Monday, December 24, 2018

#CoverLove Tag!!! (Also Merry Christmas!)

Hello there, everyone! I was tagged a while back by Ruth from Amongst Spring Blossoms for this, and I figured it was about time I got it done! So, without further ado....



(Apologies in advance for the awful quality photos...my phone's camera isn't great, but I wanted pictures of the actual books that I have at home.) 


1. A book cover featuring a gorgeous dress:


I know what you're thinking. That's an American Girl picture book. What kind of "gorgeous dress" is that? Now, the thing is, I really don't own any other books with dresses on them, and there aren't really any in my house for some reason. And let's face it, we ALL wanted Felicity's outfits when we were ten years old. At least, I know I did. 

2. A book cover with no people, just a pretty scenery:


This book is so underrated! Tolkien wrote it for his son, Michael, after Michael lost a little toy dog. So, Tolkien wrote about the adventures that the little dog had after being lost. It is such a sweet, funny, lighthearted story, and a quick read! 

3. A book cover that's ''well-loved'':


No explanation needed. This book has been taped sooooo many times I have lost count (actually I just taped it again like a week ago), and has gone through many hands. It's actually my dad's, but it has been read countless times by me and my siblings. It really smells good though...:D 

4. A book cover that just makes you smile:


This is just such a fun book, and Helen Oxenbury's illustrations are so whimsical! It's definitely a good one. (As you can tell, my Luke Skywalker ornament on our Christmas tree decided to photo-bomb...) 

5. A book cover that is your favorite color:


Well, favorite color is hard for me...I love so many colors! But Dandelion Fire (at least the old original cover) is such a nice shade (or shades) of blue--I have a soft spot for royal blues and purples. 

6. A cover of a book with fond memories attached to it:


I remember when I was maybe 7 or 8, I used to check this book out from the library (before I owned it, of course) just because I loved the cover, and there was a certain, particular copy that I always wanted. It was the one that was the most worn, the one with yellowed pages and an old, sweet, bookish smell. I read this one over and over when I was younger, even when I was too little to fully understand all the words. 

7. A book you wanted solely for the cover:

So the library I work at had a book sale a while ago, and I happened to see a copy of David Copperfield on the table. I picked it up, pulled it out of an old, red protective case, and there was this lovely hardcover book! You can't tell from the picture, but it is a very nicely textured surface and the lettering/decorations are all in gold, very fancy. AND it was in great condition, so of course, I had to buy it...it was only a dollar anyway! I have no idea how the pattern on the cover got shadowed over top of my background, but it looks kinda cool...maybe something to do with the flash on my camera...hmmm....

Anyway, there it is! Thanks again, Ruth, that was very fun! :) 

Now I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! 

"For to us a child is born, 
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful, 
Counselor, 
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, 
Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government
and of peace there will be no end, 
on the throne of David 
and over his kingdom, 
to establish it and to uphold it 
with justice and with righteousness 
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this." 

Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV)




Wednesday, December 19, 2018

In Which Anna Discovers a Scammer and Completely Destroys Them

So the other day, I got a Messenger text from an old family friend who I am friends with on Facebook. I thought it was a little weird, no preliminary pleasantries or reminiscing, just a blunt "How are you doing?" I also thought it was weird that her messenger account (*I am leaving all real names and info out, for privacy's sake*) said it was linked with a phone number, not with a FB account, which...well, she's a friend of mine on there so it wouldn't make sense for her account to not be linked to FB. Anyway. I responded with a wary, "I'm doing well, how are you all?" Then this happened: 


Already I was pretty sure this was fake. For one, it doesn't sound like her "voice" at all, and for another...well, anyone knows that people randomly offering money are usually scammers. So I decided to play along for a while.


Now, at this point I decided to mess with the scammer by asking the same of the supposed person's son--whose name and nickname me and my family all know. So: 


There was no response for this for a day, which made me sad. But then the person replied!!!! So I referenced a fake person named "Josh" (which was obviously completely made up, but of course only I knew that).



NOW I started laughing. Angie????? Really???? You need question marks after telling me your own son's name????? Is that the BEST you can do?  Honestly, even *I* would be a better scammer than you! But I kept playing along. (And his name isn't Angie, by the way.) 




(Just so y'all know, I did NOT try the number, I was just playing along.)




