CHARACTER INTERVIEW: Amara from Baptism & Boomerangs

Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.) 

Hi! My name is Amara and I live in Cairns, Queensland. But my Mum kept that a secret when she was writing the book! Sometimes people think I live in New York! Sometimes they think I live in Canada! I love hearing about all of the places that people think I live!

What do you like to do in your spare time? 

I really enjoy painting and drawing. I also like reading books and climbing trees. I am very good at climbing trees.

What is your favorite color and why? 

Turquoise is my favourite colour. It just looks so pretty! If I can’t find turquoise, then I like blue and 

What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite? 

My favourite food is chocolate. That is why I love my Grandma’s Jaffa cake so much! Chocolate and orange! I also love apricots and blueberries.

What would you say is your biggest quirk? 

Um. Sometimes I use my imagination so much that I can’t hear when my mum or dad are speaking to me. I like to daydream, my mum says.

What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most, and why? 

Well this story doesn’t really have an antagonist, unless it is me and my learning about how to do everything right. I like that my family help me when I am having trouble. I wish I would listen to them better sometimes.

What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life? 

My whole family is super important to me, but probably my brother Jack is the best thing. He is my best friend, even though he is my brother.

What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit? 

My dad’s side of the family isn’t LDS. My dad is a convert! So sometimes he and I get to learn new things at the same time!

If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be? 

I wish my grandma and grandpa from my Dad’s side of the family were getting baptized with me.

***

A Question for Kathryn:

What did you want to be when you grew up? Did you always want to be a writer? What could you do, if anything (climb a mountain? Eat only chocolate?)?

When I was growing up I wanted to be an airline stewardess (now they call them flight attendants). I mainly wanted to travel the world without having to pay for it :) As I grew up, I decided that being a model was a better idea. It wasn't. That dream didn't last long. It took me way until I was married and pregnant with my first child to decide what to do with my life. Writing has stuck with me ever since.

As for climbing mountains and eating chocolate, let's just say I like to do both.

***

My Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Sherrie-Gavin/e/B014U76A4S/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1514853907&sr=8-1

My webpage: http://www.sherriegavin.com/

CHARACTER INTERVIEW: Phillip Miiithainson from A Knight in Dented Armor

Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)

My name is Phillip Miiithainson head consultant for Miiithainson business consulting. Well the only consultant right now, but business is really growing.  

Miiithainson is pronounced with a long I and a long A and yes it’s spelled right. I know because I have the legal documents from my Great-grandmother when she went to great lengths to see to the proper spelling when she became a citizen of the United States after escaping from Germany during World War II.

I currently live in a basement apartment in Taylorsville Utah but I was born and raised in Chester Pennsylvania. I’m the fourth child of six children born to Albert Miiithainson and Anna Smith Miiithainson.  My siblings and I were all raised in an apartment above one of the best French restaurants in Pennsylvania.  My grandparents owned, cooked in and managed said restaurant. My Brothers and I spent a lot of time helping out and working in that restaurant while we were growing up. 

From my Grandparents, I learned to speak both French and German at a very young age and got into a lot of trouble at school doing so.   From my grandmother, I learned to wait on tables with flair and not spill a single drop on the customers.   From my Grandfather I learned a great bit about business, how to build on profits, how to manage employees and how to keep all the books.  My mother saw to it that I learned to play the piano from the main entertainer at the restaurant and he became my most trusted confidant.  From my father, I learned the importance of religion and developed my voice while singing in the choir in his church where he served as a nondenominational minister.   I dabbled in professional entertaining for a few years, but it’s not for me.  Too much hype, way too many girls with too many expectations, not the lifestyle I want to live.

I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I was eighteen and even though I know in my heart that it is the true church on this earth I haven’t seen my family since.  I served a two-year full-time mission in Peru and now I’m moving on with my life. Trying to find the right girl to settle down with and raise a family.

Right now, I want more than anything to have a career where I can be home every night so that I can be a good and supportive husband to my wife and actively involved in raising my children in the gospel and to be good productive citizens with enough time to do whatever the Lord has need of me.

        

 What do you like to do in your spare time?

