S: Sam Hawling

    “Who’s Sam?”
    “You know perfectly well who Sam is.”
    Prince Jorrid gave no indication he had heard. Hanna rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh.
    “Sam Hawling. The stable boy.”

 Sam Hawling was a stable boy during the reign of King Horrid, the most inferior of the stable boys, “in general a good lad,” and as Hanna said, “awful chivalrous for a stable boy.” Sam’s history, like Hanna’s, is not revealed in Across the Stars, but he appears to be an orphan. He was a friend of Hanna’s, but whether or not Hanna is truly his friend is sometimes difficult to gauge.

Sam came to me shortly after Hanna did. I’m not sure what sparked his character, but honestly, Hanna needed him. She needed someone who wasn’t rash, who knew how to read, who could warn her about what she was getting herself into, and who would be willing to sacrifice himself to protect her. Sam was all these things, but unfortunately, Hanna didn’t appreciate it. I really feel kind of sorry for Sam. He’s such a wonderful young man, and Hanna is constantly rude to him. Their story was fun to write. It creates conflict when a young man is determined to protect a girl and she won’t have any of it. This is really the essence of Hanna and Sam’s story. And I really like them. Honestly, the more I think about Hanna and Sam, the more I want to continue their story.

To those who have read Across the Stars, if I was to write a sequel about Hanna and Sam, what would you like to see happen in it?