By this point I knew that if I didn't say I texted the number then they would really suspect, so I typed out a lecture for them and ended the conversation with an appropriately devastating gif (which doesn't work in screenshots of course, so I added it for your benefit). 





Sorry for this random post, but I thought it was an interesting event, and it's also a PSA. If someone ever offers you money or something like that over the phone/online...well, do your research. If anything, ANYTHING seems the slightest bit fishy about it, then it's probably just fake. And if you want to use my spiel and tell them that they have been "Loki'd"--by all means do it! ;D 

Saturday, December 15, 2018

Introducing...the Characters that Fill My Brain, Part 5: King Colderan


Well, that's what I've been doing, folks. Although I suppose I DO have an excuse! The semester was wrapping up for me over these past couple weeks, and today I officially finished my last final of the fall 2018 semester! Phew! Anyway, it's nice to have that done. I haven't been as "in-tune" with the blogging world because of that, but over the break there are a couple tag posts that I need to get done, and I hope to have more time for reading and commenting too! 

But, back to the subject. Today is the last day of my character post series, wrapping up with the last (and chronologically oldest) of the main characters. I really like this guy--he's so nice...but anyway, here it is! I would like to introduce you to King Colderan! 


Age: 
Depends on which book you're reading. In his "solo" book, (wherein he is the main character), he is mainly in his mid/late twenties. In later books, he is older, and by the time of my main trilogy, he has been long dead. (It's not really a spoiler...I mean, even for an elf, that would be really old.) 

Appearance/"Casting": 

His dark hair (now streaked with the smallest tinge of gray) contrasted with his son’s fair locks, and he had soft, gentle brown eyes that sparkled gold in the light.  His back was always straight, his head always high, though not in an arrogant way.  Because of an injury from a year ago, he now walked with a heavy limp, but he didn't complain or seem to pity himself.

As far as "casting" goes, I sort of imagine Colderan (as an older person) to look a little bit like Ben Miles, the actor who portrays Sir Timothy Midwinter in Lark Rise to Candleford. (*Naturally I don't approve of all the stuff that he or any other actor I have mentioned is in, but, setting that aside, I think he looks somewhat like Colderan*)

Family:

A wife and two children (one of which is Lehye'ahl), many siblings who he was never very close to, and parents he was never close to. 

Friends:  

His closest friend, named Amris, is a very intelligent and skilled elf, who is a genius at math and pretty much everything else. Colderan and his wife were also good friends with several people of different races, including a dwarf-girl and a member of the first royal family of Bdellith (this was centuries before Rhondin's time, however). 

Skills (or Un-Skills): 

Colderan is very good with words and is a skilled public speaker, as well as a good writer. He often gets lost in thought, and could be described as a "dreamer." With that personality, he can sometimes drift away and forget what other people are saying, but he never intends to be rude. He can be stubborn and argumentative when he wants, but only about things that are extremely important to him. He is trained to use a sword but he hates it, and he is skilled at horseback riding. Colderan is a problem solver, but unfortunately many problems that he faces are not ones he can solve. He can be overzealous at times in his efforts to comfort people, and, when he was younger, was a bit naive about how to think before speaking. 

"Well, all of those stars are up there—I’m not sure how to say this—but isn’t it amazing that we’re a part of the same world, the same…same universe, I suppose—that every single star is a part of?  No matter how big or important we think we are, there’s always something out there that reminds us that we really aren’t that big after all.” 

Fears:

Losing the ones that he loves. He is terrified of storms at sea (after several awful experiences which I'm not going to tell you about) and hates watching people climb around in the rigging, just in case they happened to fall. 

Loves (or Likes, I suppose): 

Being with his loved ones. Being at peace with all the races in the land and seeing his own people willing to form friendships with others. He loves sweet, warm drinks (especially hot cocoa), and is a huge fan of his friend's mother's chicken dumpling soup. He likes comfortable clothes and being able to slip his shoes off while working in his office, and overall loves it when his people show honest, true care for each other.

Five words/phrases that describe this character's personality 
(to prevent me from rambling any more):

Kind. Gentle. Courageous. Forgiving. Strong-hearted.

