Anyone keeping up with Seventh Sanctum has probably already heard that they have (and have had for some time) a contest going on called the Characters - EXTREME Contest.

Extreme characters are the crazy ones. The over-the-top ones. (And Mary Sues very often qualify.)

I did find out about this contest a while ago, but I didn't toy around with entering it until earlier today, when I was suffering from writer's block and wanting something interesting. And I found something.

I won't tell you anything now, you'll have to wait until later to see what occurred to me. But I have to say, it's not often that Contest-Characters inspire a story.

All right, all right, I'll give you a hint.

It's a story about a terminally ill mage and the vampire who is (literally) his shadow, and their quest to separate their fates so that the vampire doesn't die with him.

Look forward to it.