Introducing Carla Edsel

 

Carla's my baby. I want to give her all the hugs. She's a brave and selfless girl, and at almost-thirteen, she's the youngest of the three point of view characters.

She's never known a time when her mom wasn't mental and her dad wasn't emotionally distant. She wouldn't know there ever was a time when things were different if Emma hadn't told her. And Emma herself barely remembers. Emma practically raised Carla, and Carla very much looks up to her older sister. They are quite different when it really comes down to it, but they're very close even so. Emma would do anything for Carla, so even though Emma isn't much into fiction, and especially isn't into speculative fiction, Emma has read Carla numerous L'Engle and Haddix books, in addition to fairy tales when Carla was really little. Those are precious memories to Carla.

Carla loves music. Even though Emma doesn't much care for music herself, she's actually responsible for Carla's love of music. Emma was trying and failing to explain the sunrise to Carla, and remembered she'd just had Grieg's "Morning Mood" in music appreciation at school. She played the song for Carla and that was the moment Carla fell in love with music. She loves playing piano, both Baroque/Classical/Romantic music, and modern songs such as "Let It Go." She is currently learning "Le Petit Noir" by Claude Debussy for a school talent show. But she will always have a soft spot for Grieg.

Carla can be kind of a mess. While Emma's room is sparse and neat, Carla's room is full of stuffed animals and audiobooks and clothes often end up on the floor. She also has a habit of twirling her fingers in her hair if she's concentrating or nervous or just trying to think, which often knots it up.

Carla has been blind since birth. It doesn't really bother her or hold her back—it's just a fact of life. The only thing is, she does feel like it makes Emma worry about her more, and makes things harder for her. Not that Emma wouldn't worry about her if she was sighted. She would. Emma's always done so much for Carla. Carla just wishes she could do more for Emma.

Carla's relationship with Emma is extremely important to her life, but her relationship with God is first. She has a strong, unwavering faith that inspires me. She's so young, but she's selfless and wants to do what's right no matter what the personal consequences are. I want to be like Carla when I grow up.

I love Carla so much and I can't wait for you to meet her properly next week!

Introducing Mitchell Banks

Mitchell Banks is the main guy in Acktorek: The Void, and he is not from our world. (Like my post about Acktorek itself, some of this isn't actually in the book, but just a part of my development of Mitchell's character/backstory.)

He comes originally from a world called Aglion, but he currently resides in the city world of Ebraria, from which the company Acktorek operates.

Mitchell grew up in Aglion with his family: his parents and his older sister Lara who married a teacher named Tucker and had two children, Anise and Jason. Mitchell was very close to his family, and Anise especially is a huge influence in his life. Aglion puts a huge emphasis on academics, and, as they supply Acktorek with some of its greatest scientists, it's a big deal to pass the Acktorek Preparatory Program, as Mitchell did.

At fourteen, Mitchell moved to Ebraria to attend Acktorek Academy, a four-year program that trains future Acktorek agents. Like I said before, it is their main program, but they do have other training programs as well. Mitchell's preference would have been special ops (basically investigating and taking care of weird sciencey things that happen, and all in all being Force-less, lightsaber-less Jedi/Team Flash/The Doctor people, and special ops is the best name I could come up with—though I could have gone with "Daddy" as a kid my sister babysits suggested), but he ended up in breach control. Which is typically a boring go-to-this-world-and-throw-a-neutralizer-into-this-breach-before-it-gets-toxic-or-otherwise-dangerous job. Only that's not how it's turning out.

Mitchell is a kind, compassionate person, who wants to help others. He experiences doubts about his abilities and adequacy. He's very dutiful, but also determined to do what's right, even if it means disobeying a direct order. He's stubborn and determined, but also knows when to back off. He has a soft spot for little girls because they remind him of his niece, Anise. He misses his family like crazy and will never get used to living away from them in a city instead of near them in the countryside. He likes to cook, he doesn't especially like shoes (though that never comes up in the first book), and he often runs his hand through his blond hair making it stick up (it's a similar cut to BBC Arthur and Luke Skywalker). He also speaks several languages and much prefers physics to biology. He's eager to please, but he'd much rather please his Heavenly Father than his superiors at Acktorek. And he has a tendency to get injured and not bother treating the wound until someone makes him. But he will 100% make sure you don't skip any meals.

All in all, he's a great guy who was a LOT easier to develop than Emma, and I hope you like him as much as I do. And I can't wait to write more stories about him. 😊

Introducing Emma Edsel

Technically I did a post about Emma a little over two years ago, but that was before I really got inside her head, so while that post is still mostly accurate, it's rather incomplete. Now to introduce her without giving major spoilers...

Emma is a high school senior with very little personal ambition. She has an interest in science, particularly biochemistry and molecular biology, but she doesn't feel free to pursue her own interests. She never has.

Until Emma was about four, her life was fairly normal. When her mother was pregnant with her younger sister Carla, however, everything changed. Mom went crazy, Dad became distant, and little Emma became largely responsible for bringing up her blind little sister.

