Will the Hernandez children be the future of the crime family? ☠️(Updated)

If you follow the Hernandez series, you already know that Jorge does everything he can to protect his children from his dangerous lifestyle. The last thing he wants is for Miguel and Maria to follow along in his footsteps, but is it inevitable? 

When Maria Hernandez made an appearance in the series, we immediately realized that she was very observant. Despite Jorge's efforts to hide the truth from her, she noticed things from a very early age, and much to his heartbreak learns about her crime boss father. Even then, Jorge continues to hide as much as possible from his daughter. It's when she gets caught up in a dangerous situation Maria quickly is brought up to speed. 

As for Miguel, he's still a baby. I'm currently working on a book where he's approaching his 3rd birthday, but like his sister, he's observing everything going on around him. Jorge often says and does things in front of the child, assuming the baby is too young to understand. However, readers will begin to see the Hernandez coming out in him in my next book. And yes, he's just a baby but don't we always exhibit clues to our future while still children? For example, as a child, I wrote stories and acted out dramatic events with my Barbie dolls. and well, here I am.

Of course, the Hernandez children could go either way. They could become completely legit and 'normal' in comparison to their parents, but there's also a strong possibility that they could go the dark side too. They could become the most dangerous members of the crime family. We have to wait and see. 

When really bad things happen to your characters 😭(Updated)

It can't always be smooth sailing for characters. There are times when the water is a little rougher than readers can handle. But does that mean writers should avoid uncomfortable topics?

If you're familiar with my writing, you already know that I hardly write about princesses and unicorns. It's not unusual for me to touch on some uncomfortable topics. Not to suggest there haven't been some that gave me a moment of pause, but in the end, I had to follow the story, and more importantly, follow the character and their journey.

Not to say that it's easy. 

It's also possible that your readers may complain about where the story sometimes goes, especially when things get dark. The truth is that for many people, reality gets pretty dark sometimes and for a group of characters to avoid this is simply unrealistic, especially when involved in a long-running series.

In the end, you have to follow the story wherever it takes you. I think a character that experiences some extreme highs and lows, creates compassion from the reader while giving characters more dimension. We connect more with people (in both reality and fiction) if we see they've been through some soul-searching moments in their lives because we relate to it ourselves.