I don’t have a lot of spare time now that my business is really starting to take off. On those rare occasions when I do find spare time I like to play the piano. My current apartment is too small for one, but there are plenty of music stores around and I never have any trouble persuading them to let me play.  I’m polished enough that I’m allowed to play for great lengths of time whenever I find the time.   If I really need to unwind and can’t get to a piano I’ll play my violin, however, I haven’t professionally mastered the violin like I have the Piano.

What is your favorite color and why?

My favorite Color, well now that depends.   I like my car’s blue, which is the most professional business like color, not too flashy, just practical and down to business. Most of my suits are a dark blue also, but I prefer my ties red.   I think a good crisp red tie, tied in the perfect full Winsor knot gives the best first impression in a business setting.

  What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?  

I’m the Grandson of one of the best French chefs in Pennsylvania. Of course, I love French food. I’m particularly fond of a good French onion soup with a warm from the oven savory Brioche.  I’ve found that when I’m cooking I can roll just about anything, usually leftovers into a crepe and wolf it down on my way out the door.  I also make a pretty good pizza when I have the time, but I must admit I enjoy making them more than eating them.

What would you say is your biggest quirk?

Quirk, me?  I don’t have any quirks.  Well, okay, some people think I’m a little overly theatrical. There does seem to be a good Shakespeare line to meet just about any circumstance, and if Shakespeare didn’t think one up someone else in theater did.  If you’ve got it you might as well use it. I’m also the only person in the area that has a suit of armor that I can fit into.  It gets a little attention when I wear it.

What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most, and why? Share a line in the book where this irk is manifested.

That’s easy, my former talent agent. That man just won’t give up or take ‘no’ for an answer. He’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants even if he has to break the law to do it.  He can’t accept that I don’t drink alcohol, don't want to be seen with lots of women at the same time (and all of the time) or partake in other forms of stimulation, which he keeps in little bottles in his pockets at all times.

There’s no way I trust him enough to ever say yes to him again. Not sure why I signed with him in the first place, but it will never happen again.

Shellie met him once when she picked me up at the airport.  When the airport security finally detained him so that we could get away from him she asked who he was and I could only think of one way to describe him.  “He’s a salesman, a drunken salesman.”

  What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?

Who is the most important person in my life? That’s easy. Right now it’s Shellie, Shelleenia Marie Rawson, soon to be Miiithainson.  She is the most perfect person on the earth right now and she makes me the happiest person in the world just thinking about her. I’m looking forward to every minute through time and all eternity that I get to spend with her at my side. 

Next to Shellie it would have to be my family. I know where my only living brother is but he refuses to see me. As for the rest of my family, I pray every night that I’ll be able to see them again and tell them that I forgive them and still love them.  I want so much to share the gospel with them.  If not in this life I hope to get the chance to say all of these things in the next life.

What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?

I wasn’t always the man I am today, in my younger years I was selfish and self-centered. I was the meanest little brother ever known and I deserved most of what I got in my life.   I’ve changed now since I’ve joined the Church and served a mission.   I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the hardships I’ve had to endure. I’m a better person than I was when everything was easy, but I still have a lot to learn and a lot of growing to do.

If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?

Wow, that’s a tough question to answer.  I never thought I could tell my creator anything, or my writer for that matter, and no I don’t think they are the same person.   I would say that I want my writer to remember that I’m human and make mistakes and still have a bit of a selfish side.   If she had realized that while she was writing her masterpiece, I don’t think I would have been able to accomplish most of what she gives me credit for.

***

A Question for Kathryn:

How do people like you, writers, find characters like me?  Do you meet us in everyday life, read about us in the news or are we little more than figments of your imagination and manifestations of your dreams and nightmares?

My characters are a little bit of me, a little bit of my family and friends, and a little bit made up. The interesting thing is that they truly feel real, and I'm always glad I've gotten to know them.

Learn more about Phillip Miiithainson and his author:

My Writer’s website, where I currently have top billing, is https://www.vickieastewart.com.  There are easy to use buttons that take your right to my Amazon page but if you want to bypass the website, go to https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+knight+in+dented+armor

CHARACTER INTERVIEW: Damien Payne from Cracked but Never Broken

Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)

There’s not much to say. I’m Damien Payne. I somehow traded places with my brother and became the black sheep of the family. I grew up on the family farm with my sister and twin brother, so having a spare moment to think was always lacking. I joined the Marines, saw some action overseas, came home and really managed to step in a cow paddie.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I never met a barstool I couldn’t warm for a while. I like playing football with some of the kids I went to school with. Speakin of school, I was quarterback for the local high school and took us to championship each year. Man those were the good days.