Everything about Emma's life revolves around Carla. Emma's goal is to become financially independent as soon as possible so she and Carla can move out of the toxic environment that is their dysfunctional family. She wants to give Carla a stable life. And she doesn't feel that she can do that with Mom talking to people who aren't there and freaking out about nonexistent dangers, and Dad always being checked out emotionally. Carla deserves better than that.

Emma's a loner...with a best friend she can't get rid of. Grace Holland has considered herself to be Emma's best friend since they were four years old, ever since Emma spent lots of time at her house during her mom's pregnancy with Carla. The two girls are vastly different—Grace is happy, bubbly, and loves her fandoms, and Emma is angry, closed off, and thinks most fiction, especially spec fic, is stupid—but for all their differences and for all Grace never ceases to get on Emma's nerves, they still talk to each other every day and always sit together at lunch. Not that Emma has much of a choice in the matter.

Emma has no interest in boys or relationships. She's seen her parents. Sure, they love each other, but their life isn't exactly sunshine and lollipops. She doesn't want to deal with that. Nor does she have the time for a boyfriend. She has to focus on preparing to be on her own and supporting her sister. So does Grace have to keep pushing her to date? And pushing the new boy, Mitchell, on her?

Emma likes for things to make sense. To be under her control. She has a hard time accepting anything that's outside of her carefully constructed idea of how the world works. She's had so little control over the chaos that comes with her life. She has to hold onto what little control she has.

But that may not be possible.

Read an early copy of the book and help spread the word about the upcoming release!

Who is Emma Edsel?

Short answer: the main character of my latest WIP Acktorek.

Emma is a sixteen-year-old senior in high school, who lives in a fictional town in northern California called Gondora Heights. (Don't ask why California. I'm a Georgia girl through and through. These characters just told me it was California, so I went with it.) She's the oldest of two girls, and her younger sister, Carla, is blind. Her dad is hyper focused on her sister, and her mom is OCD with anxiety issues, so Emma tends to get neglected. This is largely why Via in Wonder stood out to me.

Emma has attended a prestigious private school since kindergarten. (Again, I'm a homeschooler through and through, but this was the easiest way to get her to meet the main guy, so I went with it.) She's really smart, and she actually skipped two grades in elementary school, so she'll be graduating early. Emma is really into science, and taking both chemistry and biology at the same time, as advanced as the school offers. She intends to become a molecular biologist. Carla attends the school as well—I guess they have accommodations for the blind—though she's more into the music department. Emma, well, she's not a dreamy, musical type. She wants hard facts.

Emma is kind of a loner. She has one friend, Grace from next door, but even Grace doesn't really understand Emma. To be honest, if they didn't live next door to one another, the chances they'd be friends are next to nonexistent. Grace is always trying to get Emma into pop culture things...unsuccessfully. It doesn't help that Emma is extremely anti-romance.

She's just not interested in boys. It's kind of a relief to write her after Vannie, in this respect. Vannie was quite the challenge to keep at a PG level. Emma? No problem. Emma's too focused on her studies to have time for a boyfriend. She wants to learn everything she can about chemistry and biology. She wants to be a research scientist. But at the root of her attitude towards boys and relationships is her relationship with her family. She doesn't really trust people to actually be there for her. She doesn't trust people to walk by her side and show her they care about what's going on in her life. And there's a part of her that hopes that if she really makes something of herself, her parents will be proud of her. They'll make time for her. They'll show her that they do see something outside of Carla and their own personal problems.

Emma is an interesting character to write. I've always tended to be more about the family-focused, motherly, artsy, musical type (nerd) girls because that's who I am. I'm not career focused. I want a family. But that's not who Emma is. She's a girl that is hurt and broken, and trying to find her place in a world that doesn't accept her—a world she doesn't even truly want to accept. I'm not sure just how Acktorek will turn out, but it's sure to be interesting.

Twisted Dreams: The Next Generation

Kira Kaiser
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Once upon a time in a kingdom called Hanover...

A king and queen had a baby daughter. Her name was Kira. Though she was Aortan, she had the eye-seeing powers of the Cantileens. By looking into the eyes of another, she could tell what they were thinking. But because this power is not native to Aortans--she gained it only because Cantileen drugs had been used on her parents--it caused her many issues with anxiety. Eventually, Kira had one younger brother, and two younger sisters. In spite of her own personal issues, she was like a mother to them, especially when tragedy struck.

Hobart Waldemar
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In another part of the kingdom, a scientist named Hobart Waldemar ran an orphanage. An outcast from his homeworld of Alderoth, he used the children as guinea pigs. His motives were pure--he wanted to cure his son of brain damage caused by birth--but his actions were not. Yet through his cunning, he kept his work a secret. He experimented in a great many things, cures for disease, bionics, time travel, mostly without success, but his failures never kept him down. Through his questionable methods, he never lacked for test subjects. Until the time came that he needed a very specific test subject. And for that, he went directly to the king.

Joel Fischer
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A four-year-old boy stood on the doorsteps of an orphanage, watching his mother and younger sister walk away. His name was Joel. He was raised in constant fear in Waldemar's orphanage, frightened by the sounds of screams in the night. When in his teens, he joined Hanover's guard, gaining great training in surveillance and combat. Due to his great skill and strength of character, he was appointed Princess Kira's personal bodyguard once she "came out" into society. In spite of reservations due to his past and his station, he came to love this princess who hid her great brokenness from the world. And eventually, with the help of her uncle Matthew and the encouragement of his friend and fellow guard Bradley, he married her.

