Beautiful People - Heskith

This post is rather bittersweet. It's the first Beautiful People post I shall be writing that's not about the characters in The Way We Think. The characters from that novel are probably my most favorite, and have become the most real of all my beautiful characters. Its been awesome learning even more about them, but, it's time to move on.

I give you, Hesktith Cealnoor from Ash Valley. King of Aanoor, and brother to my favorite villain.

What is his biggest accomplishment?

Finding his kidnapped son after eight years of searching.

What is his strongest childhood memory?

When he was eight years old he woke to find his older brother, Dugan, packing all his things. When Dugan realized he was awake he came and sat on his bed, talking to him, telling him that he would have to leave, but someday he would be back. As he left he paused in the door and told him that he loved him. Heskith didn't see him for another eleven years.

What is his favorite food?

One of his favorite things to do with his daughter is roast apples over an open fire, and sweeten them with honey. Maybe it's because he always does it in the company of one of his favorite people, maybe it's because it gets him out of his royal life for awhile, but nothing tastes better to him than those baked apples.

Does he believe in love at first sight?

No, he's far to practical for that.

What kind of home does he live in?

He's a king. He lives in a castle. Paranoor Castle actually. People travel from other kingdoms just to see it from a distance.

What does he wear?

The things he's almost always wearing are his black cloak, his sword belt, and a leather jerkin.

What would he do if he discovered he were dying?

He would make sure the kingdom was left in good hands, then get on a horse and ride away with his family. He would find somewhere where no one else would go and spend the rest of his time there, in peace, with those he loved.

What kind of holidays, or traditions does he celebrate?

The country of Aanoor has few celebrations, but when they do the party goes on for days. Still haven't sorted out all the details. One of the largest celebrations lasts for almost a week and it's to remember the day Aanoor was won in a horse race by Heskith's Father in law.

What do your other characters have to say about him?

The villagers would tell you they would give their lives for him, his first concern is for them, and that he rarely smiles, but maybe that's just how all royalty are.

If he could change one thing in his world, what would it be?

Peace. He would have everyone at peace with one another. All the worries and sorrows of war would be gone.

Want to join in the fun? Find this months Beautiful People post HERE!

Gumbo

You know that moment when you realize your blog posts have been fewer to non-excistant in the last three weeks? You feel like you barely have time to sleep, let alone blog.

I wonder if I'll ever get back into the groove of typing out my thoughts in this little box, or if this blog will slip away and become one of the thousands that have been abandoned. Don't worry though, I've got far to many thoughts banging about in my mind to give it up entirely.

While I have forgotten my blogging, it seems others have not. I was given the same award three times. I'm to thank Katie, Mirriam, and Charity for awarding me the Liebster Blog award. I shan't be passing it on, but I'm very flattered for the appreciation you've bestowed upon this speck of speck in the internet world.

For those of you who haven't seen this months Beautiful People post, be sure to check out the new questions, there are some great ones!

I shall end this strange, mash up of a post with this.

Expect a post on them in the future, probably not in the near future, but possibly sometime beyond that. Kudos to those who know who they are.

Beautiful People - August

Hard to believe that it's time, once again, for some new Beautiful People questions. Sometimes I think once a month is almost to often for these posts, they're slowly taking over my blog. Don't worry, once a month it will remain, and this post won't turn into an apology on my lack of posting lately. Nope, this is a Beautiful People post.

Feel free to join in at any time. Below are ten questions to be answered about any of your well loved characters. Be it in a novel, a script, a song, or anything else you've written. At any time during the month, type up your answers in a blog post of your own, than come back here and sign the linky at the bottom of this post so others can read about your beautiful character.

Last, but not least, even though some of the questions seemed geared towards non-fantasy kind of characters, I still encourage fantasy authors to see if they can adapt the questions so it'll work for them. If you need to change the questions around a little bit, please feel free to do so. You could also imagine what the answer would be if your character wasn't fantasy. What would they be like in a modern world?

