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Tag: The Prophet’s Quest

Beautiful People – Friendship Edition – Josiah & Aileen

Tracey Dyck 18 Comments

I put off doing this month’s Beautiful People (which is friendship themed) for a while because I just didn’t know which companions to feature. Luci and Aleida came to mind, but that would be somewhat repetitive in light of last month’s BP post. Then there’s Luci and Hadrian, but they’re a romantic pair. And, erm, she doesn’t really have any friends beyond those two people. So I crossed Sleeping Beauty characters off my list of candidates, and settled on the obvious choice.

You may have seen their names floating around here before: Aileen McKay and Josiah Williams, the main characters of that fantasy series spoken of in vague terms on my Writings page above. I’ve spent so much time with them, they’ve almost become real in my mind. Answering these questions will be fairly easy!

Before we continue, if you’re new to the wonderfulness of Beautiful People, you can find out more from the hosts, Skye and Cait. Now: onward!

1. How long have they known each other, and how close are they?
Only a matter of weeks (although for me, they’ve technically known each other for seven years). Yet in those few weeks, they form a bond stronger than most. Death-defying experiences tend to encourage such bonds, you know.

2. What’s their earliest memory of being best friends?
They were distant acquaintances for a long time–knowing names and faces, passing each other in the halls at school–but the whole best friend thing is quite recent. Their first real connection was when they started talking about the disturbing visions they were both experiencing. Shaken by their most horrible waking dreams yet, they found empathy in each other.

“You mean you’ve been having dreams too?” Aileen gave
a wobbly smile. “I wondered, especially since you were researching dreams in
the library.” The smile disappeared. “Does that mean you had a dream like mine?
About your family?”

Josiah crossed his arms in an effort to ward off the
cold, both inside and out. “Yes.” In as few words as possible, he outlined the
visions of the past few days, right up until the end of the latest one. As he
finished, his eyes welled with tears again. Something conclusive needed to be
said now, something comforting, but no suitable words came to mind. So instead,
he pulled Aileen into a hug—the kind of embrace between friends who have borne
the same miseries. They stood there shivering, Aileen’s head resting against
his shoulder while snow swirled around.

3. Do they fight? How long do they typically fight for?
So far, they’ve fought only once, but it was a doozy and lasted for days. Let’s just say they could have avoided some very bad things if they’d only been more open with each other. *coughs to hide evil author laugh*

4. Are their personalities similar or do they complement each other?
Josiah is more outgoing, whereas Aileen tends to be introverted. He makes snap decisions; she thinks things over, too much sometimes. Both feel very deeply. As for negative emotions, Aileen releases tiny amounts of pressure through biting, sarcastic remarks (which don’t prevent the inevitable explosion later on), and Josiah processes them as they arise. Depending on what’s going on, that process will either be verbal or else shown through body language.
I would say they complement each other . . . which is sometimes code for “they clash.” Most of the time they mesh well, though.

5. Who is the leader of their friendship (if anyone)?
Josiah definitely is. Or at least, he leads in action. Aileen may lead more in the emotional sphere. She was the one that instigated their first connection, and she’ll often be the one to bring up deep or difficult topics.

6. Do they have any secrets from each other?
Naturally–they haven’t known each other long enough to know everything. But do they keep intentional secrets? Well, considering that open communication is pretty vital to staying alive in another world, no. Except for that time when tension drove them apart (see question 3).

7. How well do they know each other’s quirks and habits?
What they do know, they know quite well. But it’s hard to pick up on all of someone’s quirks when they’ve been transformed into a dragon! Facial expressions just aren’t the same, you understand. As for verbal mannerisms and other such things, I’d say they’ve got a pretty good idea of what to expect from each other.

8. What kind of things do they like to do together?
Save multiple worlds. Fly around in dragon form. Train together. Fight together. Go off on epic quests together. When life returns to normal, however, they enjoy having long talks, being in the woods outside of town, and wondering when the next adventure will turn up.

9. Describe each character’s fashion style (use pictures if you’d like!). How are their styles different/similar?
In a few words . . .
Josiah: functional and comfortable. Tees and jeans will do the trick.

Not quite how I envision him, so ignore the face.
(Although the hair color is pretty close…)

Aileen: artsy in a casual, somewhat vintage way. Maybe a scarf or cute ankle boots added to a basic outfit.