“Why must we distrust them?  Why can we not become allies and friends?”  Colderan stood in a small tent, a little spot of shade for working elves that had been appropriated for him and his father to speak in private.
          “They are of different races, Colderan—not just of a different land, they are completely different than us.  I would hesitate even to call them ‘people;’ ‘creatures’ is a more accurate word.”  
          Colderan began to pace heatedly about the tent.  “Father, they are just exactly like us.  They are people as well, every bit as intelligent as we are, though perhaps in different ways.  They simply look a little different—even though they do things rather differently than we do, they're really, on the inside, the same.  I would bet that the dwarves are just the same as us.” 


Songs that remind me of this character 
(for any reason, this does not mean that I necessarily support or agree with the musical group, and nor does it mean that the song is EXACTLY like my character, it may have several lines that are "right" or could just have the right "feel."): 

Burlap to Cashmere: "Closer to the Edge", "Other Country"

The Neal Morse Band: "Breath of Angels"

And Lastly...a collage!




Sunday, November 25, 2018

Introducing...The Characters that Fill My Brain, Part 4: King Lehye'ahl

Ah, now, here we go...after much procrastinating, here is the fourth part of my "character introduction" blog series! Today I shall introduce you to a man--well, elf-man--by the name of Lehye'ahl (pronounced lee-HI-all). Oh, forgive me, it's KING Lehye'ahl. And don't you forget it. But anyway, let us begin! 


Age: 

Hahahaha, very old. He has been around for literally over a hundred years--his father (who I will talk about in the next post) was the elf who was the first real king on their new continent. But enough history lessons. Suffice it to say that Lehye'ahl is very old during the trilogy, although in the prequels that focus on him and his father, he was much younger, even shown as a child. 

Appearance/"Casting": 

Okay, so, quite a while ago, my cousin and I were talking about writing and she said, "Hey, you know that guy in War Horse who dies? Captain Nichols? He looks like the elf-king in your book." At that point, I stared at her in amazement, for she was right! I had no idea who the guy was at that point, but he absolutely looked like Lehye'ahl. So, now I actually know who he is...as you can probably tell from my collages, the *real* person who I think looks most like Lehye'ahl is the actor Tom Hiddleston. (*disclaimer #1*: This is not because, as my brothers might have teased back then, I think he's "hot"...come on, I'm ENGAGED for goodness' sake! It's literally because of that time my cousin pointed it out to me--he looks like Lehye'ahl and might be able to portray him very well. I can appreciate an actor's talents and be shocked that they resemble one of the characters that I made up, before even knowing about them, without being obsessed by them thank you very much *disclaimer #2*: I had not seen any Marvel movies when I realized the uncanny resemblance, and I had written all of Lehye'ahl's story already, so in no ways am I copying Loki--I had all this made up before I even knew Loki existed.)

He certainly hadn’t expected Lehye'ahl to seem so—well, so young. The elf’s silver hair was smooth and long, held back by a silver circlet.  His face held few signs of age, and the several lines and creases upon it seemed to have been carved in stone.  The icy blue eyes were pure and clear, radiating enigmatic intelligence.  Even the man’s posture and expression were intimidating as he sat at his grand desk, fingertips pressed together, elbows leaning on the desk with his posture formidably correct.  He watched them approach without a word, his mouth set in a tight, small frown, though it was hard to tell if he was frowning purposely or not.  Oh, King Lehye’ahl knew very well that he outranked them, and he wasn’t afraid to show it. 

Family:

Lemme just say I have a thing for tragic backstories, okay? This is an important part of Lehye'ahl's character, though. Without what happened with his family years ago, he would not be the person he is in the trilogy. He had a father, mother, brother, wife, and two children, but by the time of the second book in the trilogy, these have all died of mostly tragic causes. (*maniacal laughter*) He has two remaining grandchildren, however, who are good friends with AllynRhondin, and Dehmatthir. Lehye'ahl is very protective of his family, protective to the point of being controlling and demanding. He also blatantly plays favorites with his two grandsons, Esril and Daeor, and likes to make them feel guilty whenever they come short of his idea of perfection. 

“Call him sir,” said Esril.  “Even his grandchildren call him sir.”
            “You haven’t even told us his name yet,” protested Allyn.  
            “His name,” Esril replied, “is Lehye’ahl.  And no, I can’t spell it for you.  But be sure to stick ‘king’ before it if you ever use the actual name.  You know, he actually isn’t such a bad guy usually.”
            “What with being overbearing and all,” said Allyn, raising an eyebrow. 
            “No, really, he can be reasonable when he wants to, he is very smart, and all in all, he’s a good person.  He’s just very critical of outsiders.  A little bit of a racist, I suppose.  
He’s had a rather tragic life in the past, so that explains his grim behavior.”