Wilhelm Kaiser
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The king was broken due to a great tragedy. He shut himself away and was but a shadow of his former self. His name was Wilhelm. His family torn apart, Wilhelm was willing to do anything to right the tragedy that had devastated them all. What mattered costs? What mattered further harm to his family? If he could right the tragedy, all would be well. 

It was this state that caused him to play into Waldemar's hand. It was this state that drove his family further apart. It was this state that threatened to ruin all of Hanover. And yet there were few that would suffer as much as an innocent little baby and his loving father.

Noah Fischer
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This is the story to which Twisted Dreams is prelude. This is the story of the next generation. This is a story of pain and heartbreak, but hopefully of healing. How will it end? As of this moment, even I don't know. It truly fits the definition of a work in progress, far closer to the beginning of that process than the end. Someday the world will know what became of Will, Liesel, and Matthew, what became of Will and Liesel's children, what became of their grandchild. Until then...

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Today's Blog Tour Stops
Knitted By God’s Plan - Retellings I’d Like To Write Someday
Interviews:
Rachel Rossano's Words - Kendra
Dreams and Dragons - Rachel
Reviews:
Sutori no Hana - Twisted Dreams

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Introducing Matthew

Matthew
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Matthew is my super fun guy. (Don't mind me, I've just been watching too much Scorpion lately. ;) ) He's an interesting character to work with, my comic relief, and the most fun character in the book.

Conception of the Character

I'm sure you can guess that Matthew is not original to Twisted Dreams. But what you might not guess is that he's not exactly original to me. Matthew came into being when my sisters convinced me that Will and Liesel's kids needed Matt Smith as an uncle. It took them awhile, but finally I caved and added him to my Pinterest board. At first, I intended to eventually remove him from the story, but as I wrote scenes involving him and the kids, I realized my sisters were absolutely right.

His name came straight from the actor. I tried to come up with another name for the character--something German, for instance--but I couldn't separate him from the name Matthew, so I went with it

Character History

Matthew is the younger brother of Prince Wilhelm in both worlds. Their father is the king and their mother is dead. Matthew is accompanying Will on his quest to rescue the princess, helping to move the quest forward and make it work, and just being an all round goof. But he does know what he's about, and can actually make significant progress on the quest, even if he's not always, um, not usually totally serious.

Personality

Matthew's personality spring-boarded from--you guessed it--the Eleventh Doctor. He developed into his own person, but I still kept Matt Smith's personality and mannerisms in mind. He's adventurous and somewhat reckless, but he's smart and knows random things that turn out to be relevant. He likes to act immature--for instance, he still slides down banisters at age 17--but he's personable and relatable, and doesn't mind having a normal conversation with a servant. Matthew likes to be the family clown. He says things just to be goofy, and so keeps things light even when they are dire, yet knows when it's time to be serious. He's the non-twitterpated one in the trio, and he's a great character to work with.

What do you think of Matthew? Which character of the main trio do you think you'll like the best?

Introducing Will

Will
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Will is the prince of Twisted Dreams. He's an interesting character to work with, though not nearly as interesting as his younger brother.

Conception of the Character

Like Liesel, Will did not originate in Twisted Dreams. He obviously came from the same story as Liesel, as the dad of the main character. He's...quite different later in life, due to not handling certain circumstances very well. There's a reason he's cast as Anthony Head (Uther Pendragon from BBC's Merlin) later in life.

I don't actually remember how I settled on his name. Likely, I just chose a random German name at the same time I chose Liesel--his full first name is Wilhelm. Funny how I remember naming Liesel, but can't remember naming Will. If he has a middle name, he hasn't shared that information with me.

Character History

Regardless of which world we're talking about, Will is a prince, and he has a younger brother.  In the fantasy world, he is a prince determined to rescue the legendary sleeping princess from her overgrown, nearly ruined castle. His brother is with him as helper and sidekick and jester.

In the sci-fi world, we get a little more background. He has no mother, but his father is still alive and ruling the kingdom. He is engaged to Liesel, and determined to rescue her, for even in this world, she desperately needs rescuing. In this world as well, he is accompanied by his brother.

Personality

Will very much has a one-track mind, and that mind is hyper-focused on Liesel. Pretty nearly for the whole book. He's got some serious tunnel vision. However, despite his hyper-focus on a girl, he is a good guy, who is as prepared as he can be to rule a kingdom when the time comes. He's brave, and not usually reckless...though his judgment skills may be off under high stress. He's determined to protect his princess and bring her home to marry her. Liesel is his world.

What do you think of Will? Any speculations on what happens to his character later on?

P.S. Espionage and Crannig Castle are free on kindle this week only as a part of the Indie e-Con book awards. So download your free copies and vote for them on the 20th!

Introducing Liesel

Liesel
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Liesel is my Sleeping Beauty character, the main girl in Twisted Dreams. She's a character I'm quite fond of, though my favorite character in the book is Matthew.

