Cynthia was one of the many characters who never made it to the final version of Psychic Awakening.
Like all the other people in the book, she appeared out of nowhere and took on a life of her own.
It was a shame to let her go, but I was determined to slice 50K words from the first draft.
In that draft, when Megan tells Peter that she’d like to look around the Institute where he works, she’s expecting him to give her a personal tour. He doesn’t. He tells her that a young lab assistant called Cynthia has proved so popular with visitors (especially men) that she’s asked to do the tours whenever her work permits.
Reluctantly, Megan sets off on a ramble around the huge building, but in no time she, too, finds herself falling under Cynthia’s spell. By the time they get back to Peter’s office, they’re holding hands and chatting like old friends.
From time to time I’ll introduce other characters who ended up on the cutting room floor, or entire episodes that disappeared into thin air.