What is your favorite color and why?

Favorite color? What is this, Design My House or some other HGTV show? I guess as long as it ain’t white or beige I’m pretty happy with any color. Except pink. I swear if Monica, my sister, had her way, the house would be in various shades of pink or blue.

What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?

Now I haven’t met a food I don’t like, except eggplants. If I had to pick a favorite, pizza from Lula’s would take the cake. That woman makes the best food in the world, just don’t tell Maw-Payne. Hmmm… Lula also makes an amazing burger. Oh, and her milkshakes are divine. Can I just pick Lula’s instead of a specific food?

What would you say is your biggest quirk?

Quirk? I seem to tick Lexi off each time I walk in a room. But mainly that’s because I can’t keep my mouth shut when I should.

What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most, and why? Share a line in the book where this irk is manifested.

Well if told you about my antagonists that would spoil the book. They were rather manipulative, able to say the right thing at the right time. I never will understand why I didn’t notice the signs earlier. Apparently, this went on for YEARS. Maybe that wasn’t the only thing I should have noticed.

What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?

My family’s rather large. If I could change time, I’d kept my dad around—freak accident. Lexi’s pretty special. She’s quiet, and I didn't realize how much I just assumed with her, sure that she’d be there, unchanged, like the sun rising and setting.

What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?

I’m not sure when my life went off track. It doesn’t really matter anymore, and I’m happy about the way things end, but it took a long while to see that.

If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?

Don’t let me run my life into a wall. You apparently didn’t have my brother hit me hard enough to knock some sense into me. My nose still hurts when it gets cold, couldn’t you have broken something else?

***

Writers have blinders, only viewable by their own experiences. It isn’t bad, but give the same characters to another writer, and we’d be reading an entirely another story.

www.kariholloway.com

https://www.amazon.com/Kari-Holloway/e/B019IYHUWE/

CHARACTER INTERVIEW: Leena from Deadly Seven

Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)

I am Leena, a shifter who can transform into a white wolf. I have been able to do so since the age of eleven. I was born in a valley nestled between the Steep-tips Peak Mountains. After I lost my family, other shifters took me to live in the desert, Hell’s Ridge, for safety. I have fiery red hair and am built for endurance running with lean muscles and keen green eyes. I desire nothing more than for myself and my family to survive and thrive without having to glance for our shoulders for the humans, hunting us.

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What do you like to do in your spare time?

What little spare time I have is spent with my three-year-old daughter, Tinga. In the evenings, as the sun begins to set in Hell’s Ridge, I take the child outside for a chance to unwind and play.

What is your favorite color and why?

My favorite color is red. My mother knit me a red doll as a child and though I have lost both her and the doll, the color brings me back to happier times.

What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?

Elk with a little wild honey drizzled over the top. Elk rarely ventures outside the Denovian forest and bees are scarce.

What would you say is your biggest quirk?

I tend to believe I am bigger and more powerful than I actually am. It gets me into altercations and I don’t often emerge unscathed.

What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most, and why? Share a line in the book where this irk is manifested.

Fratricide, homicide and genocide are all acceptable if it saves the majority.

                       

“I make no apologies or fabrications of remorse,” Valyrik declared, “Many died, Yes. But to make a nation stronger, sometimes culling is necessary.”

What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?

Keeping my people alive is the most important thing. I have lied and killed to protect them. When necessary, I have sacrificed myself.

What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?

I am loyal to my people, but I want to believe the humans still possess goodness in their hearts.

If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?

I would tell my creator, as much as I want to protect my people, I thought maybe I could redirect the king and his plans. I believe in him and his long-term goals.

***

https://www.facebook.com/sam.hawkins.58152

CHARACTER INTERVIEW: Matilda Moore from The Matilda Effect

Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)


My name is Matilda Moore. I am 12 years old and live in Arnos Yarm, which is in boring old Canterbury. I am an inventor and love designing and building things that I have come up with. I’m working on getting an international patent for my latest design. I mean business, you see.

