Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Beautiful People - Ethryl {July 2015}


This is the second Beautiful People post in a row that I’m getting to just a couple days after the new version was put up and not at the very end of the month. Yes, you may applaud me.

Or not.

Ahem, yes. So! This month, in honor of the lazy summer days (although thus far my summer has been anything but lazy), our resourceful hosts Sky and Cait have come up with questions centered around such days. Also ice cream. Because apparently July is National Ice Cream Month. Like what? How have I never head of this?? And the third Sunday of July is the official National Ice Cream Day (which lands on the 19th this year). Um, YES PLEASE. I can’t believe I’ve gone my whole life and never known this. All the wasted years! *makes note to consume unhealthy amounts of ice cream this month* So obviously you want to join in on the summery questions. Ice cream is involved, people. So yeah. Go here and/or here to snag the questions and thrust your characters into this summer, ice cream goodness.

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I’ve been doing characters from Burning Thorns for obvious reasons, but due to the questions this month being fit more for a modern setting I realized not really one character from BT would be well suited. Since I mostly write medieval-type stuff, this was quite a conundrum. But about a million years ago (AKA 2013) I wrote a book called The Avriot, which is the first book in what I hope will be a trilogy called The Traveling Library trilogy. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it, but that was a long time ago so I don’t know who all knows about it. Basically it’s this silly, steampunk, time travel story full of bizarre characters and, you guessed it, a library that can move and travel through time. Fun stuff. It’s horrendously written (in fact the other night I read through some of it and just laughed at how bad the writing was), but I adore that story and plan on someday turning it into something tangible. But ANYWAY, this story is basically always on my mind, it’s kind of my happy place. Definitely the most fun, lighthearted story I’ve ever written. So I thought why not do a character from it?

The book is full of characters (it basically has 8 main characters. . .yeeeah) but the core of the story is centered around Ethryl—a happy-go-lucky, always willing to help even though she’s extremely mistake prone, somewhat peculiar gal. She’s spent her whole life time traveling with an elderly man called Mortimer (or Timer as she more commonly refers to him as) and as a result isn’t easily shocked or fazed by, well, anything. When you’re raised by a crazy old guy and spend your life going on even crazier adventures you learn to accept the weird.

So now that I’ve probably already bored you to tears and typed your eyeballs out, let’s get to the actual post. (One of these days I’m going to jump into a BP post without a novel-length intro.)


Ethryl

"Oh, Timer and I run into ourselves all the time," Ethryl remarked casually.

The pirate's jaw dropped. "You do?"

"Sure. When you're time traveling your whole life you're bound to run into yourself from time to time."

"What's it like?" the girl asked in awe.

"Loud," Mortimer answered. "As if Ethryl talks enough, but when there's two of her..." He shook his head.

Faerwen laughed. "I think it would be nice. Do you like meeting yourself, Mr. Mortimer?"

"Sometimes," he muttered.

Ethryl gave him a mischievous grin. "Now, Timer, you know you relish the chances you get to talk to yourself."

He cleared his throat. "Well, it's nice to have someone to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation with."

Ethryl just chuckled.

~ Ethryl ~

1. What’s their favorite ice cream flavor?
Basically if it’s colorful, she wants it. Any sort of rainbow ice cream combination is her favorite. Although she will settle with something plain as long as there are sprinkles on top. The sprinkles are the key. Having traveled the world (it’s a made up world, but ya know) and been to basically ever century, she’s had it all and is not picky when it comes to food, especially sweets.

2. Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where are they going? What are they wearing? Who will they be with?
Where are they— *sputters* Where are they GOING? I did mention she spends her whole life time traveling, right? Mortimer has the gift to basically seal holes in time and travels around looking for them and putting them back together so time doesn’t collapse. So yeah, they’re EVERYWHERE, and never stay in a place long at all. The only person Ethryl really knows is Mortimer. Not exactly many opportune times to make lasting friends. So who will she be with? Timer. What is she wearing? Probably something practical. They never really know where they’ll land. It could be on top of an airship or in the middle of a lake full of alligators. Ya know, wherever. So she likes to wear practical boots, usually brown pants, and a comfortable shirt with a vest or something over it most likely. She also always has a wide belt on where she carries necessities such as the Avriot (which is an hourglass they use to travel through time with), a pistol, a dagger, etc. And where are they going? That’s anyone’s guess. Wherever Mortimer senses a crack in time.

