Beautiful People: August

I always find it useful to know as much as possible about my character and their likes, fears, their past, and everything that makes them the person they are today. And sometimes it can be fun to share a bit of this background information with other people. The Beautiful People link-up, hosted by The Notebook Sisters and Further Up andFurther In, provides a list of questions every month for writers to answer for one of their characters, to help them get to know the people in their books, and to share them with others.

At the moment, I am working on editing one of my fantasy novels, The Crystal Tree, so for this month’s edition of Beautiful People, I’m going to be answering the questions for the main character of this book, Briar. She’s a magician who is fighting to free her sister from the clutches of a throne-usurping villain. As I’ve done in previous editions, I’m only going to be answering a few of the questions.

1) What does your character regret the most in their life?

Briar regrets not being able to make things right with her family before they died. She stormed out of the house in a huff after a hot tempered argument with her parents. When she returned, bandits had raised her village to the ground. She regrets that her last memory of her parents is this argument.

2) What is your character's happiest memory? Most sorrowful memory?

During the course of the book, her most sorrowful memory would be realising that her sister has chosen the wrong side of the fight and is now one of the enemy. Her happiest memory during the book would definitely be the snowball fight she had with her companions. Even on the run, there is always time to mess around with friends.

3) Do they act differently when they're around people as opposed to being alone? If so, how?

Briar definitely acts differently when she’s with people than when she’s alone. When she’s with people, she’s a lot more lively and animated, but at the same time, very watchful and controlled with what she says and does, like she’s projecting another personality on herself. When she’s alone, she’s a lot more thoughtful and quiet. That’s the time when she admits her fears and darker thoughts and allows herself to be real. She hides a lot of things from other people, and she only expresses them to herself.

4) Would they be more prone to facing fears or running from them?

Running is definitely more her style. She ran from her troubles when her parents died, and she ran from her fear of bandits. She prefers to run away and start fresh when things get tough rather than stopping and fighting. But this is something that she has to learn to change over the course of the book.

5) Do they turn to people when they're upset, or do they isolate themselves?

Isolation is more her thing. Briar is very sensitive to the way people look at her, and she has a lot to hide. So when she’s upset, she hides that as well. Having to be the head of her tiny family group, and to be a responsible adult, she likes to project the feeling that she can take care of herself and that she’s strong and capable.

So there you have it, a little about Briar. I hope you’ve enjoyed having a tiny glimpse into the world of The Crystal Tree and meeting one of my favourite characters.

Are you taking part in the Beautiful People linkup this month? Link me to your posts! I would love to meet your characters. Have any other questions for Briar? Leave them in the comments below.