Conception of the Character

Liesel did not actually originate in Twisted Dreams. She was initially the (deceased) mother of the main girl of another story. She still is, actually, but that's a ways into the future.

Her name was a bit spur of the moment. I'd decided the country of Hanover had German influences part way through worldbuilding, so all characters created past that point have German names. Several created before that point have Old English, Hebrew, and Greek names, which doesn't fit the worldbuilding, but they stuck. I was naming this girl's parents, and I didn't want to do too much work in order to find a German name I liked, so I just went with Liesel. Pretty simple, due to The Sound of Music and the fact that I also know a little girl of that name. Liesel's middle name is Rosanna, a random addition made when I began Twisted Dreams as a reference to Briar Rose.

Character History

Liesel in medieval Hanover is the princess of the land. She was given gifts of beauty, grace, long life, etc. when an infant by the Cantileens and cursed to prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into an everlasting sleep by a Wingan named Calandra. (Yes, I am aware that those details differ slightly from the original. I have my reasons.) As it happened, she lived a fairly normal life until she pricked her finger and fell asleep, and that's where things get crazy.

Liesel in sci-fi Hanover is a commoner engaged to the prince. She is the second oldest of five children, having an older brother, a younger brother, and two younger sisters. Her wedding to the crown prince of Hanover is but a few days away...only the enemies of Hanover have sought to interfere.

Personality

Regardless of which version of Hanover Liesel is in, she is still a kind and compassionate soul, very much in love with her prince. She is somewhat fearful, and wants very badly to simply depend on Will instead of doing things herself, but she can't always let him do everything. She's very mature for her age, and though she has fears about ruling a kingdom, she is quite capable of being queen. She is brave and willing to do what's right, but she does have a lot of internal struggles. After all, she's in a rather complicated, intense situation.

What are your thoughts on Liesel? Which version of Hanover do you think is real?

Introducing Kyle

Last week, I introduced the protagonist and narrator of Espionage, Vannie Cumberland. This week I want to introduce the main boy, and another one of my favorites: Kyle Roland.

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Just the Facts

Kyle Graham Roland is the only son of Sir Roland, Sir Cumberland's political arch enemy. He is twelve years old. I haven't picked an exact birthday, but it's significantly earlier in the year than Vannie's, as hers is at the end of November. At age four, he was betrothed to a girl of undetermined relation named Rosie. She was an infant at the time. Rosie makes no "onscreen" appearance in this book, but she's a sweet girl, rather mousy, yet not exactly what Kyle would look for in a wife if he had the opportunity to choose.

Side note: Kyle and Vannie are among my only characters to have their full names stated within the text of the book. Felix Walker's is stated at his birth, but he is the only character thus far (published books, my Sleeping Beauty also has hers stated) to share this distinct honor. Most of my characters don't even have middle names.

Kyle's parents have very little interest in their son. He was raised primarily by servants (nurses, governesses, tutors), which, considering the nature of his parents, allowed him to become a much better person than he otherwise would have. He has never been to Court and, despite being the heir to the title of Vassal Lord, knows little of the workings. He does, however, know much of his father's enmity with Sir Cumberland, for he has often heard his father's tirades, which sometimes go off on Vannie as well.

Kyle's Personality and Interests

Kyle is a quiet sort. Unlike Vannie, he processes things internally in a logical manner, very levelheaded. He's not really in the habit of letting people know how he feels. He is quite frustrated with his father. While his father does nothing himself to help bring him up, Sir Roland has set strict standards on what Kyle is to be taught, essentially keeping much of the truth from him. There are a lot of things Kyle doesn't know, and it really frustrates him. He certainly doesn't like his father, but he doesn't like to let it show. He's very good at hiding what he feels, providing a calm contrast to Vannie's roller coaster. Inside, though, he's hurting. Sure, his tutors made him a far better person than his father would have, but it's still difficult to have so poor a relationship with his parents.

Kyle likes to read. His reading material is limited, but that doesn't stop him from getting the fullest enjoyment and knowledge possible out of what he can read. He likes spending time out of doors. He likes animals, too. We don't really get to see much of his ordinary interests, due to circumstances, but I'd like to explore it more sometime. He doesn't particularly want to be a Vassal Lord, but he knows there's no escaping it, so he's set his mind on being better at it than his father. If only he were able to learn the political process!

He's quite a gentleman. He treats people right, even if they are only servants. He is kind and perfectly willing to protect Vannie. It's nothing extraordinary for him, it's just what you do. He's not thrilled about his arranged marriage, but he's not intending to find a way out of it (at this point in time, anyway), because the honorable thing to do would be to go through with it. He's just a fantastic guy.

Kyle is a great character to work with. He's an essential part of Espionage, and I can't wait for you all to officially meet him!

Introducing Vannie

I thought it about time to properly introduce Vannie Cumberland to the world.

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Vannie Cumberland is the star of Espionage: A Companion to Time Captives, coming this May, if all goes well. She's also one of my favorite characters to write.

Just the Facts

Vannie's full name is Savanna Grace Cumberland. She is the eldest daughter of a Briznomian vassal lord. She has two younger sisters, Kate (6) and Mandie (3), and is about to turn nine at the beginning of Espionage. As per the customs of Briznomian nobility, Vannie was betrothed as an infant to her second cousin Kermit. 

