I have imaginary friends, or I'm losing my mind.

As I sit here, writing away, I realize I may have mental problems. I'm working on one of the usual meetings that the team (Thomas, M, Uhler, etc) has. At the moment they are waiting for someone to show up that's joining the group (don't ask, I'm not telling). Without a thought, or a premade plan, I went into a very silly, character bashing conversation between the characters that would only happen amongst old friends. The sort of thing that wouldn't be terribly funny unless you knew all the people for a while. That's not to say it'll be over the reader's head and it's an oddly self-appreciating, inside joke that I alone get. I'm betting anyone who reads it will appreciate it on some level, more so if you've followed the previous books in the series. This is not why I'm crazy.

I'm crazy because, after having written out this dialogue and giving it no thought whatsoever, I realized that these characters have become MY imaginary friends. I know these characters like I know my best friends. I know what one of them would say and how the next would reply. It's an odd thing to realize and accept. I have to wonder if it's because I'm the author and that's simply the way it works, or is it because the characters breath so much life within the pages that they have become real on some level? I've read countless books where the main character(s) became more than words on a page, I think we've all been there before, so there's no point in saying more. My only question is whether I have tapped into something like that, or is this just an author thing that I'm only now acknowledging fully? Perhaps an MRI scan is in order.   :P