Beautiful People: March

With Camp NaNoWriMo starting tomorrow, I thought now would be quite an appropriate time to link-up with Beautiful People and introduce the main character from my upcoming Camp novel to you all (that and I’ve somehow managed to leave it til the last minute to join in. Typical). Beautiful People is a link-up for writers hosted by the amazing duo Cait@Paper Fury and Sky@Further Up and Further In. For Camp NaNo, I’m planning on writing a fantasy with magic, thieves, and dragons! Did I mention the dragons? I may be a little excited about the dragons. The plot is a tiny little bit vague (read, Imogen’s been struggling with editing and hasn’t really plotted anything), but as it stands, this is the synopsis for my story so far:

Renowned thief Maya is facing a lifetime in prison. Which, for an elf, is a very long time indeed. But when an important magical object is stolen, the ruling council make her an offer she simply cannot refuse: Find the object, and earn a complete pardon. Maya sets out to find the thief and retrieve the object with the help of an unlikely team made up of the captain of the guard, Xavier, and her best friend Zanth, who also happens to be a dragon. But, with the deadline looming, and the object well hidden, Maya will need all her cunning to get out of this one. After all, it takes a thief to catch a thief.

What first inspired this character? Is there a person/actor you based them off?

I don’t generally base my characters off people or actors. I prefer to steal traits, features and creativity, and mix it up into a delightful hodgepodge that somehow results in a (semi) cohesive character. What inspired Maya’s character mostly was my love of sarcastic, witty characters, a desire to write a slightly less than mystical elf, and my fascination with characters who are thieves. I just decided to mix them all together and hey presto, she arrived. 

Describe their daily routine

When the book starts, Maya is in solitary confinement in a prison, so her daily routine mostly involves being fed twice a day, being escorted once daily on a walk by a platoon of armed guards, and counting the bricks in her cell. She’s famous for her escape attempts, so the prison guards have learned not to take any chances with her.

If they joined your local high school, what clique would they fit into?

Maya would definitely be the loner, and proud. Fun and witty Maya might be, but she’s not really into being part of a group. She’d be that rebel person who makes fun of the cool people, has like one really close friend, and doesn’t take anything from anyone.

Write a list of things they merely tolerate. Ex: certain people, foods, circumstances in their lives…

Her guards, especially when she’s out of prison working for the council. Those guys really don’t know how to have fun. Prison in general. There's only so long one can look at the same four walls without getting bored. Fools. Especially the ones with massive elaborate robes and long wispy beards. Magic portals (she gets portal sick). Fish. Fish are nasty slimy things and should be outlawed.

How do they react in awkward silences?

Maya’s automatic reaction to awkward silences is to fill them as quickly as possible with whatever meaningless chatter first springs to mind. Not that she doesn’t like silence. In fact she’s quite fond of it, especially when it’s just her and her dragon friend Zanth. But awkward silences, in her opinion, are meant to be filled, so she’ll literally blather on about anything in a vain attempt to cover the awkwardness. 

Can they swim? If so, how did they learn?

Nope. Maya cannot swim. At all. She loves heights, will fly anywhere and climb any building. But water is scary and bad. It is for drinking only. She also never had anyone to teach her to swim, so that hasn’t helped her distrust of water.

What is one major event that helped shape who they are?

Probably being abandoned as a child. Her mother left her with a family friend in order to pursue her career working for the council. And then the plague swept through, the family friend died, her mother never came to find her, and she was left abandoned on the streets. That pretty much shaped the pattern for her entire life and personality.

What things do they value most in life?

Freedom, especially now hers has been taken away. True friendship, considering that is so rare in her life. Compassion, a weird trait for a thief I will admit, but she knows what it’s like to have it rough, so she’s a lot more compassionate than people expect. Reputations, especially her own. An intimidating reputation does a lot for a girl.

Do they believe in giving other people second chances? Do they have any trust issues?

Does Maya have trust issues? You bet. In bucket loads. She grew up with thieves and tricksters, was abandoned as a child, and has spent most of her life being lied to and betrayed. It takes a lot for Maya to trust people. The only person she really trusts is her dragon friend, Zanth. As for second chances, well, if you break her trust, you don’t deserve one.

Your character is having a rough day…what things do they do to make them happy again? Is there anyone they talk/interact with to get in a better mood?

Basically Zanth is the one person who can cheer Maya up. They usually go flying, anywhere, anytime, especially at night, or early morning. She’s not really one for talking problems through. Sometimes Zanth gets her to share, but mostly she likes to try to forget and move on quickly.

So, that’s a bit about my Camp NaNo protagonist. Tell me, are you participating in Camp NaNo? Who is the protagonist of your current novel? Are you linking up with Beautiful People this month? Link me to your post!