Note: This was originally written as an author guest post for the Royal Rebel blog tour, and was first shared on @anenglishmajorsdilemma Instagram page.
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If you’ve read the Fate of Eyrnithia series, then you know the characters pretty well. But I thought it would be fun to give readers a look at how the Fate of Eyrinthia characters interact with me off the page.
These characters are so alive to me that they are distinct individuals in my head. They can interrupt my thoughts when I’m not even thinking about writing, because they just can’t wait to tell me a line of dialogue or a plot twist. And sometimes, it takes all I have in me to pry anything out of them.
Every character you see on the page has more layers, dreams, and history than will ever make it into the book. But today I’d like to share a glimpse of what it’s like for me to work with them. To do this, I’m going to answer a series of questions to give you a taste of what it’s like for me to have these voices in my head.
If nothing else, this post may be enough to get me committed to the nearest asylum. Enjoy!
Characters most likely to speak to me at inconvenient times (i.e. while I’m driving or in the shower):
Desfan definitely tops this list. He chimes in with a huge grin, without a hint of apology, and just starts telling me things. Lines of dialogue, a joke he wants to work in, a person he wants to meet. He rarely holds anything back, and he will often tell me things about Karim—which Karim doesn’t always appreciate.
Serene. She speaks to me in her own time, which means I can be there puzzling over things for a very long time without getting anywhere, then BOOM. Suddenly she’s very chatty, and I have to scramble to take notes.
Iris. When she has something to say to me, she just sweeps in and starts talking. It’s up to me to grab a piece of paper and start writing things down, because the Poison Queen isn’t going to repeat herself.
Characters who tend to wait patiently for my attention:
Grayson often lingers in the doorway, waiting until he can have my undivided attention. And when he disagrees with the direction I’m taking things, he will respectfully let me know.
Bennick is another who is very patient with me. He’s got a gentle soul, even though he can be so fierce. He wants everyone safe and taken care of. He usually waits for all the chatter in my head to fade before he speaks his mind.
Clare. She’s Bennick’s perfect match in every way, and I can hear it in how similar their voices are in my mind.
Characters that still have secrets from me:
Serene. That girl loves to keep an ace up her sleeve. I can’t tell you how many times I think, “I’ve really got to know this now, Serene.” And her response is usually a little smile and a, “Okay, here’s this much. The finer details can wait. Trust me.” It can be very annoying, but it’s also perfectly in character for her, so I can’t get too mad.
Liam. Though to be fair, he’s a spymaster, so that’s only to be expected.
Henri and Iris. I know so much about them, and yet there are some things I just don’t know, or can’t quite put my finger on. Let’s just say they don’t like to admit to everything they’ve done, so there are some shadows in their pasts.
Characters most likely to ignore me and the whole plan I carefully plotted:
Desfan. He plunges into things with a reckless abandon I don’t know how to handle sometimes. I just have to scramble to catch up, and I very much empathize with Karim.
Imara. She loves doing the unexpected, and yet everything she does also manages to feel perfectly in character. (Like befriending Grayson, for instance. Or finding herself drawn toward a certain prince of Mortise…) I’m not sure how she does it, but it makes for some interesting twists.
Iris and Henri. They go off script a lot, and it’s always disconcerting—and usually the end result is terrifying.
Liam. He tends to surprise me every time he opens his mouth, and I never know quite where he’s going to take a scene.
Characters most likely to make me snort-laugh while I’m writing:
Venn
Desfan
Imara
Zadir
Characters I knew almost everything about from the beginning, but I had to hold back things back because it wasn’t their time for the spotlight yet:
Mia. She obviously had a lot of secrets from the very beginning, but they don’t start coming out until later.
Cardon is another I knew very well, very quickly. He has been there since book 1, but we really don’t know a lot about him at this point, even though we saw a little more in Royal Captive. But don’t worry, we’re going to be learning a lot more about him in Royal Rebel!
Liam. Yes, I know he also keeps secrets from me, but I knew some very important things about him straightaway. He’s got a lot of layers, and we’ve only seen some of them at this point.
Skyer, Imara’s betrothed. We will be learning more about him soon, and that’s about all I can say about that.
Grandeur. Serene’s brother, and the heir to the throne of Devendra. We’ve been learning more about him lately, but there’s still more to learn.
Characters I always get excited to write:
Zadir. That Mortisian pirate is just a lot of fun to write.
Desfan. I never know what he’s going to do, but I know it’s going to be good—or at the very least, endearingly reckless, and probably funny.
Grayson. He just has a huge piece of my heart, and I think his storyline just gets better and better. The youngest prince of Ryden has a more important role in the fate of Eyrinthia than anyone could have guessed in the beginning of all this.
Scenes with Bennick and Clare. They’re just so lovely, and I love them together. Their dialogue always flows, and I love the energy between them.
Well, there you have it. Probably more weirdness than you bargained for when you started reading this post, but this a glimpse of the fun chaos that resides in my head.