So, here are this months questions.

1. What is their biggest accomplishment?

2. What is their strongest childhood memories?

3. What is their favorite food?

4. Do they believe in love at first sight?

5. What kind of home do they live in?

6. What do they like to wear?

7. What would they do if they discovered they were dying?

8. What kind of holidays, or traditions do they celebrate?

9. What do your other characters have to say about them?

10. If they could change one thing in their world, what would it be?

We've got some great questions this time, I can't wait to see some of your answers! Thanks to Taylor Lynn for suggesting some of these questions. Please feel free to comment with any question ideas you may have!

What's Important to You?

Day 10 - Your answer to, "What is the most important thing I should know about writing."

If I was replying to someone who was thinking about getting into writing themselves, I would say, beware. It's addictive. Once you start, you will be sucked into the world of late nights, finding room for stacks of filled notebooks, and crying over deleted documents. Oh, and how could we forget NaNoWriMo?

For anyone else, there is no answer to this question. It changes for each and every person. I could tell you some of the things that are most important to me. Such as, simply writing what's on my heart, or be willing to try new things in my writing world. Outlining is a lot more fun than I ever imagined it could be.

The fact of the matter is though, that why these things could be important for me, they might not be a struggle, or nearly as important to you.

So, here's my answer to this question. Find out for yourself. Because it will be different for each and every writer. What is most important to you?

Check out this 15 Day Blog Challenge at Eat... Sleep... Write!

Current Projects

Yes, I've missed quiet a few days, but I'm back at it for now. Lerowen's 15 Day Challenge.

Day 9 - What is your current writing project?

Any writing I've been doing lately is rather casual, but the main projects are Ash Valley, and a nameless story.

Regular blog readers will know that I've decided to completely rewrite Ash Valley, despite the 50,000 words I had managed to reach in the first draft. This time I want to do it right, so I've been working on a detailed outline. Sticky notes can be amazing my friends.

The nameless story started on a whim. It was inspired by a picture I saw and I just couldn't keep myself from writing about it. I'm not sure how long it's going to be, and I don't have all the details sorted yet, but I do know the main characters are the Mother and Father of one of the main characters in Ash Valley. It's all rather exciting.

Books Inspire

Day 4 - A novel or author that has inspired something in your writing style.

While I can make this easy and just say Ted Dekker, and Charles Dickens, I have to go a bit further than that. Honestly, almost everything I read inspires me. Even if it's a bad book. It inspires me to go and write something better. If it's good I try and figure out why and if I can take on that quality in my own writing. The two kinds of books this doesn't work with...

The AMAZING

When a book is so amazing I don't even pay attention to what made it so good. I'm so caught up in the story I don't even think about it. By the third, or fourth time I read it I can get down to that stuff.

The GAG-worthy

You know. The ones that I read the first chapter and stop. If I even get that far. Sometimes I only get to the first line, if I made it past the paragraph on the back... if I even picked it up to begin with.

A writer should be able to learn something from almost every book in my opinion. How to do something, or what to avoid. Books in general are my inspiration.

Join the 15 Day Challenge over at Eat... Sleep... Write!

Attempt is Write

Day 3 - Your first attempt at writing.

I love how Lerowen words this one. "attempt at writing." That was certainly true for me. In fact, even now I feel like it's all just an attempt. One big attempt to get it write... or... er, right.

Anyway, I don't really remember when I first started to write. I've been asked the question many a time before, but all I can really do is guess. It was probably sometime when I was 7, or 8. I don't remember why I thought I might enjoy it, I don't remember what it was about. The first thing I do remember is writing a "novel" (as I called it in my own little head) about a girl who actually liked to wash dishes. In fact, she went to tournaments and won awards for her speed at washing dishes.

I dedicated it to my sister. Why? I have no idea, she hated washing dishes.

After that things became a little more serious. I actually had a lot of great ideas that I still run into and tell myself I really had something there. One of these I am actually still working on. Ash Valley.