Friends:  

When he was younger, his wife's brother was Lehye'ahl's good friend. Unfortunately, there was an accident, and after that they sort of stopped talking. His old friend is still alive, but he is confined to his room, which Lehye'ahl doesn't like to think about (sadly, interacting with disabled people makes him uncomfortable), so they never see each other or talk any more. However, his friend's son is Lehye'ahl's office assistant, taking over his father's place. They are not nearly as close as the first two were, though. 

Skills (or Un-Skills): 

Lehye'ahl has a way with words and knows how to use them to his advantage. He is an amazing swordsman, in his own style, and is also good at hand-to-hand combat; he likes to punch things (and people, when he gets the excuse to). He is good at controlling people, but he is a decent king and, for the most part, is good to his people and his country. He was an avid reader in his youth and is very intelligent as well. He can't cook to save his life, however, and as far as practical manual labor goes, he is somewhat inexperienced.

The dwarf-king’s mouth twitched.  
“Those who do not admit to tricking their enemies are the ones who most often do,” he said.
          “Those who do admit to tricking their enemies have no qualms about it and will certainly do it again without hesitation,” said Lehye’ahl. 
            
Fears:

Not much. He isn't really "scared" of anything. (Or if he is, he doesn't let anyone, ANYONE, know that he is.) I guess I could include his weaknesses here, instead of "fears." He can be very cruel and mean at times, but underneath it all he is very lonely and he misses his family; all the people that he has lost. He doesn't allow anyone under that tough skin, which could be a part of his grieving process or whatever, but is certainly not good for his emotional/mental state. He HATES dwarves, absolutely hates them, after a really unfortunate misunderstanding between him and a previous king of the dwarves back when he was younger. That led to him cursing their entire race, and...well, suffice it to say that ever since they caused him such pain and personal trouble, he has grown to despise anyone who thinks differently than him and has the courage to speak up about it. 

“I hate you.  I hate you and all your offspring, and every dwarf who has sat here listening to you and letting me die.  I will never come to terms with you, and so help me I will wipe your race from the land forever."

Loves (or Likes, I suppose): 

To have his own way. Obedience. Having the last word in an argument. Perfect new quill pens and unwrinkled paper. His family, in his own weird and awful way. Himself and his ego.

Five words/phrases that describe this character's personality 
(to prevent me from rambling any more):

Stern. Controlling. Over-protective. Refined. Selfish. 

Songs that remind me of this character 
(for any reason, this does not mean that I necessarily support or agree with the musical group, and nor does it mean that the song is EXACTLY like my character, it may have several lines that are "right" or could just have the right "feel."): 





(I apologize cause this is a really odd and quirky video, but the song fits)

And Lastly...a collage!




Monday, November 19, 2018

A Most Felicitous Turn of Events

Well, I know this is interrupting my blog series of character introductions, of which I am on Part 3 out of six-ish, but I have a very important, very wonderful story to tell you. It will probably take longer than I expected...but there's an excellent surprise revealed at the end! (Now don't you dare scroll down to find it before you read through the whole story!!! Kidding...actually I can't do anything to stop you...) Anyway, here we go:

_____________________________


Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived with her loving parents and her siblings, and they were all homeschooled. She was brought up in the church, had a wonderful family and friends, and she was generally very happy.

For many years, her family attended a Bible Study called "Bible Study Fellowship International" or BSF for short. This organization had many different classes for men, women, and children, and this girl had been going to these studies for pretty much as long as she could remember. In high school, she was part of a huge, history-making study group, with over twenty different highschoolers in attendance. In that large group, there were smaller groups; mainly those who attended the same sort of churches and had similar theological ideas tended to group together. In that group was the girl, her older brother, and a few friends, mostly guys, because for some reason girls just "didn't come" or something.