Side note: Briznom, a neighboring country of Calhortz, has a king, but is primarily ruled by the vassal lords. The vassal lords receive their position by inheritance, but they rule as a committee. Daughters do not rule themselves, but their husbands inherit the title. The eldest daughters of vassal lords are betrothed in infancy, while the sons are betrothed between the ages of three and five.

Vannie's father is rather unlike other vassal lords, i.e. he's more of a family man. He often takes Vannie with him to Court, where she learns much about the inner workings of the government. And she also is privy to the actions of his political enemies as he is. Thus she knows that his arch enemy at Court is neighboring vassal lord Sir Roland.

Vannie's Personality and Interests

Vannie is an interesting girl. She's not a girly girl, but she's not an all out tomboy either. She loves the outdoors, and she loves horses. She likes to hunt and is more than decent for her age with a bow. Probably a large part of why she loves to hunt is that she does it with her father. She's rather a daddy's girl. Her taste in clothes reflects her outdoorsy spirit. She's not the sort of girl who wishes she could dress like a boy, not by a long shot, she actually likes her dresses, but she doesn't like fancy dress. She likes practical wear, stuff she can get mud on and it doesn't really matter. A dress she can get down on the floor in and not worry about messing it up. Her taste in hairstyles is similar. When she has her way, it's always two braids.

She likes to read, both fiction and nonfiction. She gets just as excited over a book on the history of Briznomian politics as she does over an adventure novel. She's kind of a nerd too. When telling Mandie to chew with her mouth closed, she tells her that no one wants to see her bolus.

She's not very good at embroidery, but she does like to knit. Not quite sure how artistic she is in other areas, though.

Vannie's rather outspoken, which is to say, quite tactless. She doesn't really think before she speaks, so a lot of things come out that shouldn't. One of her good points is her honesty. She has her faults for sure, but she'll never lie to you. She's really bad at hiding her thoughts and feelings. She also tends to process things out loud. It's quite opposite from the main boy in the story, Kyle, who is a very quiet, internal person. Vannie has to talk things through. That's really the only way she can figure things out. She's impulsive and gets into things without thinking through a plan first. Her emotions can be a bit of a roller coaster ride at times. When she gets stressed or scared, she tends to break down, but give her a bit of inspiration, and it's all sunshine and lollipops again. Kermit is never a happy topic, though. She despises him, and with good reason. 

I could say much more about her, particularly about inspiration for her character, but I'll save that for another day.

Introducing Eleanor

Some of you may recall the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera, a mystery...Sorry, my sister wanted to watch Phantom again last week, and I couldn't let her watch it without me.

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What I meant to say is: Some of you may recall the redheaded Time Captive by the name of Eleanor who appeared briefly in Creighton Hill. You may also recall my addictive use of flashbacks, or what I like to call "the Once Upon a Time effect." So you may be interested in knowing that the character featured in flashbacks in this book is Eleanor.

I'm not quite sure how it ended up being her. Probably because only a handful of them really wanted their backstory known, she was one of them, and since I somehow got it fixed in my mind that she went to sea, she was the perfect one for this book (there's a lot of sailing involved). She started out in my mind as a pretty normal girl. She grew up during the Great Depression with only brothers, three of them, I think, which made her resourceful and adventurous. She did sort of like stories, as she tries at first, rather unsuccessfully, to compare Calhortea to Oz. But she grew so much as I wrote about her. Her fears became known to me, her desires, her friendships. And yes, now that I'm older, when I introduce a character of the opposite gender of the one in question, I immediately try to ship them, even when I know I can't make it canon. You'd think as the author I could make my ships canon, but I can't always. Just think "School Reunion," Doctor Who, Series 2. But I'm getting off topic. I do that a lot. Just ask Kendra and Amanda.

Once I decided Eleanor went to sea, I decided she had to somehow connect to Captain Jeremy Herb. It was a little difficult to get the dates to work out, but I managed, and so, through Eleanor, you get to see his backstory as well. Did I mention I love backstory? I blame OUAT, even though I think I'm falling out of the fandom.

I also discovered how difficult it is to do story research on sailing. Or maybe I just had a bad library and unhelpful search terms. Anyhow, I ended up gleaning a lot of stuff on how to write on shipboard from The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. Fantastic book, very complicated and mysterious. Not nearly as creepy as Something Upstairs. I also applied what I learned visiting replicas of the Nina and the Pinta. I wanted to give Eleanor as realistic a setting as I could. And I couldn't help throwing in a few orphanage references later on in her story. Hey, I was a huge fan of Annie as a child. 

Eleanor turned out to be one of those easy to develop characters. Sure, it ended up being kind of depressing to write her, since she ends up being a rather depressed person, but she's another one of those characters whose life I want to fix. Never mind the fact that I'm the one who ruined it in the first place. I love her. Her backstory continues into Crannig Castle, where she finally finds some conclusion for her woes. 

Side note, her name comes from Eleanor Roosevelt. I really kind of don't like Eleanor Roosevelt, feminists and progressives really aren't my thing, but I do like her name, and well, I was cheating. Rather than looking up period names for the older Time Captives, I just named them after presidents and First Ladies from the era. Jonathan is the first to not be named after one. Well, aside from Samantha. She was named after the American Girl.