3. Look at your character’s feet. Describe what you see there. Do they wear dress shoes, gym shoes, or none at all? Are they in socks that are ratty and full of holes? What do they consider comfortable and what do they consider agony?
Ethryl will pretty much always be found in leather, slip on boots. Practical, quick to put on, easy for running, and comfortable. At one time in her life she preferred the laced kind but those took way to long too lace up (one never knows when one will end up in a band of cannibals or the middle of a war and needs a quick getaway), and occasionally all the time traveling jumbles her memory and she can’t quite remember how to actually lace them. So slip on boots it is. She likes to wear warm, thick socks under them. Heels are not her thing. She will fall and break her nose in heels.

4. Do they have any birthmarks or scars? Where are they and how did they get them?
One of my few characters that isn’t  scarred that I know of, but with all of her adventures she’s bound to have something. You should just ask her. She’d love to regale you with some wacky adventure story or another.

5. What kind of music do they listen to? Does it change depending on their mood or is it always consistent? (Feel free to share samples!)
Oh, Ethryl is open to most types of music! She enjoys upbeat things, and really loves old folksongs (usually because she can tell you where they originated from and why). She adores stringed instruments of nearly any kind. Also the accordion fascinates her (even if Timer thinks it’s an absurd instrument).

6. Do they have any musical talent? Play an instrument? How’s their singing voice?
Hahahaha! Timer tried her with so many instruments, from all different centuries, but absolutely nothing stuck. He was hoping she’d be able to play an instrument because music playing eases the process of repairing holes in time. But no such luck. Although, she did almost click with the trombone but Timer quickly said no to that. Definitely not the type of music he was hoping for.
As far as singing, that’s not her strong suit either. Timer often wonders why he keeps her around since her talents seem extremely lacking, but of course he secretly loves her as his assistant (or apprentice as Ethryl claims she is, but he’s firm on referring to her as an assistant).

7. What kind of book would you catch them reading?
An atlas maybe? Lol. Reading isn’t Ethryl’s favorite activity. She doesn’t exactly hate it, but she’d much rather be traveling and adventuring for real instead of just reading about it in a book. But maps, that’s something she gets in to.

8. How would they spend their summers (or their holidays)?
Well, they can travel to any season at any time, so she may have half a day in summer and the other half in some freezing wasteland. One never knows. But if she had a choice in the manner, she’d probably spend most of it at the beach chatting with strangers and making sandcastles. Or perhaps out on an airship or hot air balloon over the ocean. The beach and ocean absolutely fascinates her. But she actually likes colder weather more than the heat. (Of course Timer complains that the cold weather stiffens his old bones. They make such good partners, obviously. XD)

9. It’s Saturday at noon. What is your character doing? Give details. Ex. If they’re eating breakfast, what’s on the menu? Are they hiking, shopping, lazing around?
It would be a miracle if Ethryl knew what the day of the week actually was. In a 24 hour period she could land in multiple different days, and time gets jumbled as well. The Avriot can travel to any day at any time, but it can’t be set for a specific time of the day. So it may throw them on the day they set it at 3 in the afternoon or 1 in the morning or any time at all. Gets pretty confuzzling. Basically Ethryl and Timer eat and sleep when they feel hungry and tired. They do not exactly have perfectly scheduled internal clocks.
But if they’re staying in a certain place for a few days and it’s noon, they’ll most likely be off looking for a nice café to have lunch in. Timer isn’t much for the large, busier restaurants. He likes quiet, intimate places, so that’s where they usually end up getting food. And what’s on the menu? Depends on what century they’re in. XD Ethryl isn’t big on vegetables, but she likes spicy and/or exotic types of foods. Trying different kinds of fruits is also a hobby she’s picked up.

