Monday, October 13, 2014

The NaNo ‘14 Cast


It’s that time of year again, peoples! Where that last smidgeon of sanity us writers have gets flung out the window and locked out for a month. That’s right, NaNoWriMo is coming! Which means October is NaNo-prep month.

I’m a wee bit behind on my prepping this year, but I’m starting to get into the swing of things. It hasn’t been easy though, this year’s novel is being stubborn, but I’m starting to discover its secrets and pull a story out of it.

As I know I’ve mentioned, every year of NaNo since my first in 2010 I write each book from a fantasy, dragon rider series dubbed the Colors of a Dragon Scale series. Each book follows a different pair of dragon riders and I’m quite excited about this year’s cast. So excited that I thought I’d share a little bit about the characters who will be fighting my family and friends for all my attention next month, and basically taking over my life. (But that’s okay, I love my babies.)

. . .

IavinIavin

Most of the story is from Iavin’s POV. He’s the poor dear that gets dragged around to strange places by even stranger people and spends the majority of the story in complete cluelessness.

Some may say his life has been full of ease and pleasure, but that’s certainly not how he’s seen it. Iavin’s elvish mother came from a well-to-do family in an elven community where her seamstress skills were renowned, so much that she was asked to be the official seamstress to the royal family. His human father was a dragon rider himself and almost singlehandedly prevented a war between their kingdom and another one, making him an instant legend. Our little half elf Iavin has a lot to live up to. Unfortunately, his short stature and regrettable lack of muscles isn’t much to compare to his father’s great physique or his mother’s height. Besides which, he’d much rather spend all day in seclusion reading a good book than attempting any form of greatness. He knows he’d just mess up whatever he tried anyway. To be part elf, he’s awfully clumsy. Embarrassment is a well known emotion to him. With parents such as he has, he’s thrust into a depressing amount of social events where his anxiety and insecurity get the best of him. He thinks he’s a failure to his parents, which results in a lot of self-conscious problems.

But then the unthinkable happens. He’s chosen by a dragon, and a white dragon at that, the rarest and most sacred of the species. One would think he’d be very proud of that fact; maybe now he can finally prove himself worth something and make his parents proud. In reality, he’s scared out of his wits. I mean, how is he supposed to live up to his legendary dragon rider of a father? Especially when he can barely hold up a sword.

Overall, Iavin is a shy, insecure little thing that wants nothing more than to be alone with a book about adventures instead of living one himself. But despite not quite living up to his parents’ standards, he has a beautiful heart for others. He may think he isn’t worth anything and people look down on him, but anyone who spends a lot of time with him cannot help but be drawn in by his kind, gentle nature. To be perfectly honest, I kind of love this precious boy to death and I cannot wait to start his story (even if I feel a teeny tiny bit guilty about all the peril I’m going to thrust the tenderhearted lad into *cough*).

Sayleth

SaylethSayleth is Iavin’s dragon rider partner and our second main character. I’ve had the idea of Sayleth for years and yet I only just figured out who she is a couple days ago. She’s a mystery girl, even to her author.

With her almost white hair, unnaturally light blue eyes, and extremely pale complexion people are a bit wary of her. Her pointed ears suggest she’s an elf, but rarely is an elf so small and pale. She merely showed up the day the dragons chose their riders. When one chose her, and a white one at that, people decided she must be trustworthy, dragons only choose the best of the best. Still, most keep a distance of caution between themselves and her. She never attempts to explain herself, but it’d be pretty difficult being as how she’s a mute. Her peculiar appearance, unknown background, and inability to speak wraps her in a mysterious aura. She doesn’t interact with people often, and no one is quite sure if it’s because she’s shy or just prefers keeping to herself. And yet, despite her mysteriousness, she has a charm that gravitates people to her, wary or not. There’s a peaceful pleasantness in her company that can never quite be explained. She’s gracious and kind in whatever she does, and as graceful as doves. Because of this, it’s a bit of a surprise when people discover this tiny, pale, delicate girl surpasses almost all the other riders during fighting training.

I’m looking forward to the challenge of writing Sayleth. I’ve never had a mute character before. It’s going to be an interesting thing to work around, but I’ve got quite a few things in the works. *grins* I can’t say what all her mysteriousness is about because spoilers and all that, but I will say it involves stars and snow and another character. . .

CaelCael

This guy. . .I don’t even know. I had absolutely no intentions for this guy to exist. I was simply minding my own business, outlining my NaNo quietly, when boom he appears out of nowhere and demands to take over the story that supposed to center around Iavin and Sayleth. And not only that, he’s attempting to take number one place in my heart out of all the characters in the entire series! Rude much? I always tend to fall for the ones that I don’t even plan. Am I the only one that does that? Ah well, at least he’s making things. . .interesting.