The cover reveal for The Crossways is next Tuesday! Stay tuned! And if you want to help by posting the cover on your blog, you can still sign up here and I'll get you the info ASAP.

Joey Hubbard

Via Pinterest Joey. His character hasn't really changed from my first idea, but he has definitely changed over the course of the book. Writing chapter 23 the other day, it hit me all of a sudden just how much he has grown up. It's sad, but a proud moment as well. ;)

At the start, Joey is a pretty ordinary ten-year-old boy. He doesn't get along with Emily (big surprise), but he does get along with Allan, Jill, and Anna. Honestly, he kind of likes picking fights with Emily. While he gets along with his other sisters, that doesn't mean he's above teasing them...which he most definitely does. And Allan is quick to tell him to treat his sisters properly.

Joey is very impulsive, and rather lacking in common sense. He rushes into things without thinking, including rushing down a pitch black secret passage at the top of the house, not knowing at which point the stairs back down start.

He's not really much of a reader. He likes stories, but unless his Grampa is reading them aloud, he prefers them to be in a visual medium. Since he did listen to Grampa read, he is familiar with children's classics like the works of E. Nesbit, Rudyard Kipling, and of course C. S. Lewis. I don't think it ever actually comes into the story, but he likes Star Wars and is generally more of the sci-fi type. He would probably think the Watsons' adventures in Across the Stars were pretty cool. They are connected by mutual friends, after all. (Eventually, anyway. This is the year Sara was born.) He also is the type to think that getting captured by pirates is cool. I have a feeling that if he was from a few years later he would rather like Pirates of the Caribbean.

Joey originally wasn't the protagonist. But I think he's a good one. I was talking briefly about it with my sister one morning, and I realized that Joey is the better protagonist because he grows. He changes throughout the story. Jill is more of a static character, someone who influences the protagonist to change. Allan is the same. I'm glad Joey is one of my protagonists. (I would say Adriel is one too, and possibly Eleanor, but Adriel doesn't come in until book 2, which is also where Eleanor's story is told.) Joey's character voice is interesting, and he is a fun character to write.

Jill Hubbard

Via Pinterest Jill was named after Jill Pole. Or if not strictly after her, because of her. I only like the name Jill because of Jill Pole. Jill was always a part of the story, even back when she had nine older sisters and no Allan. She was actually the main point of view character for a long time.

Well, as you would have it, things weren't working out so well from Jill's point of view. My sister thought she was boring, didn't like her character voice, and didn't even like the character! She thought she was wimpy and a scaredy cat. Sad for me, since I did like her. Even though at that point I was severely frustrated with the story and my characters and how they just wouldn't get on with their quest.

So then I tried Joey. And it started working. My sister actually started to like Jill. Thank goodness, because having a supposed to be liked character who isn't likeable isn't exactly a good thing. And once I got past having to write the first eight chapters AGAIN, I stopped being so incredibly frustrated with it. Not that it still doesn't give trouble, seriously, I've never had so many uncooperative characters, never had such a large cast before, but I had fixed one of my big mistakes. Jill isn't really the best primary POV character. She's good through the eyes of her little brother. She does get one POV section in the first book, a few in the second, and even more in the third, but for the most part, she is seen by Joey.

On Jill Hubbard. She's very nice. She tries to be a friend to Emily, and she's really close to both of her brothers. She likes to read. Her bookshelf boasted things like Just So Stories, Narnia, and Noel Streatfeild. That did get cut because of the POV change, but we still see her reading Ballet Shoes, and she and her siblings do make references to The Story of the Treasure Seekers. And she is more than willing to participate in Jonathan's Narnia references. She has always wanted a medieval style dress, not unlike me. They're pretty cool, after all. She likes to help people, but like Jill Pole, she does like the comforts of indoors. She's not exactly a morning person, but she isn't a lie-a-bed either. She loves church, and is definitely willing to tell people about God. She is shy, but her compassion is still able to overcome her shyness.

I personally think she's a great character and don't mind her POV, but the sister has spoken. :) Really, it is better the way it is now, but Jill's later POV scenes are just fine, and my sister doesn't usually complain about them. Jill's a great sister, and a good addition to the story of Time Captives.

Allan Hubbard

Via Pinterest As I mentioned in Emily's post, Allan didn't originally exist. I'm not really sure when he came about, probably about the time the others lost the eight older sisters they previously had. I know I decided I didn't want Jill to have to be the one in charge. And, being the oldest in a family of girls who really wishes she had an older brother, I wanted to give that to her.

Allan is very responsible and very nice. He is kind to Emily, even though she throws it in his face. On some occasions, he does show his disapproval of Joey's mannerlessness (my computer doesn't think that's a word, but I'm using it anyway), but he only wants his crazy little brother to be a gentleman. He treats his sisters well, like the ladies they are. Well, he still tries to treat Emily like a lady even though she doesn't act like it because he's just that sort of person, but she doesn't like it.