Again, this picture is here only because of the clothes,
but this one’s a wee bit closer to how I imagine Aileen.
Oh, oh–except her eyes should be brown. (Finding
good charrie pictures is so HARD.)
10. How would their lives be different without each other?
They would likely be dead. If not dead, then significantly less than they are now. Aileen wouldn’t have gotten outside her own mind or learned to risk, fight, and forgive. Josiah wouldn’t have discovered humility, sacrifice, or the uplifting strength of companionship. Together they are more than they are apart.
I’m getting excited about this series all over again! In a way, I’ve been missing them. Their world is sometimes an insane challenge for me as the writer of it, but I love it to bits. Keep being patient, Aileen and Josiah–I will come back to you. (Just as soon as my Sleeping Beauty novella finishes growing up, then goes on a cruel diet to lose about five thousand words in weight . . . But that’s another post for another time.)
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Beautiful People Parental Edition – Josiah Williams

Tracey Dyck 12 Comments

How many orphan Annies and lone Tom Sawyers have you encountered in fiction? A lot? Me too. There are many orphaned children in literature, and I’m just as guilty as the rest of you writers for adding to their population. Not that parent-less characters are bad—not at all! They’re often fun to write about, partly because they have no one to stop them from going on their death-defying escapades, partly because they come with ready-made sad backstories. But sometimes it seems that complete family units are a little lacking in books.

Which is why this month’s Beautiful People is so brilliant! Cait and Skye have concocted a set of questions revolving around parents. You may think of said parents as those pesky individuals who are ridiculously hard to deal with when your main character is underage (“No, you are most certainly not invading the bad guy’s fortress with only a gun and your boyfriend to keep you safe! You have a curfew, young lady! Where in the world did you get that gun in the first place? And excuse me, but that boy never asked for my permission to take you out.”) . . . or perhaps you see them as those helpful beings who provide your character with lots of angst and emotional ammunition . . . or maybe they’re part of a supportive cast for your main. Or all of the above? Anyway, parents play such a vital part in our own lives. It only makes sense that they affect novels too.

As soon as I found out what this month’s theme was, I knew instantly who I was going to pick. I later had a secondary idea come to mind, but felt that option #1 was significantly more interesting. (No, it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that my knowledge of option #2’s characters is about the size of a pea. Not at all.)

Josiah Williams

(Regrettably, I have no picture to show you. I don’t know enough actors/faces, nor do I have a Pinterest account. Help! If you think of anyone falling under the “16-years-old, brown-ish blond hair, grey eyes, intense gaze” category, tell me!)

Swinging the door open, Josiah peered out again. The hall was empty. He treaded softly toward the kitchen, his socks noiseless on the hardwood floor. The ting of cutlery and the upbeat melody of a song on the radio filtered down the hall. Mom hummed along for a few notes. Josiah paused at the entryway. What’s my problem? Why won’t I just go ahead and tell her? He leaned against the wall and called to mind an image of Mom’s face, framed in loose, dark curls, her sparkly eyes laughing at the world. Her face shrank to give room for the rest of her—arms quick to pull him into a hug and fingers ready to muss his hair or flick his arm just to get a silly reaction out of him. Her concern over his disturbing dreams wouldn’t merely provoke a phone call and a psychologist appointment. She’d be absolutely sick with worry. Fear would silence her song and wrap her heart in its icy clutches. How could he subject her to such imprisonment?

1. Does he know both his biological parents? Why/why not?
Yes. Josiah’s grown up with both parents (whose names are Robert and Jessica Williams, in case you were wondering), along with his three younger siblings.

2. Has he inherited any physical resemblance from his parents?
He has his dad’s grey eyes and brown-ish blond hair, although his dad’s has darkened with age. Josiah’s facial structure is more like his mom’s though: well proportioned and not bad to look at.

3. What’s his parental figure(s) dress style? Add pictures if you like!

Robert, who works at a bank, dresses very businesslike. Suit, tie, the works. This adds to his already strict appearance.
Jessica, on the other hand, prefers soft, flowing materials. She’s creative and fun-loving, and it shows in her wardrobe.

4. Does he share any personality traits with his parental figures? And which does he take after most?
He makes quick decisions and is very passionate about certain things, which are traits his mother gave him, along with imagination and a love of life. And Josiah may not realize it, but he and his father both have a deep-seated desire to protect those they love. They just express it in different ways.

5. Does he get on with his parental figure(s) or do they clash?
As you may have guessed, he gets along with his mom really well. The two have an easygoing, loving relationship. They banter back and forth together, and she seems to understand his soul. But things are strained between Josiah and his father these days. Robert has high expectations of his son, who doesn’t feel he measures up. From Josiah’s perspective, his dad doesn’t listen, doesn’t hear when Josiah tries to show him who he really is.
As I planned book two’s rewrites, this father-son conflict unspooled even more in my mind. When Josiah comes home after book one, full of stories about his adventures, and Robert doesn’t believe him . . . well, let’s just say things get simultaneously very cold and very fiery between them. Josiah’s relationship with Jessica also takes a considerable weight, because she has trouble believing him too.