One of these friends in the group hosted a summer Bible Study at his house, with his younger brother and their friend groups, and our main characters, the girl and her brother, were invited to that group. It was a good study and they had some good times, but after that summer things simply got too busy to keep doing the study. The girl and her brother kept attending BSF and were still on good terms with the people from their other study there. It was a funny thing in homeschool Bible Study circles--everyone knew everyone else somehow or another, through mutual friends and acquaintances or distant connections.

The older brother, after graduating from high school, became part of a group that the young man who had hosted the Bible Study was also a part of. They became good friends over time, and the girl even occasionally made fun of her brother and his friends, because, well, that's what little sisters are for, right?

The year that she graduated from high school, there was an open house for someone else's graduation that she and her brother attended. Due to her somewhat awful mingling skills, she ended up sort of standing there waiting around, and the young man, her brother's friend, kindly started up a conversation with her so that it was less awkward. She was rather shocked, as he asked how her preparations for her first year of college were going, that he actually seemed to listen and pay attention to what she said. She had to read Stephen Hawking's A Briefer History of Time, which they both agreed would be awful...but it could be worse, they supposed, going to a public university.

A few weeks later, the girl went with her brother to a board game night with his friends, among which was the young man. They played "Ticket to Ride," and talked quite a bit, but she mostly listened and wondered how these peoples' brains worked so strangely? There was one moment that she could not forget, however. It was the young man's turn to play, but everyone else was busy talking as he quietly went about his turn. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the card had gotten flipped so that he could see what was coming next, which would benefit him greatly at that point. She watched, half-listening to the others and half-spying on the person across the table, as he hesitated for a moment and then muttered to himself, "That would be cheating," before replacing the card in the middle of the deck and drawing again, honestly. Nobody but her noticed, and she didn't say anything, but was genuinely impressed with the integrity she had seen; that he wouldn't cheat at a time when she, if she was honest with herself, probably would have.

About a week after that, the girl was going to go about thrift shopping with one of her girl friends. She didn't know it (because her brother sometimes neglected to tell her things and wasn’t the greatest planner), but there was another game night that night. Of course, she already had plans and wasn't able to go. When she got home, her brother went into great, mouth-watering detail about the excellent dinner and dessert (a chocolate cake, to be precise) that the young man had made for them all. It made her hungry, especially the cake part--she loved chocolate, and cake, and putting the two together made everything even better. And then as they sat in the living room that night, the girl with an open notebook on her lap, reading through a draft of something she had written, her brother asked, "What would you say if I told you that there was a reason he made that chocolate cake?"

She froze and listened, in total shock. As it turned out, the young man had done all that work in hopes of impressing her, thought she was smart, pretty, and had good theology, and wondered what she thought of him. Naturally, being only seventeen at the time, the girl had freaked out. She was far too young for this sort of thing! ACK! How was she supposed to respond to that????? And so she sat in dazed, confused silence, waiting for someone to tell her what to do. In the end, her brother told the young man that she was only seventeen (which for some reason, he had neglected to do sooner...sometimes brothers don't have the best of planning skills), and the whole matter was pushed aside and forgotten.

At least it was for her. After a good amount of time had passed, she started doing things with her brother's friend group again, and not a word of the chocolate cake incident passed between them. He kept his distance politely and didn't say anything, and she would have been far too busy and stressed with her college load that year to really bother if he had. They were friends again, thank goodness, and it wasn't even awkward.

But then it happened. He sent a text, asking if she wanted to go out for lunch, just the two of them, and, after thinking and groaning and freaking out for an agonizingly long time, she responded, in words much more steady than her fingers, that sure, that would be fine. So they did. He threw up three times that morning, he was so nervous, but she had no idea until far later--they were mutually nervous and freaked out, though she didn’t get sick. It ended up to be lots of fun and they enjoyed talking, even decided that sure, they could go sometime in a couple weeks and walk around a museum together.

Well, after that, she had to know what was going on, so she sent a terrifying, nerve-wracking text asking if they could address the elephant in the room. What was going on between them? What were his intentions? And in return he asked what she wanted, what she thought about them. It was at that time that she told him that she intended to give him a "chance," though nothing was set in stone for sure and she was still pretty young.

After that text, they kept getting together in group settings and just the two of them, but always in a public setting when just the two of them. They had lots of fun and enjoyed some adventures, such as people falling down escalators, forgetting ID cards at the shooting range, and many, many long text conversations in which they attempted to make sense of difficult, hard to approach topics of conversation.