In putting Allan through a character development exercise (I normally don't do those, but I was struggling, and I'm not sure it really helped much in the long run), I discovered that he's not much of one for science fiction. He's not a huge fantasy reader, either, though he does really like Lord of the Rings and he shares the same fond memories of Narnia and E. Nesbit that his younger siblings do. He's really more of the G. A. Henty type. I'm not, but it's okay for my characters to be different from me. Not that there's anything wrong with Henty. They're just boy books.

Despite being more of a historical fiction type, Allan was still very open to the possibility of other worlds, even before they went to Calhortea and had only seen the mysterious writing on the walls. He fairly easily accepts it when there, and is thrown into the role of hero and sister protector. Only problem is, he doesn't really know what he's doing. But he still does his best, and that's what counts. He'll never back down due to cowardice. And as a Christian, he is determined to always do what's right. He'll never tell a falsehood, even if sticking to the truth could cost his life.

Allan Hubbard is a fine young man, and the sort you rarely see in modern books and movies. He is not without fault, but he does his best to do what's right always, not whatever will give him gain. And he's a good big brother. Yes, he's only twelve, but he is beyond his years.

Emily Hubbard

Via Pinterest Emily is the oldest of the modern Hubbards. She is fourteen years old, and she acts like it. She despises her four younger siblings and she spares not their feelings in displaying this. She is a skeptic, when Jill mentions their grandfather being in Heaven, Emily tells her to keep her supernatural hogwash to herself. Emily especially clashes with Joey because, while Allan and Jill are goodnatured, Joey really isn't. And when the Hubbards end up in the world of Calhortea, Emily doesn't really take it well.

Emily has been around since the beginning of my ideas for Creighton Hill. I don't remember if her name was always the same, probably not, but her personality was always there.

Originally the "modern" Hubbards (they're the most modern, from the year 2000) were going to be a family with 12 kids, all girls except Joey. Lucky for him, that changed. But even in that early version, there was a snotty fourteen-year-old sister who was mean to her younger brothers and sisters, especially when they speculated about the mysterious disappearances of their ancestors.

Even when the "modern" Hubbards were condensed into a family of five children with a second brother, Emily's role was still not the same as it is today. Her younger siblings, Allan, Jill, Joey, and Anna, were the four to go to Calhortea. Things really weren't working with the book, though. It was agony to write, and honestly, I hated it. I didn't even want to write Creighton Hill anymore. My mom read what I had and made a crazy suggestion. Switch Emily with Anna. I had to majorly rewrite the book, and that was before the rewrite that changed the point of view from Jill to Joey, leaving Anna behind and taking Emily along. It worked! I needed a contagonist, and Emily was it.

Emily will have a character arc over the course of the series. And I also need to go back and give her a few point of view scenes. But she is one of the best developed characters in Time Captives and one of the reasons the story finally worked.

Y: York and Jen

York and Jen Mercer are fifteen year old twins who meet up with the Raingolds about halfway through their adventure. They both went to public school where they constantly got themselves in trouble by questioning the wrong things their teachers tried to teach them. As Jen tells Audrey, "My teacher had been trying to teach us some baloney about the Constitution that wasn’t even slightly true, and I proved her wrong straight from the Constitution itself. Apparently they can’t have people doing that."

Jen wants to be a nurse. Her father was a doctor, and so these two combined gave her the medical knowledge necessary to deal with some unfortunate incident which befell them.
I'm not sure what York's ambition is, it wasn't necessary to the story, but he does have a dog. His dog is Canis, and Canis is very attached to his young master.

Jen was a dream character, she was in the dream about the fight on the bridge. That's where she got her name. York got his name because of Ian and Kansas. I was going to have a bunch of characters with state names, but in the end there were only three: Indiana (Ian), York, and Kansas.

York and Jen have a smaller role in the story than I at first thought, but they do have a role and they play it well.

S: Samuel Polk

Samuel Polk is another one of those characters I made up to fill a specific role. I needed another teenager who could drive, and so I named him Samuel. Now, you may be wondering why I had a character named Sam in Across the Stars, and a Samuel in The Experiment. I obviously like the name, but why? That can be answered in two words: Samwise Gamgee. He is my favorite character from Lord of the Rings, and so I started to like his name. I can't very well go around naming my characters Samwise, so I decided on a different name that can have Sam for a nickname. So Audrey called him Samuel.

At one point in the story, I decided to write a chapter about Samuel, simply because I didn't know what would happen next to the Raingolds. To do this, though, Samuel needed siblings. I have a little notebook full of fictional families I've made up, and so I looked through that to find a Samuel that would suit the part. I couldn't find very many Samuels, but I did find one family that had one with several older siblings, a twin sister, and a younger brother and sister who were twins. These were the Polks. I decided to use this family with a few alterations. For one thing, I never mention whether or not there are any older siblings. For another, I changed the ages of the girls so there were no twins. Then I had the Polks as can be known from The Experiment: Samuel, Samantha, Timmy, and Tabby.

Their part in the story expanded slightly from the tiny chapter I wrote while stalling the Raingold part. Their chapter doubled in length, and Tabby had a role to play at Courtstone. Their main role, however, is to show that these events are happening to others, and to expand the Raingolds' acquaintance. And that role they fulfill very well.