10. Is there anything your character wants to be free of?
Lol. Ethryl can travel to any place and time. She doesn’t exactly feel imprisoned in any way. BUT she would like to be free of always having questions with no answers. Timer is pretty stingy on providing information about his past and how he can heal the cracks in time, and other such things. She’s an extremely inquisitive person and the constant vague answers from him gets frustrating. (Of course her never-ending questions frustrates him as well, but you know.)

That’s meh Ethryl girl! She holds a very special place in my heart. I can’t think of any other character I have that’s quite like her. She’s so very joyful and flighty and mistake prone but doesn’t even seem to be bothered about it. It’s a lot of fun working with her. Although I’m thinking these questions still didn’t quite fit with her lifestyle and are just all over the place and probably make no sense. . . I don’t write contemporaries, guys! I can’t help it. Also I’m sleepy and probably shouldn’t even be writing a blog post right now. *cough, cough* But now I’m making myself want to rewrite this story soon. . . Whoops. No, Christine, you have a hundred million other projects that need your attention right now.

Ahem. Ignore me.

So how has YOUR summer been thus far? And what’s your favorite ice cream flavor? I think we need to eat it profusely this month, don’t you? You know, in honor of National Ice Cream Month. Yes.

18 comments:

  1. LKSDFLAKJSDFLKASDLFKJSLDKF LAURIIIIIIIIIIIII I LOVE THIS POST SO MUUUUUUUUCH! <3<3<3 I feel for some reason like The Avriot is the story of yours I know the LEAST about! :O I learned so much about Ethryl and Timer and their story and just aaaaaaaaaaahhh I love it! ^___^ This was an entirely fascinating look at The Avriot! Now I want to read it sooo bad, especially since I've got a craving for steampunk these days. o.o And girl, how dare you say your stuff is horrendously written??? ALL OF THE LAURI THINGS ARE GORGEOUS PERFECT AWESOME STORIES OKAY. <3 My goodness, I now feel like I know hardly ANYTHING about The Avriot and I'm just so so so curious about it suddenly! EEEP. I love the sound of it to bits! ^_^ Aaaanyways this post was perfect. (Also I love the thing about boots and breaking her nose in heels. XD That is perfect.) Yay for Beautiful People! I always love those posts of yours, and basically any time you talk about your loverly bookses! They are my precioussss. *strokes all the beautiful things* GAAAAAAAAAAHHH I LOVE THE AVRIOT AND WANNA READ IT NOWWW. See what you've done to me? XD

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    1. O_O You do? Oh my goodness, THANK YOU!!! I was so out of it when I wrote it I felt like it was just slapped together and made no sense. Lol. I'm so glad you liked it!

      You know, it's true that I haven't gone into too much detail about this story. Huh. Probably because when I wrote it I was totally pantsing and didn't even have a PLOT. Literally, I had no idea what was going on and it's basically 94k words of plotless nonsense. XD Yeeah, definitely needs a total overhaul one day. ONE DAY. This story holds a really special place in my heart. It's just so FUN. So one day I'll do something with it.

      YOU ARE SO SWEET BUT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAAAND. It's sooo messy and horrendous. Oh my goodness gracious, it's horrible. XD

      I might just have to do more BP posts with the charries from this story! Honestly... *whispers* I think it's my favorite cast of charries from any book I've written. Just don't tell my other charres. *cough, cough* And I was thinking through all my female characters and honestly Ethryl might be my favorite. o.o So it was a lot of fun doing a BP post for her even if the questions didn't exactly suit her lifestyle. XD

      Anyways, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ENTHUSIASM. Now you're making me want to rewrite it even more but soooo many writing projects! *drowns in them*

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  2. A traveling library in a steampunk setting sounds amazing! And Ethryl sounds like a very cool character! And yes, we should all be eating a lot of ice cream this month! It's important to honor things like National Ice Month.

    I wanted to let you know that I tagged you for the Infinity Blog Award over at my blog, http://oyescribes.blogspot.com/ if you're interested!

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    1. Aww, thank you! It's waaay different from anything I've ever written, so it was quite the adventure. But I absolutely loved it! ...Even if it needs a serious rewrite. ;)

      ICE CREAM. YESH. My awesome dad bought me ice cream last night and I plan on diving into it today. Hehehehe.