She knew that he was set. He wanted to marry her and was perfectly certain, he had said so many times and she knew it. But she was not such a certain person when it came to big decisions of any kind. She tended to obsess over things and count pros and cons until everything could be seen as a pro or con depending on which way you looked at it. She would think "yes" until her mind asked "but is that what you REALLY think or are you just telling yourself that you think that?" and began to chase itself in circles that could never ever end. In her brain, she knew everything, but sometimes she freaked out and then her rational mind would shut down, running in circles again. She WANTED to want to marry him, really she did. But she just had trouble making decisions, and she really wanted someone to tell her what to do. Her brother told her she should just stop agonizing and go marry him. Her parents didn't tell her exactly what they thought she should do; they gave her advice to weigh all her options, to think carefully, and to do what she wanted to to, that they would support her in that. They thought he was a great guy and really liked him, but other than that wouldn't say much about what they thought she should do. She kept waiting for an epiphany moment, but it never came.

There were lots of tears and lying awake at night agonizing over things in those several months. Until one particular evening.

She had just been talking with her parents and brother about what to do and had heard the same sort of thing that she had heard all along; that it was, in the end, her decision. She took a shower and was internally freaking out the whole time, because she HATED making decisions and it was too hard, and what was she going to do?????? And then there was suddenly a song stuck in her head. "Standing on the Promises" was the song, and she had no idea how it got there. "Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God, my Savior, standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God." Or something like that.

That morning, she had attended Bible Study and they had talked quite a bit about the story of Joshua 1, and her mind went straight to the great promise and command that God gave to Joshua:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

And in that moment, she suddenly realized what she was going to do. She knew that even when she was doubting, even when she was scared, she still wanted to want to marry this guy. Yes, sometimes she got scared, but those first priests who stepped into the Jordan River must have been a little scared too. She sent a very personal email soon after this happened, and said, "This is a huge decision and I really wish that someone else could make it for me, because really, how do I know, for sure, that this is what I'm supposed to do? Some people are really good at deciding things and knowing things for sure, but I am not one of them. Even so, I THINK that this is what I am supposed to do, what I have been called to do. I'm going to have doubts, because I am a doubter, I'm going to be scared at times because I am easily frightened and because of my "panic mode." But overall, I think...I think that it is truly God's will that I should say yes and should marry this man. Which can be, in all honesty, a terrifying thought at times. But the promise to Joshua still stands: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go," and I think that is the promise to me and my panicky brain as well. "

After that day, her resolve and her decision only grew stronger. She now knew that she loved this man and, though it could be a fearsome, weighty thought, she wanted to marry him. Of course, he had known for months now, and he was completely set. It had just taken her a little while longer to understand than it had for him.

And so, seven months and thirteen days after their first awkward "date," several years after the Bible Study group, he knelt down, held out a ring, and asked her to marry him. Of course, her heart was beating so wildly that she didn't even remember his exact words after the fact, but she did remember that she said YES, an absolute YES with no confusion or doubt. And it felt wonderful.


_____________________

Sooo what was the point of that story??? you ask???


In short...I'm the girl in the story. 

Yes. 

I'm engaged. 

Yes.

It's crazy.

Yes.

There is a LOT of planning to do before next July. 

But yes.

I am the girl in the story. And I am engaged to a wonderful man who my BROTHER set me up with, and we are going to be getting married next July. 

And yes. 

Here is a picture of us. 



And, in keeping with the above, yes, that's all I have to say! 



Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Introducing...The Characters that Fill My Brain, Part 3: Dehmatthir

Hello there everyone! Well, it's about that time...time for another one of my character posts! :D (Honestly I think these are more helpful for me than they are interesting for you...it is really much more helpful than I thought it would be to get all my thoughts together in one place about these people.) Today I shall introduce you to a man named Dehmatthir (yes, I know it's weird. It's pronounced dem-AH-teer) and...well, yes. That's about it. 


Age: 

During the main trilogy (which is the only "era" of him we are dealing with, though I wrote a prequel about him too), he is in his mid-forties, I believe. 