R: Raingolds

Finally I come to the Raingolds! I don't see why I always seem to pick last names for my main characters that come so far down in the alphabet. The Raingolds were a family I made up based on my own family except with extra kids, namely two little brothers. I made up random stuff about them for a while, but I really wanted a story to put them in. However, I couldn't come up with a good one. Then I had the dream which inspired what I then called Stand Fast, and decided to put them in it. It was a perfect fit, though the finished story is considerably different.

Audrey Raingold is the oldest, and somewhat based on me. She does tend to be somewhat bossy, and likes little kids. The muffin batter she mentions dumping on the inside of the oven is a true story. And I also found a beetle's exoskeleton inside of the frog I dissected for biology. Audrey is a lot braver than me, though. She is responsible, but she doesn't really want to be in charge. I suppose this is somewhat like me. I am capable of leading if I absolutely have to, but I hate doing it. Honestly, I think Audrey handled the whole situation better than I would have.

Ginnie was inspired by my sister Rebekah, but I think Ginnie came out even quieter than my sister. Ginnie is mostly just there, to support the others without obtruding into the story. Her relationship with Carrie Pauley as piggyback ride giver is taken from real life. "Carrie" did always get Rebekah to give her piggyback rides, and she did tell Bekah to jump over things, saying, "I won't fall off. I promise."

I'm not sure where to start with Abby. She is based on my sister Addyson, as my family was quickly able to see. I remember when my dad was reading it for the first time, my mom asked him, "Have you met your daughter yet?" Yes, Addy does talk a lot about the Constitution, and in an intelligent way. She knows it. She knows politics, too. Though Abby doesn't do this in the book, Addyson has gone into very detailed descriptions of why property and income taxes are wrong. Abby is rather argumentative, but she knows what she is talking about. She is a tomboy, and an entertaining character. Abby and Ian are the life of the story, which leads me to Ian.

Ian is not based on anyone in particular. However, his name is. His name is Indiana, which is because of Indiana Jones, though that is not the story explanation. I originally called him Indy, though I decided before I wrote it that I would call him Ian. He is, shall we say, spirited. In a less delicate way of speaking, he is a pain. He is very active and, well, he is a little boy. He is only seven, and doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. He also is argumentative, and gets into good natured fights with Abby. It doesn't take much for the two of them to get obnoxious together. As a character, I like him, though I'm not sure I would want him to be my little brother.

Then there's Collin. He's two, and, apparently, not much of a talker. He gets carried around a lot by the older children, but he doesn't really do much. I'm pretty sure he's a cute little thing, though. At any rate, the little boy who played him in the book trailer is.

And that's the Raingolds.

P: Pooles, Pauleys, and Pardens

The Pooles, Pauleys, and Pardens are friends of the Raingolds. They are inspired by friends of mine, some of whom even starred in the book trailer for The Experiment.

The Pooles are Elisabeth, Mike, Maddy, and Elliot. The Pauleys are Bethy, Grace, Suzy, and Carrie. The Pardens are Annelise and David. The Experiment is dedicated to those who inspired these characters. For some of the characters, I used the middle name, or a variation thereof, for the name of the character. For a few I chose a different name, Elliot and David in particular. Those were just random names chosen because I didn't want to call a character by the middle name of the person they were inspired by. "David" found himself and his sister in the book when he was reading it, and his question was, "Why didn't you give me a little brother?" After explaining that I didn't need any more characters, he told me that next book I put him in, I had to give him a little brother. I wasn't planning on putting him in another book, but I'll have to keep that in mind if I do.

The characters didn't all come out exactly like the person they were inspired by, but they suit the story. Since the Raingolds are based on my family (with two little brothers), I can't help but think of The Experiment as being a story about me and my sisters and friends, though in the story we are all the ages we were three years ago. It has served to make the story mean more to me, imagining us in those circumstances.

M: Malcolm Crowdler

Malcolm Crowdler . . . the evil President of the United States, one hundred years in the future. I find that I tend to have an evil ruler in my stories: King Jorrid in Across the Stars, Malcolm Crowdler in The Experiment, the Stryte Toarna in my WIP (work in progress) Creighton Hill . . . evil rulers are just so useful in a story. The backstory of the creation of the character Malcolm Crowdler is nothing spectacular. I needed an evil president, and Malcolm Crowdler was the first name I thought of, so that's who he became. Honestly, I don't know much of his backstory as a character either. I'm not much like Tolkien, I don't create extensive history for my stories and characters. I just fill it in when necessary. And I never found a reason to make up President Crowdler's backstory. But here's what I do know.

I found out from Miss Reginald that he was commissioned by The Head to fulfill the position of President. I don't know who The Head is, though. According to Miss Reginald, the President is selfish and likes power. He likely held a position in the government before he became president. He is very controlling, and doesn't like to tell people what is going on. He tends to make others work on a need to know basis. He obviously is smart enough to control the country, he must not be a product of the purposefully bad schools. However, he must not be the one completely in charge, whoever The Head is would be that. He is rather cruel, and his treatment of Johnson is no exception. He even calls himself Johnson's master. Malcolm Crowdler's outcome in the story is one I will not divulge. You have to read it for yourself.