What do you like to do in your spare time?


Draw and invent and draw and invent and maybe invent some more. There’s not much time left for anything after that. Oh, I do like reading autobiographies of famous inventors and scientists, though. 
I’ve just finished one on Marie Curie.


What is your favorite color and why?


Silver, because it reminds me of metal.


What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?


Pizza! I like it hot, hot, hot. I do NOT like vegetable pasta bake. (See below.)


What would you say is your biggest quirk?


I’ve known I’ve wanted to be an inventor for years and the international patent for my design is going to cost thousands of pounds and I don’t get any pocket money, but Mum and Dad give me £3 for school dinners, so I buy vegetable pasta bake which is the cheapest thing on the school menu at £1.30 and I save the £1.70 for my international patent. I’ve been eating vegetable pasta bake for six months now and probably have another three years of it before I’ve saved up enough.


What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most, and why? 


Well, my Granny was a scientist back in the 1960s and she discovered a brand new planet. But her boss, Professor Smocks, claimed that HE discovered it and everyone believed him and not my granny because there weren’t many female scientists back then and Professor Smocks was really respected. And in two days time, he’s about to be awarded a Nobel Prize for Granny’s achievement. So it annoys me that he’s lied to everyone and that Granny and I have to somehow get all the way to Sweden to gatecrash the Nobel Prize ceremony and tell everyone the truth.


What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?


I was really close to my Grandad Wilf because he was the one who got me into inventing. We would visit my grandparents every Sunday and I’d spend hours in Grandad Wilf’s shed, cutting and drilling metal and doing my woodwork. But he died a few months ago and I’d give anything to get him back again. The world feels a bit greyer without him in it.


What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?


That I’m actually really funny. I tell really good jokes. Except I’m quite serious in the book because justice is a serious business!


If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?


Maybe – maybe just once – I could have a vegetable pasta bake free day.

***

A Question for Kathryn: 

Do you like ALL your characters? Even the bad ones? Can you understand where they’re coming from?

Great question! Yes, I like all of my characters because each of my characters teaches me about life. We need both the good and the bad characters anyway to carry a story forward. I think of my own life. Would I have been able to move forward and improve if not for those less than great people helping me out?

CHARACTER INTERVIEW: Ben from Jumpers

Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)

They call me Ben. That’s not who I am though. Thing is, I don’t remember my real name. So I make do with Ben. I live in Davor City, one of the biggest cities on post-Spasm Earth. I’m rather ordinary looking—blonde hair, hazel eyes, medium build—just like a hundred other guys you come across every day.

What I hope to achieve? World peace. No, seriously! With the government clamping down on super-powered, the supervillains on the rampage, and ordinary people caught in the crossfire, I really hope for peace. And I wish I could find out my real identity.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I scan databases. Mostly the missing persons' list. Someone, I’m sure, is out there looking for me. And perhaps . . . maybe they’ve had me listed as missing. I can’t seem to give up on finding my real family, so I keep looking. Any chance I get.   

What is your favorite color and why?

White. It reminds me of snow. It’s weird because I've never seen real snow, yet, just thinking about it makes me happy.

What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?

Nothing fancy, just a bowl of steaming rice, fish, and veggies, with a dash of pimento sauce on top. It’s called a donburi, Eric style. Why I love it? It’s the first food I tasted since my memory was wiped clean, and the one taste I’ll remember until the end of my life.  

What would you say is your biggest quirk?

I like to sleep, especially when I’m worried or upset about something. I call it ‘sleeping through problems’ and it does wonders. Usually, I wake up with a brainwave and things just kick into high gear right after.

What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most, and why? Share a line in the book where this irk is manifested.

I hate it when bad guys are blessed with super good looks. Take Simon Brill, for example. All he has to do to make a girl swoon is flash that lopsided grin. Wish it were even half as easy for me, the hero.

A quote from Jumpers:

“It was unfair that a man as vile be blessed with such good looks—dark hair and sharp eyes, a craggy face that was peppered with the right amount of boyish charm, and that swagger—things I’d heard girls tediously croon about far too often.”