Appearance/"Casting": 

Dehmatthir is a very grim, solid sort of man. He is tall, but not exceedingly over average height. He has dark brown/auburn (but mostly brown) hair that is usually long and unkempt, and a short beard that he really SHOULD take better care of. He is often dirty and sweaty, and values physical, manual labor--it takes his mind off other things. He hardly ever smiles (which I will explain), and always dresses practically, almost always with his sword at his side. I haven't found anyone who really looks like him...yet. But I'm sure there's someone...I mean, a dude with dark hair and a beard...and blue eyes...how hard can it be to find someone who looks like that? 

Family:

So, Dehmatthir was orphaned as an infant and taken in by an old wizard named Lanas. He has lived at the castle of Bdellith ever since, and the wizard sort of became his guardian and mentor. At the time of the trilogy, he has no family other than Lanas, and he can't even remember. He was, for several years, a captive of "the bad guy" and was rescued, brought back to his home, but still suffers some side effects, one of which is a bit of amnesia. So he really doesn't remember much. Did he ever know who his family was? He couldn't say. 

“What do you think about our plans, Dehmatthir?” 
            “They’re wonderful, except for the minor detail that we don’t know what one we will use, 
or as the case may be, which ones we will have to use.”  Dehmatthir said derisively.

Friends:  

Naturally, Lanas, the wizard, is his oldest friend, more of a father figure to him. He is also good friends with Darith, the king of Bdellith, as well as the captain of the Bdellith army. The three of them have always been friends, since childhood. Dehmatthir is not exactly a "friend" of Rhondin and Allyn, but he would secretly do anything for them. To Allyn, he is a strong (albeit sad) father figure, since she never had a dad, just her grandpa. To Rhondin he's more like an older brother or an uncle. 

“I’m not insane,” Dehmatthir said.  “I promise.  
And I will not do anything to harm you, 
cross my heart, hope to die and get run over by William Shakespeare driving a pickup truck 
wearing lederhosen and singing ‘Don’t Stop Believin’.”
            Allyn blinked.  “Wha—Shakespeare?  Who’s wearing lederhosen, him or the truck?”  

Skills (or Un-Skills): 

Dehmatthir is an insanely talented swordsman and, overall, a good fighter. He has honed his skills since childhood and, after the amnesia, that is all that he really remembered how to do. So he kept doing it. He's an excellent horseman, a great practical joker, and a decent cook. He's really bad at cleaning things or keeping things clean, though. He's also very sarcastic and can seem bitter, but never really means his friends any harm. He wouldn't hesitate to put himself in danger or even die for one of his friends' sake.

The wizard snorted.  “I,” he said, “have just been fighting practically all night, 
have not had any sleep at all, and been given numerous minor wounds.  I feel wonderful!"  

Fears:

Himself. He is always afraid that he will lose more of his memory; that he will wake up tomorrow and even what he does remember will be gone. He fears the death or injury of his friends, and he is terrified of bugs (especially bees, spiders, and centipedes). 

Oh, bother,” said Rhondin. 
            Dehmatthir continued dragging him along rather noisily, grumbling under his breath.   
He burst through the door to their room with a shout of, “ALLYN!”
            She yelped, startled, and jumped up as he approached, 
the prince protesting as his ear was yanked.  “What?”
            “Did you take any part in this?”
            “Well, Rhondin—OW!”  
Dehmatthir had grasped her ear as well, in his other hand, glaring down at both of them.

Loves (or Likes, I suppose): 

The healthy smell of sweat and dirt and good honest work. His sword in his hands and the comforting weight of it at his side. Black coffee. Pretty much any kind of food, but especially food cooked out in the wild over a fire. Moments when he forgets that he has lost his memory; when he is so distracted that he almost forgets his troubles. He loves to spend time with his friends, even though he might not seem like it. He also loves it when Allyn gets the better of Rhondin, and encourages her very much. 

Five words/phrases that describe this character's personality 
(to prevent me from rambling any more):

Strong, sarcastic, grim, angry, willing to sacrifice.

Songs that remind me of this character 
(for any reason, this does not mean that I necessarily support or agree with the musical group): 





And Lastly...a collage!





Monday, October 22, 2018

Introducing...The Characters that Fill My Brain, Part 2: Prince Rhondin

Can you believe it's October 22 already??? I can't...I mean, a few days ago (it seems) the school year was starting and now I have just finished up with my midterm exams! How is that even possible? 

