The Plague Doctor [RATED R] ✓

ABOUT

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We have finally done it! We have finished The Plague Doctor! But of course, before I officially end the book, I would first like to share with you my thoughts on how and why I created this story.

I think, as an author--I'm speaking for myself here--I tend to make my characters perfect. I want them to make the best decisions and be the best they can be, but that's not the case for any of us. We aren't perfect, and we don't always make the right decisions, and that's what I wanted to do in this book.

There are moments that I know you find them stupid or you find them annoying, and that's exactly what I wanted to create. These characters are people who have gone through the most traumatic experience one can face, so expecting them to be able to think the way we want them to think is just impossible. The way they're problematic and imperfect is what made me love these characters even more, and their rawness is what made me proud of them entirely.

To be honest with you, this book was the book that physically and mentally drained me. I think I've said this in some of my books in the past, but this was different. Writing a single chapter tired me out. My sisters know this well. After writing a chapter, I bring myself to the bed and just rest because I feel like I ran a marathon. It made me sick for some reason, so finishing this was a challenge.

Now when it comes to the individual characters, I already had their personalities in mind, but things just progressed as I wrote the book further.

First, one of the main characters, Claudio Romano or Dr. Giovanni de Vincenzo. My original design for him was some kind of bachelor/player. He's suave and has this way of speaking that just lures people in. As I wrote him, I saw how I wanted his character to progress. I wanted you guys to see his transitions from a handsome, flirty, prideful playboy to an actual manipulative psychopath and finally to a tired, ugly, and defeated man who's the exact opposite of what he first portrayed himself. 

For his ending part, I know a lot were surprised, but I really wanted to kill a major character. Before writing this book, I wanted to write a story where the main character dies, so from the very beginning, Giovanni was intended to get killed. Of course, there's also another reason why he had to go.

Giovanni was a lost cause, and I always told my sister about this, but he died when his parents died. He was practically an empty shell. His desire for revenge was his plague, so having an actual plague kill him was very symbolic.

A lot also wondered if he was ever in love with Bishop. To answer this, no, he was not in love. As he already stated, he was not capable of it, especially after the death of his family. I think the closest person he could have been in love with if he did have a normal life was Ms. Sunny. I actually loved their dynamic together, and their backstory was very special.

You might have also noticed this, but the picture (header) you see in the epilogue actually has the word providence written on it. This is actually the title of the fifth horseman, providence, whose purpose is to clean up after the four other horsemen. He signifies renewal/rebirth, and Claudio's death highly signifies this meaning.

Overall, I loved writing Claudio. And I believe I will never be able to write a character like this again. If I didn't love him, the name of this book wouldn't be titled after him haha

Now moving on to another main character, Bishop Lancaster. Writing Bishop was a challenge, and we already know why. I don't really want to give further explanations about his character because I want you to experience and understand it in the book, and it would take me literally hours to write about him, so instead, I would like to share with you how he became the Bishop we know and love.