6. If he had to describe his parental figure(s) in one word, what would it be?
Dad: rigid.
Mom: uplifting.

7. How has his parental figure(s) helped him most in his life?
Robert has instilled in Josiah strong morals (perhaps not in all areas, but some—I have to give him a bit of credit). Although rare, the words “Well done” spoken by his father have impacted Josiah as well.  Jessica has always given him a safe place to be, all while encouraging his various pursuits.

8. What was his biggest fight with his parental figure(s)?
As I was saying earlier, the beginning of book 2 will see a lot of conflict between Josiah and both of his parents. Jessica honestly doesn’t know what to think of her son’s claims, and Robert angrily labels him a lunatic, yet still hopes to shake his son out of his ‘delusions.’

9. Tracing back the family tree, what nationalities are in his ancestry?
He has British blood somewhere on the Williams side, and a trace of Jewish ancestry on the Soloway’s side (his mom’s).

10. What’s his favorite memory with his parental figure(s)?
Right before he hit his teen years, Josiah and his dad went on a weekend fishing trip in the mountains. Robert seemed lighter then, as if by shedding his suit jacket, he’d put off his unyielding ways. The two of them actually connected that weekend, actually laughed together and had a good time. Unfortunately, the connection faded afterwards.
His favorite memory with his mom was when she helped him with a school project in middle school. Together they built a model castle, complete with working drawbridge and miniature knights. She surprised him the day before the project was due by giving him a homemade dragon to add to the display. That whimsical touch has stuck with Josiah. He still keeps that dragon on his desk.


~*~
That’s the Williams parents for ya! So what are your thoughts on fictional parents, either as a reader or as a writer? Are they a nuisance? Do you enjoy reading about them? Do they add depth? And hey, can you think of a best and worst set of parents?
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777 Writing Challenge

Tracey Dyck 13 Comments

The ever-delightful Deborah O’Carroll has tagged me for the 777 Writing Challenge. (Shout out to you, Deb, for giving me my first tag!) I’m supposed to go to the seventh page of my current work-in-progress, seven lines down, and then post the following seven lines. I’m interpreting ‘lines’ as sentences.

My WIP happens to be Book One of that secret project hinted at on my Writings page, but this tag was too fun to pass up, so I’ll divulge a snippet anyway.

Ever since I saw this tag floating around the blogosphere, I wondered what sort of epic scrap of story I might land on.

And what I landed on was not at all a good representation of my novel. Nothing’s wrong with the snippet at all; it’s just somewhat ambiguous, taken out of its context the way it is. It features my female protagonist, Aileen, and one of her closest friends. That friendship plays only a small part in the grand scheme of things—like I said, not the best representation of the story.

Couldn’t I have landed on something a little more enticing? Ah, well, enticing or not, here it is:

Brenna tossed her thick, blonde hair over her shoulder. “Anyway. Do continue.”
“He just asked me the names of my parents and both sets of grandparents.”
“That’s it?”
“Well, then he said that we seemed to care a lot about human trafficking.” Aileen rested her head on the back of the seat. “No mention of dragons though.” It was true—he’d never talked about the shapes that had appeared.
 
(Yes, that was nine sentences, not seven. It worked better that way.)
There’s a twist on the rules that allows one to go the seventh chapter, seven pages in, seven lines down, etc. So I tried that. The result is more interesting, but a tad spoilery. Kind of. Well, okay, it involves things that will probably be revealed on the back cover one day, so I guess I’m just being paranoid. I can cheat and post two snippets, right?
A short introduction: main characters Josiah and Aileen have just been called hatchlings by their trainer, who happens to be a dragon. Josiah and Aileen also happen to be dragons at this point, but that involves the spoilery thing I mentioned so . . . that’s all I’ll say for now.
Josiah stood and swung his tail gingerly. It didn’t feel broken, just bruised.
“That’s not what you are, though.” Dauntless inhaled deeply. “I only used that term to motivate you to prove me wrong. It’s like calling you infants, understand? Now it looks as if I’ll have to find a new term, one that’s actually lower than the age your behavior suggests!”
There you have it! I did break a couple rules along the way, but this way you get two glimpses into my secret project. Together they provide a slightly better feel for the book than the first one did on its own.
Now would be the time I tag seven more bloggers, but let’s make it a free-for-all this time, shall we? To all you wanderers: feel free to grab this tag and run
with it! And if you do, be sure to let me know in the comments. I’d love to see
what sort of snippets you might land on.
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