Ist gut, ja?

As Jason said when he introduced the world to his GPS, our characters are not based on real people. Or if they are, we don't know them.

Rather, we create characters when the plot demands it... or, more often than not, one of our friends has a silly personality quirk and we feel a need to immortalize it. (Or even more often ... one of the two of us has a personality quirk that we want to exploit. See the post about Aunt Olga to understand what I mean.)

Klaus, the owner of the rival magic shop, was created solely because my friend Doug can do an awesome German accent - and sustain it well for a long period of time. I know this because Doug and I have a long-standing Sunday morning tradition. We meet at a coffee shop in our neighborhood, have fantastic coffee, and do the New York Times crossword together. (My love of Reuben sandwiches is only surpassed by my love of puzzles.) Inevitably, we get a little silly while doing the puzzle together... and often end up doing the last half while speaking in a number of ridiculous accents.

No, really... we think it's fun.

Once, Doug tried out his noticeably fake French accent for a while. About 10 minutes later, we both realized that the three women at the end of the long table where we were sitting were all actually speaking French. I don't think they noticed, and we weren't deliberately trying to mock them. But what are the odds??

Anyhow, I digress.

Klaus was originally more of a side character, and while critical to the storyline, not all that involved with the larger story. Then, he started to become a bit more insistent, and demanded to play a more pivotal role. I'll admit that he started out a bit campy, but now he is becoming a really intriguing figure, and I have much more respect for the man. I'm kind of anxious to see where he ends up.

Klaus is also an opportunity for us to fold in a bit more of the esoteric and magical aspects of the story and the mythology behind it. I'm not sure why, but we'd been shying away from it a little - even though the entire plot has a rather magical premise. I don't think it was intentional - I just think we needed some time to figure out how this alternate world works. Klaus is helping us understand it. He's got a background in ceremonial magic - although his magic shop is of the card trick and rabbit-from-a-hat variety, just like the shop owned by Alex's family. But Klaus has a wealth of knowledge and experience that is quite different - and he's opened the door for that kind of mystery to come through.

I think I'd like to add that Klaus is extraordinarily good at crossword puzzles, but that might be pushing it. I can only get in so many quirks, after all.

By the by... in addition to being able to do silly accents, Doug is also an amazing collage artist based here in Chicago, whose work is getting quite a bit of well-deserved buzz these days. Check out his online gallery.