      Oh my, that's so sweet of you! THANK YOU! <333

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  3. Oh, gosh, I've probably had ice cream every single day this month - and not because it's National Ice Cream Month. XD Mmmmmmmm, ice creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeammmmmmm. :) I love chocolate cookie dough, and right now I'm going through a Vienna Mocha Chunk phase. I'm not a coffee person, but as ice cream it's delicious with chocolate chips.

    OK. Ethryl! That's a very pretty name. And your description of her (content, flighty, whimsical) is definitely reflected in the answers above. I also like her practicality in terms of clothing and footwear, and that she likes music of all kinds.

    Talking about atlases and geography reminds me of the Carmen Sandiego franchise. Did you ever watch the show or play the games? I grew to love geography because of it.

    You used the word confuzzling, btw. I LOVE THAT WORD. Even if it's not a real word, I don't care. :D

    What kind of story is The Avriot, btw? It sounds like a steampunk fantasy, since you mentioned airships and pistols. Also, how did Ethryl meet Mortimer? Just curious, since this is the first time I'm hearing about the story.

    Here's my BP Post, if you'd like to check it out: http://saraletourneauwriter.com/2015/07/09/beautiful-people-vol-6-keli/. I've also got a special character interview with my MC's protagonist coming on Sunday, if you'd like to stop by for that.

    And I almost forgot, I nominated you for the Liebster Award Challenge a couple weeks ago. Not sure if you saw it...? Here's the link: http://saraletourneauwriter.com/2015/06/29/liebster-award-challenge/

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    1. Woot, woot! You go, girl! I've had a serious lack of ice cream lately, so I'm gonna fix that problem today! I'm boring and like me some good ol' plain vanilla. Mainly because I... *shuffles feet* Well, I don't like chocolate. *COUGH*

      Thank you! I'm actually quite fond of her name myself, so glad others like it, and her. ^_^

      Huh, I don't think I've ever heard of that, no. I'll have to look into it! I could definitely use some help with my geography. It never was my strongest subject even though I find it rather fascinating.

      YESH. *highfives* Confuzzling is one of my favorite "words" and I use it allll the time. It totally needs to be added to the dictionary. *nods*

      Yes, it is a steampunk, fantasy-ish thing. When I rewrite it I hope to make the world a lot more interesting. I think the world kind of got lost along the way somewhere... I need some of your worldbuilding skills!
      Ethryl was an orphan that Mortimer took in because he needed an assistant. Or at least that's what he SAYS. *wriggles eyebrows*

      Of course I'd like to check it out. I'll hop over there in just a minute! :D And oooh, character interviews are so fun!

      OH! *smackshead* I thought I saw you tag me on twitter but life has been super frantic lately and I'm not very active on twitter and totally forgot to thank you and look at your post. I'm so sorry! But I am SOOO honored you nominated me. You're so sweet! <3

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  4. *APPLAUDS HYSTERICALLY* LOVE this post, Lauri!! Ethryl sounds like such a fun and fantastic character, and I love her name! This story is so darn intriguing, HOW DO YOU DO IT ALL?? I love all your ideas and quirkiness.

    And WHAT. National Ice Cream Month?? I didn't--how--wh--I DIDN'T KNOW. My favorite flavor is Mint Chocolate Chip, with strawberry a close second, but I sure love my mint-chocolaty-chip-ness. :D

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    1. :D :D :D THANK YOU!!!
      Oh, I'm so glad you like her. I'm extremely fond of her myself. ^_^
      Lol. I think my ideas probably sound better than the actual product turns out. This thing came about because I got an idea for a bunch of characters and then it exploded from there...except the plot is rather lacking. It definitely needs a HUGE rewrite, but I'll do it someday, I will!

      I KNOW! I had no idea either. I feel like I've been missing out on something spectacular. WE MUST EAT ALL THE ICE CREAM. Oh, strawberry is good! And mint chocolate chip has always sounded like a good idea to me except for the fact that I don't like chocolate. *cough, cough, cough*

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  5. I love this story, I want to live this story. Ethyl and Timer sound like insanely fun time traveling companions. Makes me think of Doctor Who and makes me incredibly emotional, can I beta this. It sounds so fascinating. :D

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    1. *beams* Thank you so much! I kind of love it, too. It's probably the funnest story I've written...even though it's a mess. More like the IDEA of it is the funnest one I have. XD

      Yes, Ethryl and Timer definitely have a Doctor and companion vibe going. I love it!