What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?

That’d be Shilpa, of course. Smart, beautiful, mysterious and a Jumper like me, Shilpa is one woman I would do anything to keep in my life. Problem is, she’s barely in my life to begin with. How do you hang on to people who are not even yours?

What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?

Davor City, that cold and heartless maze of giant concrete buildings, is actually a 200-year-old man-made island. Like spokes of a wheel, five bridges—the longest nearly 10 miles in length—connect Davor City to the mainland.

If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?

Good one! Well, sometimes I wonder, am I really a hero that she wants to make me? Who was I before the Spasm took my memory? I could’ve been a serial killer for all she knows.

***

 Question for Kathryn:

I often wonder if my writer is anything like me. What about you? Are you similar to any of the characters you’ve written?

Let's just say that I am at least pieces of the characters I write about, and if not like me, I pull character traits from those I know or wish I didn't know. My first published book, A River of Stones, is the most like me, but I hear that most writers bring out their true selves or qualities they would like to have in that first book. For me, A River of Stones was a book of healing. It is still the book that when I speak to others about it, I usually get teary eyed.

***

Website: www.sgbasu.com

Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/S.-G.-Basu/e/B00I86EM9S

CHARACTER INTERVIEW: Wendy from Fractured Memories

Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)

My name is Wendy. I’m sixteen years old, but I still look like I’m thirteen. My goal is to avenge my family. I live in the world after the Starvation took out 90% of the population. It’s been twenty years, and humanity is still fighting to recover. I used to live in a little compound in the mountains called the Den. My parents built it right after the Starvation, but the Skinnies attacked, and I am the only survivor.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Practice fighting. My mom died when I was young, and I turned to defend myself as a coping mechanism. I prefer two knives along with my own hands and feet.

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What is your favorite color and why?

I’ve never thought about it.

What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?

Sugar cookies. I’ve only had them a few times, and they are the last gift my dad gave me before he died.

What would you say is your biggest quirk?

Everywhere I go I make a mental map of the route. I can keep track of a path and can get back to where I started no matter what. The Den, where I grew up, had a bunch of tunnels, and I hated getting lost. My dad always said it was the way I coped with that.

What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most, and why? Share a line in the book where this irk is manifested.

When I figured out who betrayed the Den, it took everything I had not to kill him right then and there. Unfortunately, he had about ten friends with him, and while I could maybe handle four or five of them, he taught me to fight. He knows all of my moves.

He thinks I’m like him. He thinks I would rather let weak people die and save them the trouble of suffering rather than help them. He’s wrong.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Wendy said.

“Why?” He stopped twenty feet away.

“Because, I’m going to kill you.”

“You’re here for a rematch?”

“I’m here for your head.”

He laughed. “Still upset about the Den?”

“I’ll get over it just as soon as you’re dead.”

What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?

After I figured out who betrayed the Den, I realized that I’d found a new family. Arie, Kev, Cal, Matt, and Jeff had become my family. I’ll do anything to keep them safe. Anything. Even live when I would rather die.

What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?

In Fractured Memories, I’m deep in the clutches of PTSD. That’s why the book feels a little disjointed because I’m still processing the death of my family and friends from the Den. It’s a bit rough at first, but throughout the series, I come back to myself. Actually, I become a better version of myself, thanks to the friends who take me in and guide me back to my humanity.

If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?

I’ve been gathering bad puns since this series started. Can I use them in the last book? Pretty please? I promise to give Kev a run for his money.

***

A Question for Kathryn:

How much of yourself do you put in your characters? If I were to come to life, I wonder how much of Jo is in me.

I put quite a bit of myself into my characters, especially when I wrote my first book, A River of Stones. After Samantha's parents' divorce, she has to figure out how to get through the hard times ahead. The good news is that there are also good times, times Samantha learns how strong she really is. 

Books that have come after that, are are more of a mixture of me, but I still have some of me in each one, whether that's a character's thoughts, mannerisms, or a portion of their life story.

***

Website: http://joannschneider.com/dir/

CHARACTER INTERVIEW: Tovi the Penguin

Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)

Hello, my name is Tovi and I'm a penguin. I'm mainly black and white with a yellow/orange beak and yellow/orange flippers. I can tell you that I don't live at the south pole. I live in a nice house with a garden but I can't tell you where exactly because it's a secret.