Technically Cael is the antagonist for this particular novel, but to call him a villain is kind of stretching it. He thinks he’s doing the right thing. He’s not, but at least he gets points for trying, right? And he can actually be a likeable fellow. In fact, Iavin likes him a whole lot when they first meet. Until Iavin discovers what he’s up to that is. Things go downhill from there.

Cael is an interesting person, to say the least. He’s cocky and snarky and carefree and optimistic, in a sinister sort of way. He’s quite the manipulator. But there’s still something about him that can’t help but be liked. He’s a charmer, I suppose. He makes himself friendly even while he’s doing dastardly deeds. I mean, if you’re going to imprison your friends the least you can do is lock them in a fairly nice room and give them plenty of torches to stay warm, right? That’s Cael for you. He makes it almost impossible to call him evil even though he kind of is. He’s quite a character, that’s for sure. (And I sort of totally love him and can’t wait to write about him. Why oh why do the antihero types always capture my heart? It’s a problem.)

Also, Cael is not his official name yet. I’m having the worst time settling on a name for him. I’ve also considered Cerus or Serin. What do you think?

. . .

So that’s my main cast for NaNo 2014. They’re going to be quite a group to spend November with. And I’m only about halfway through the outline, so who knows what other characters decide to leap from the blue and steal my heart. Oh, the things we writers must endure.

What about you? Are you participating in NaNo this year? If so, are you excited about this year’s characters in your novel? Or if you’re not doing NaNo, are you working on a novel right now with some interesting charries? Tell me about them! Characters is my favorite subject!

12 comments:

  1. This made me so excited! I love the pictures you chose.

    You are absolutely NOT the only one who falls in love with unplanned characters. I do that ALLL the time. (Decker from my NaNo novel for '13, and then HAL [LOVABLE HAL] from my upcoming NaNo novel are prime examples.)

    Iavin sounds amazing; we need more tenderhearted heroes! And mute characters are my favorite. You're going to have so much fun having to figure out how to write her without her speaking! I know you can do it. It sounds like fun. Also, Cael sounds fabulous. Seriously. I love antiheroes like that. As for name... I do like BOTH Cerus and Serin. Not much help, am I?

    As for my NaNo characters, I'm just about to post about them, but I've got Jem, a logical reserved science intern; Evee, a sentimental leader; and Hal, a bored computer hacker. Hal stole my heart completely, but don't tell him that. I think he and Cael would get along, actually--Hal has a similar antihero-esque personality. So does Decker, actually, so I think the theme with characters stealing my heart is that they're antiheroes. Who knew?

    Anyway, I can't wait to hear more about your NaNo, and I can't wait to write my NaNo novel, especially since you'll be writing, too! Speaking of which, may I add you on the NaNo site? ^_^

    Again, loved this post.

    -Sky

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    1. Awww, thank you! I'm quite excited myself.

      You too? I don't know what it is about them. I guess there's just something special about a character coming in unannounced with a full personality and everything than one you try to shape and form on your own. From what I've seen of Decker and Hal, *I* love them too! They seem aaaamazing!

      That's actually precisely why I love Iavin! Even though I do love the antihero types the best, sometimes I just want a genuinely NICE hero, you know? Iavin's a sweetheart. ^_^
      So you like mute characters? That's neat! Yeah, I think it's going to be a lot of fun! I've always kind of wanted to try my hand at a disabled character.
      Thank you! Aggghhh. Cael is giving me such a hard time with his name. It's just like him to keep his real name from me. >.>

      I looove the cast you have for your NaNo! And the idea of your NaNo period. I think you're going to have a blast with it. And Hal...yes. Just, yeah. He seems kind of amazing. And yep! I'm the exact same way with the antiheroes. It's a strange thing.

      Hopefully I'll be telling more about my NaNo soon! Just as soon as I figure it all out myself...hehe. Oh yes, please do!! :D You can find me here: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/lauriloth Except I haven't even found time to update my profile yet. Shameful.

      I think this NaNo is going to be great! Thank you so much, Sky! ^_^

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  2. Awesomeness!!!
    I'm thinking about doing nano this year though I'm
    Pretty sure I won't be able to do the 50k and I'm positive I won't be able to take as much time out of my life as most writers do. I do love the character ideas I have for it though. And if I don't do it, I've got two other stories I'm writing.

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    1. Oh, you should! NaNo is SUCH an amazing experience. I've not regretted doing it once. Even if you can't reach the 50k, it's totally worth it. Knowing you're writing with thousands upon thousands of other people all around the world...it's a feeling I can't even describe. It's magic. Just participating, no matter how many words you get, is still a huge achievement.