      I am so honored you want to read it! Right now it's a horrendous mess and even I can hardly stomach reading through the thing myself. But one day I'm going to rewrite it and when I do I'd LOVE for you to beta it! That day might just be...in the distant future. :-/ I have so many writing projects calling me... If only *I* could time travel and give myself more time. Or be able to stop time. Now that'd be useful!

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  6. I APPLAUD YOU.

    And excuse me, but how. Do. You. Do. It. Every single character of yours that comes prancing across my screen is a bundle of amazingness! I mean, Ethryl! And Mortimer! (Whose nickname is so very appropriate for a person who fixes time holes.) sklfjalsdfj Ethryl sounds adorable, and I love how she prefers slip on boots because she might forget how to tie laces. XD I love her already.

    The excerpt was hilarious. "Sometimes," he muttered. <---LOL! And the part about having someone with whom to carry on an intelligent conversation. XD Ahh, girl, you're too funny. I love this pair. Actually, I love just about any grumpy/strange mentor + somewhat incompetent/full-of-questions apprentice, so these two sound perfect. <3

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    1. *bows* Thank you, thank you!

      *flails in the happy feels* Thank yooouuu!!! Now if they come off on paper how I describe them and hope for them to be, that's a different story... But still, you are so nice to say so! And I do love these charries. Like I was just telling Celti, this is book probably has my favorite cast of characters I've ever written. They're...something. XD
      (And yeah, Ethryl took to calling Mortimer Timer because her little 3 or 4 year old self couldn't say Mortimer correctly and since he was a time traveler she came to the conclusion that he was Timer. Hehe.)

      Tehehe. Thank you! They're a mess, those two. And I've always felt the same way! That combination of characters is one of my favorites, so I was bound to write a pair of my own someday.

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  7. I LOVE that excerpt! "It's nice to have someone to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation with." LOL. Mortimer sounds like an interesting character. As does Ethryl!

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    1. Thank you!!! ^_^ Yes, Mortimer is quite the character to work with. He's so grouchy and uppity, it amuses me highly. XD They make an interesting pair for sure.

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  8. Love Ethryl's name! And her story! It's sounds a bit like Doctor Who. ^ ^ And I love Doctor Who. Yay! Someone else who likes cold over hot! I hate the heat. :P Great BP!

    I did BP too ^ ^: http://storitorigrace.blogspot.com/2015/07/beautiful-people-11-brian.html

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    1. Awww, thank you!! ^_^ Fellow Doctor Who fan! *highfives* DW is one of my favoritest things of EVER. I think I was a bit inspired by it for this story, yes. ;)

      I hate the heat, too! Like, despise it! Glad to see I'm not alone.

      Oh yay! *pops over to read*

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  9. I adore time travel stories, and I love everything about this idea. I know what you mean about older projects though. I have a few that are about ten or so years old that I'll pick up, go "WHAT AN AWESOME IDEA, WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT . . . Oh, wait . . . THIS IS HORRIBLE!" And then I yo-yo back between those two points.

    But when you finally decide to rewrite and polish this, I think it would be fabulous.
    Ethryl reminds me a tad of Pippi Longstockings (in a good way). I think that whimsical characters are missing from a lot of modern books. I would love to read more about her.

    When I was reading this, I was thinking Doctor Who, then I scrolled down the comments and saw that you do, indeed, like Doctor Who. Fellow Whovian here giving you high fives across the internet (and time and space).

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    1. Oh me too! Time travel stories just absolutely fascinate me. They're so fun! Thank you! But yes, totally with you there. It's a confusing life being a writer. XD

      Thank you! ^_^ Huh, ya know, I've hardly been exposed to the Pippi Longstockings stories enough to know, but that's a fun thought. I agree, whimsical characters are really refreshing and fun. I wish there were more. I'm so honored you're interested in my Ethryl. ^_^

      Woot, woot! *sends you a timey wimey highfive* One of my favoritest shows!!!

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