAR member.
That was the easy part, now the world building. I don't do angels and demons; vamps or werewolves, so you'd think my worlds are pretty easy. But not as simple as you would think.
Before I knew it, I was up against a rock. I don't know that much about mercenaries. I don't even know that much about SAR.
But the story drives me to know these people, to explore their world. Although I barely know them now, I want to know them inside and out. Learn what makes them tick, their secrets, their goals . . . their story.
And, like Christi, I will be sad to say goodbye when the story is done.