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  3. Awww, Iavin sounds adorable! ^_^ Also he's a half-breed! I love that. >:D And I feel him on the "depressing amount of social events"... poor guy! D: Nooo do not put him in danger the poor baby! *grabs him in alarm and cuddles him to keep him safe from evil author*

    I'm sooo intrigued by Sayleth! She sounds quite interesting. :D Do you have a thing for white-haired girls? XD

    Cael sounds... um... difficult. >:D Mwahaha. (I died at your "Rude much" thing. XDDD)

    Also your Squishy (who cannot comment because she has no blogger profile/website) would like to put in a vote against naming him Cael--she thinks Serin is good, but really anything other than Cael because of reasons. XD I like both Cerus and Serin, but I think I'm leaning toward Serin simply because Cerus sounds to me like "Sear us" like burning or something; which is probably just me. :P

    NaNo characters yayyy!! ^__^ Loved this post. I love how detailed your characters always are--you're really good at giving them personalities and bios and they're always so REAL! ^_^

    And WHITE DRAGONS!!! That's super exciting!!! :D :D :D Now I'm just dying to know the title of this novel! *flail*

    Best of luck on your plotting! :)

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    1. *grins* Thank you! I do loveth him. <3 Ehehehehe. I am quite evil, it's true.

      I do have a thing for white-haired girls, yes. Heh. BUT there is a reason both she and Bryth have white hair and it's kinda sorta connected...

      Difficult. *dies* That is DEFINITELY the word to use for him. ButIstilllovehim.

      It took me a bit to figure out why Cael is bad but then I realized, the DragonKeeper Chronicles. Is that it? Because the main girl is named Kale? Which...is kind of a problem and weird. Blargh. Why is he being so stubborn about his name?? I guess because he's difficult. Hm, sear us. Lolzy. I guess it does kind of. I like Serin a lot but for some reason I just see him with a name that starts with a c, and I fear Cerin would look more like the name Karen or something. XDDD Agh! I'm so bad at naming charries!

      Oh my! That means so much!!! I hope they come off real on the pages. I don't ever feel like I can take credit for making them though. They just kind of...appear, and demand I write about them. Sometimes it feels like I'm just the typist, not the creator. XD

      YESH. White dragons! :D I'm so very excited. The title has been revealed to you. ;) And I talked about all these charries in our last email which means you had to hear all this twice... Whoops. I should have read this comment before sending off that email! Sowwy.

      Thank you! You as well! ^_^

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    2. Ohhhh, the white hair thing is CONNECTED. >:D Awesomesauce. :)

      She says Kale from DKC is a problem, but its mostly actually because Cael is a character she really liked in this book she read recently that kinda made her want to quit reading anything ever again because it was so bad. >.> Ahem. Anyways the name just has ascociations. XD But do name him whatever you like! ^_^ You're right, he DOES kind of fit with a C name... Ahahaha that's SO hilarious that he's hiding even his name from you. XD

      YES THEY'RE SO REAL!!! Whenever I read snippets anyway. ^_^ And I KNOW RIGHT? We just discover these things and write them down, but it doesn't feel like creating because it's already all there! Tolkien said some great things about that, about stories just being leaves off "The Tree of Tales". I loved that. ^_^

      TITLE TITLE ALSKDJFLKSJDLFKAJS;DLKFJAS YES. <3 And noooo don't worry about it at all! I looooved hearing about them twice! ^_^ This way it was both an official look, and kind of an extra sneak peek because I know things. So it was the best of both worlds. :D

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    3. Oooh, I see. Goodness me. That is quite bad. o.o And I've almost talked myself into keeping Cael. It's starting to work for him.

      I just...just...THANK YOU. My charries are so near and dear to me. Hearing that they're real to other people just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. EXACTLY! Aaahhh! Tolkien. <333 What more can I say?

      Could you BE anymore precious? <3

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    4. Well, if Cael works, then as Michelle says, by all means keep it! ^_^

      TOLKIEN YES.

      And... maybe I could be more precious if I was small and round and hollow and made of gold, with elvish runes that glow when put in fire... (Speaking of Tolkien. XD *cough*)

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  4. This story looks positively delicious. Rings just a wee bit of Eragon, but SO much better!

    I did think of Kale from DKC as well. But I think I like all three names you've got so far. ^.^ That's not terribly helpful, I know... Just a thought, though: you could call him Scerin (just adding a soft C in there). But of course, do as you wish. ;) All the names are great!

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    1. Thank yooouuu!!! I'm so excited you think so! Hehehe. I'm not much of a fan of Eragon, so it's not exactly like that, but there are some similarities if I really think about it. The IDEA of Eragon was cool, so being compared to it isn't a bad thing. ;)

      Hmmm... That's a thought. He really is being quite stubborn about his name. >.> Silly charries.

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    2. Yeah, Eragon was...meh. I was expecting it to be a lot better than it was. I found the pacing was off, and -- never mind, I won't get started. >.< But you're totally right; the *idea* behind it was really good, so I meant that as a compliment! :)

      I know. Glare at him for me, will ya? :P (But if Cael is starting to stick, by all means KEEP IT. I know Deb and I mentioned Kale, but really, it's not a strong enough connection that it would bother me.)

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