In my early writing days I spent hours working on the first book in the trilogy Ash Valley is apart of. Somewhere along the line I got so excited about the second book (you guessed it, Ash Valley) I quite the first one and started it. I've been working on it ever since. At the moment I'm working on outlining it so I can do a complete re-write and I'm even contemplating using it as my 2011 NaNoWriMo novel. I love the story. I love the characters. I love the setting. I just can't seem to get it written. That's what NaNo is for, right?

Want to join the 15 day challenge? Check it out at Eat... Sleep... Write!

Three Favorites... Again

Day two of the 15 Day Writer's Challenge over at Eat... Sleep... Write. If you're a writer I encourage you to check it out and think about joining us!

Day 2 - Your favorite male author.

Another difficult one that I'll have to narrow down to three choices.

James Herriot

I've never really been a great fan of animal stories. While my family enjoyed the stories of Rascal, and Where the Red Fern Grows, I found them rather boring. I don't remember a time when I didn't like James Herriot though. I've grown up listening and reading his stories, based off of his real life experiences as an English country vet.

We had Every Living Thing on tape, and I think that's probably the most listened to tape there ever was. The stories are certainly worth hearing, but what makes them captivating is the way he writes them.

Not only that, the books make a pretty amazing tv series.

Charles Dickens

Look at this guy. With a face like that, how can you not write a whopping good novel? I've actually only read three of his books and am currently in the middle of the forth, but the ones I have read are amazing. This guy has got to be the master of plot. As I was reading Great Expectations, the first book I've read of his, I was thinking it was good, but by the time I got to the end I was blown away. Things unfold that you never would have expected.

Not only that, the books make some pretty amazing Masterpiece Theater adaptions.

Ted Dekker

I'm not even sure where to start with this guy. I guess from the beginning. Thanks for getting me into this addiction Beth.

Ted Dekker opened my eyes to the world of thriller novels. His was the first books in a long time that I clung to the spine of during the wee hours of the morning. I finished Black overnight.

The awesome part is, he's not only still alive, but he's still writing!

Not only that, the characters on the pages seem so real already, it gives me chills just thinking about a film adaption.

Three Favorites.

I've decided to take part in Lerowen's writer's challenge. I always love it when I discover new writer's blogs. I probably won't do every day of the challenge, but I thought some of the daily topics looked interesting. Such as today's,

Day 1 - Your favorite character you've written.

This is a really hard question. I mean, I've formed some kind of attachment to pretty much all of them. I guess I could probably narrow it down to three though.

Dugan Cealnoor by GeorgiePenn on Polyvore.com

The villain in the fantasy novel I've been working on for a few years. I'm getting ready to re-write it and in the midst of outlining have discovered just how awesome this guy is.

While he was a teenager he was mislead to believe he was better than his peers. As he grew into a man he took action to overtake the kingdom, but was thwarted by none other than his younger brother who later becomes the King. Not willing to fade into myth he takes his revenge by kidnapping his brother's only son and raising him to believe his Father is the real enemy and must be destroyed. All together he's a character with a lot of back story and misunderstandings.

Ranen Ken by GeorgiePenn featuring a black t shirt

Ranen, he's one of the main characters in my 2010 NaNo novel, The Way We Think. This guy can be pretty wild at times, he's another of my characters with a lot of backstory. He grew up in the streets, fending for himself till he was 17. At this time a family took him under their wing and nurtured him, giving him an education and believing that he was a good person. He goes through life's lessons the hard way.

Ella by GeorgiePenn featuring distressing jeans

I started her story based off a series of dreams I was having. I never really finished the story, but she kind of became the character I go to when I feel like writing, but have nothing else to write. I love her quite reserve, yet her will power to survive in a world many would fail in. She sings and plays for audiences, yet she is terrified of people she doesn't know. She can count her friends and family on one hand, but she knows them better than they know themselves at times. She draws strength and confidence from those she loves, but gives them the same, and sometimes more, in return.

Three characters. Three stories. Three favorites.