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What do you like to do in your spare time?

I love spending time with my two penguin friends Faye and Liam. They are my very best friends and we do everything together.
We go on great adventures together.


What is your favorite color and why?

I don't have a favorite color because all the colors are beautiful.


What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?

On my latest adventure, I went to Paris and I discovered macarons and croissants. They were delicious. Très bon.


What would you say is your biggest quirk?

I always need to go on new adventures.


What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?

Simple. My friends & my family.


What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in
which you inhabit?

Some people are surprised that I don't live at the South Pole, swim and fish for fish all day. Yes, I'm a penguin but I'm just like you.


I want to see the world and discover it.


If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?

Please let me be a dancer.

***

A Question for Kathryn:



What was your best childhood experience and would you make a book/story out of it?

Actually, I have. In my first book, A River of Stones, I talk about some of the experiences I had with my grand imagination. While some of the events are fictitious, many others are true and woven into the fictional story of Samantha and her life after her parent's divorce. 

***

Learn more about Tovi here:

http://tovithepenguin.com/

http://janinarossiter.com/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_1_4?k=tovi+the+penguin&sprefix=tovi

https://m.facebook.com/ToviThePenguin/

https://m.facebook.com/IllustrationJaninaRossiter/

CHARACTER INTERVIEW: Jezreel Bartinson from Shadowguard

Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)

I am Jezreel Bartinson, but everyone calls me Jez. I am thirteen and was born in the coastal city of Randak in the Barony of Korand, but I’m being sent to the Carceri Academy for my education in politics and magic. I grew up as a fisherman’s son, but recently, I was taken on as the ward of Baron Dusan.

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What do you like to do in your spare time?

Between my studies in magic and more mundane areas, I don’t have a lot of free time. Baron Dusan, who chose my areas of study, says that illusion is a proper field for the nobility to study, but I have no talent at it. I’d much rather study how to fight demons, but Dusan says it’s too dangerous. Maybe I can find some other way to manage that…

What is your favorite color and why?

Blue. I’m not really sure why. I know it’s the color associated with protection magic, things like binding demons, and earth and water magic, but I’ve never studied that. I’ve also had dreams about a sword of blue crystal. Sometimes, it frightens me, but it also fascinates me.

What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?

Fish stew the way my father makes. I haven’t had it much since I went to live with the baron. He has cooks from all over the world, but not one of them can make it quite the way my father does.

What would you say is your biggest quirk?

I think I remember the beginning of the universe. I don’t know how, but I think I was there.

What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most, and why? Share a line in the book where this irk is manifested.

All he cares about is power. I tried to draw me in, and if I’m honest with myself, I was more than a little tempted. He said I could have the power to change the world for the better, but the price was too high. Still, I don’t know if I can resist if he offers again. The first time I confronted him about all the evil he’s done, about how he was selling his soul to the demon lord Marrowit, it went like this.

“But you’ve killed so many people.”

“With Marrowit’s blessing, there’s no limit to what I can do. What are a few lives next to that?”

“I thought you wanted justice.”

“You want justice. I want power. Marrowit is the way to both.”

What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?

My father. He’s the only family I have left. I would do anything for him. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to him.

What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?

When Baron Dusan took me as a ward, he changed my life. He exposed me to a world I had never even imagined, but he also took me from my father. Still, even after all that’s happened, a part of me feels like I should be grateful to him, and I feel ashamed of that.

If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?

It will be a very long time before I can fully accept what I have become.

***

A question for Kathryn:

If you could live in the world you created, would you?

Yes! I have created some worlds already, and I have plenty of choices. Still, I might be a little wary if I stepped inside Susan's world, or even her daughter, Brianne's. When a mystery is going and someone is found dead, I'd rather not be the first one to find them.