Anyway. That's beside the point, but still a valid topic of conversation...but today's topic is the second part of my blog series about my books' main-ish characters! Today, I shall endeavor to introduce you to Prince Rhondin (if I can find him, he might have run off somewhere to find a snack).


Age: 

In the first book, the prince (I ALWAYS call him "the prince," so get used to it) is sixteen. At the very end of everything, I believe he is nineteen. He matures more in character than in age, though--at the beginning he is, I will admit, a rather bratty, entitled young man, but when certain *things* happen, over time, he gets much better. He would never dream of putting himself before his friends and his people in the end. 

Appearance/"Casting": 

"...short, unruly hair that looked like it couldn't decide 
whether it was dark blond or light brown, 
but was starting to tend more toward brown.  
He had gray-brown eyes that almost gave an air of innocence...
his jaw was angular and square, and he had a sort of pointy nose."

Of course that was in the very beginning when he was still quite young. He got taller over the three years of the trilogy, and yes, his hair finally decides to be brown. As far as "casting" goes, I have not found a single person on this earth that looks like Rhondin. 

Family:

Well, of course, his father is the king of their country, and his mother is the queen. He doesn't have any siblings, but he does have an uncle, the king's brother. Now, Rhondin's uncle is named Nevl, and he is actually the king of the northern half of their country. You see, the country (which is called Bdellith, which is an awful name but I love the place) was split peacefully into two portions, the north and the south, and each brother rules one half of the collective country, though they are essentially two different places. 

Rhondin nodded thoughtfully.  “Yeah, that sounds like Uncle Nevl.
  Be careful with him—if he ever offers you coffee, don’t.”
          “Don’t what?”
          “Just don’t.  You know, elephants and all.  It doesn’t go.”
          “Elephants?  Go where?” 

Friends: 

For one, Allyn, who was introduced in the last post.  They get along pretty well, at least, they do once they stop hating each other. They still nag at each other and really, really annoy each other quite often, and there's a lot of teasing, but they're still good friends. Rhondin doesn't have any siblings, so he enjoys having a friend who isn't intimidated by his position as a prince. He is also friends with his country's captain of the guard, who is sort of like an uncle to him, and several other soldiers or servants in the castle. Oh, and of course, how could I forget! He is also a good friend of a man named Dehmatthir (yes I know it's hard to pronounce: here: dem-AH-teer), who has been around for a long time (more on him next week though). They have a lot of fun. 

“You woke up!” yelled Rhondin.
          Dehmatthir raised an eyebrow at him.  
“Thank you for stating the blindingly obvious.”

Rhondin finally got up to join them, stuffing a piece of bread into his mouth as he went. 
He chewed and swallowed as quickly as possible, and then immediately hiccuped. "Aw, come on!" 
Dehmatthir and Allyn turned and looked at him.
"That's what you get," said Dehmatthir. 
They turned back to the window.

Skills (or Un-Skills): 

Rhondin is a pretty good swordsman, especially for his age. He's also a good rider, has a decent singing voice, is a great dancer, and is generally good with animals. He tends to be a little clumsy sometimes, and is horrible at keeping a straight face, but he's great at hiding, climbing, and generally is a very active person. He can't cook at all, but he's great at snitching snacks from the castle kitchen. He also isn't the greatest at small talk, but is always good at lifting people's spirits and lightening the mood of their situations. 

Fears:

Heights, or rather, falling from them. He's terrified of girls (well, to some extent...he would say that he's scared of "girly" girls), and even the smallest mention of anything romantic disgusts him (though maybe that's a "dislike" not a "fear"). He also has some fear of responsibility, growing up watching his father rule the kingdom--it's a huge responsibility that he's sure he'll never be ready for. 

Loves (or Likes, I suppose): 

Good food in abundance (particularly cookies and other sweets), lively music, a casual dance, teasing in good fun, his horse, laughing so hard that he can't breathe, the feeling of victory, not brushing his hair in the morning, sleeping in, knowing that his parents (particularly his father) are proud of him. 

Five words/phrases that describe this character's personality 
(to prevent me from rambling any more):

Loyal, cheerful, easygoing, brave, never gives up.

Songs that remind me of this character 
(for any reason, this does not mean that I necessarily support or agree with the musical group, and nor does it mean that the song is EXACTLY like my character, it may have several lines that are "right" or could just have the right "feel."): 





And Lastly...a collage!