CHARACTER INTERVIEW: Rawhide Robinson

Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)

Folks call me Rawhide Robinson. It’s been “Rawhide” for so long I don’t recall what name they hung on me at birth. I ain’t nothin’ extra—just an ordinary cowboy. Not too old, not too young. Not short, but not exactly tall, either. Whilst dogs don’t bark and women don’t run when they see me coming, I ain’t much to look at. You could say I’m from Texas, but my home is wherever you find cattle to look after and horses to do it with, and my trail has taken me hither and yon across the Old West. For an ordinary cowboy, I guess you could say I’ve had more than my share of extraordinary adventures—and that’s what them books about me is all about.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Other than catchin’ a little extra shut eye when the opportunity arises, there ain’t no such thing as spare time for a cowboy. Evenings around the campfire or the bunkhouse will find me socializing with the other hands. I’m inclined to spin a windy now and then—fact is, I’m known far and wide for such stories. Some folks claim to disbelieve my tales, but I’ll swear with a straight face and a twinkle my eye every word of ’em is true.

What is your favorite color and why?

I ain’t never spent no time ruminating on such foofaraw. I guess you could say dun. I’ve forked a fair amount of fine horses in my time, and most of them has been of the dun persuasion of one shade or another, from claybank to coyote to buckskin to grulla. Most of the West is dun-colored, too, so my eyes is accustomed to the hue.

What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?

Where I come from, a man eats what’s put in front of him and he don’t ponder on it much. In terms of tonnage, I’ve et more beans than anything else. Like ’em, too. Especially if they’re spiced up some with chili peppers.

What would you say is your biggest quirk?

I won’t admit to having no quirks, but them that knows me would likely say it’s a gift for gab and an uncanny ability to string words together in a euphonious manner.

What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most, and why? Share a line in the book where this irk is manifested.

While my vocabulary is filled with fancy words, I confess unfamiliarity with “antagonist.” But I’m told it means something like “opponent.” I’ve had plenty of them in my time, and they’ve been written up in the various books about me.

In Rawhide Robinson Rides the Range, there was a button name of McCarty whose lack of appreciation of my stories was downright obnoxious. His typical response was %&@*!# or some such. But, him being young and all, I believe that as he got some miles on him he would come to recognize the value of those true tales of adventure and daring in the Wild West that I tell.

If you read Rawhide Robinson Rides the Tabby Trail, I think you’ll come to share my dislike of an old frontier relic name of Buckskin Zimmer. Rustlers ain’t fit human beings in any situation, but hanging is too good for a man who would kidnap cats.

My next adventures, which you will read about in Rawhide Robinson Rides a Dromedary, involve a hulk of a man called Balaban. In his hometown of Smyrna, he sets out to upset by various nefarious means our acquisition of camels for the United States Army. And if that ain’t bad enough, he attempts to inflict bodily harm upon a young girl I call “Hurry” (Huri in her native tongue) who knows more about dromedaries than any ten men you could round up.

What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?

That’s an easy one. I’ve spent my life horseback babysitting cows, and them critters and the cowboy life are what mean the most to me. I’ll keep rolling out in the morning and saddling up and riding the range as long as I am able.

What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?

Somewhere, deep down inside the wrinkled recesses of my brain, there lies an itch (that also tingles my lips) to play the flugelhorn in a marching band.

If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?

While not inclined to be idle or lazy, I believe Mr. Miller consistently overlooks opportunities for me to take naps. I am firm in the opinion that if you read about me in them books of his, you’ll see that the siestas he does allow me often precede strange and exciting adventures. (The dreams ain’t bad either.) How’s about he spends a few more pages allowin’ me to prop my thirteen-gallon hat over my face and check my eyelids for leaks? 

A Question for Kathryn:

Why is it you writer types is so fussy about the way words is spelled? Mark Twain said he had no use for a man who could only come up with one way to spell a word, and I tend to agree with that sentiment.

Lovely question. While I love Mark Twain myself, I don't happen to agree with him.

While reading a book, you want the reader to be on the same page, so to speak, as you (the author) are. You don't want the reader wondering about a spelling of a word when they should be enjoying the scene. You don't want them so hung up on a word or a phrase of words that they frankly forget to finish the book. Accents like yours are quite another story, however.

***

Learn more about Rawhide Robinson:

I am online at www.writerRodMiller.com and www.writerRodMiller.blogspot.com, and my Amazon Author Page is www.amazon.com/author/rodmiller.

COMING SOON!