Please join me in welcoming author Daryl Devore. As a fellow pantser, Daryl’s guest post truly resonated with me. Characters do take on a life of their own and, on occasion, try to take over the writing of their own story. Read on for an interesting spin on how they sometimes decide their own fate.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Title: A Voice in the Air
Author: Daryl Devore
Genre: Sweet Medieval Fantasy Romance
BLURB:
Leading an army of faeries and pixies into battle against mountain trolls was not what Cadi expected when she accepted the task of rescuing Ewen – the son of the Overseer of the Faeries.
Squire Ewen followed his liege into battle with a head full of romantic notions of knights, heroics, and damsels in distress. Being captured by a troll, thrown into a cave, and awaiting a hideous death was not how he had foreseen his adventure to play out.
Can Ewen stay out of trouble long enough for Cadi to rescue him? Will Cadi overcome her doubts and fears and bring her beloved Ewen home to Plucks Ridge?
Or will the petty evilness of The Scorned One defeat all and destroy the magickal realm?
If you love action, humour, quirky characters, and romance, then Daryl Devoré’s latest medieval fantasy romance – A Voice in the Air – is a must read.
GUEST POST:
A rambling look at the main character in A Voice in the Air.
Cadi is a barmaid who lives in the 1100s -ish. There is no real time frame except that it is hundreds of years ago. And it is not Ye Olde Englande.
Some of the names of people and places are Welsh – Irish – Scottish and English – oh – and Norwegian – I forgot about the troll. The sheriff’s name – Grwn – is old Welsh(?) if I remember. Cadi’s horse’s name – Cheffyl -is the older Welsh spelling of the word “horse”. I don’t remember where I got Cadi’s name, but once I had it – it stuck.
After being freed from the abbey prison cell – she is given a quest by the Overseer of the Faeries – to find the Overseer’s son. Who just happens to be the person Cadi has a secret longing for.
The story then follows Cadi as she struggles to find Ewen in a time that does not consider the value of a woman. This short excerpt explains it all from Cadi’s point of view.
***Grwn shrugged as contempt crossed his face. The scar above his lip increasing the repugnance of his sneer.
She knew why, even though she refused to accept it. In this moment, for that man, the most horrible, most repulsive idea was not the death surrounding them or the endless pain of the survivors. His disgust arose because she was only a woman — and an unwed one at that — and she’d dared to ask a question of so important a personage as himself.
Many thought she had no rights or a say in matters, being over sixteen years, still unwed, and from away. A man-less woman was worth less than a cow. But she did not believe that to be so. The fighter in her raised its voice.***
Throughout the story, I kept the characters (Cadi and Ewen) apart – up to the point I thought my cp (critique partner) was going to scream with frustration. During all that time – Cadi is looking for Ewen – which Ewen is aware of and he is trying to find her while he constantly worries – she is just a lass – she must be terrified – I must find her and save her. Then he immediately gets himself into another life-threatening situation.
Meantime “helpless” Cadi had fended off (1) a potential attacker, (2) an evil sorceress and (3) an enraged, cursed troll and she’s not even up to the middle of the book yet.
Why did I choose to let Cadi be the hero? I didn’t. She did. She led the story right from the start and I had the wherewithal to let her. I came up with obstacles to put in her path and she surprised me with her solutions.
For the non-writers reading this – our characters are real in our heads. We know everything about them. I remember a conversation with a non-writer where I was explaining that I was composing a character interview for a blog post. The person was puzzled by how I could create an interview with a fictional character. Then I started explaining what I knew about the character and left the poor person dumbstruck. I could probably get down to the person’s blood type if I wanted to.
I am not a plotter. I am a card-carrying pantser. I write by the seat of my pants. I don’t know what’s going to happen from one page to the next. But once, by about chapter 2-3, once I have the character in my head – I know everything. I don’t know how or why I know all of this – but I do. When someone tells me that the character wouldn’t do that – I usually disagree. I may not have told the reader why the character did it – I may never do that or I may reveal it later in the story – but I do know why.
Why might I not tell the reader? Let them think about it and figure it out. They might choose the wrong reason, but what does that really matter? What’s wonderful is they took time to think about a character in my book. Someone to me who is “real”. And what author wouldn’t like readers to think about our stories and characters long after they have closed the book’s cover or clicked off their tablet?
Happy reading.
AUTHOR BIO:
Two writers in one. Daryl Devoré (@daryldevore) writes hot romances with sexy heroes and strong heroines and sweet romances with little to no heat. Each of her characters is so captivating they leave her readers spellbound as they rush to reach the end of her stories. She has several published books available in ebook, print and audio – available at Amazon and other book retailers via Books2Read.
Daryl lives in an old farmhouse in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and 2 cats. Daryl loves to take long walks on her quiet country road or snowshoe across the back acres, and in the summer, kayak along the St. Lawrence River. She has touched a moon rock, a mammoth, and a meteorite. She’s been deep in the ocean in a submarine, flown high over Niagara Falls in a helicopter, and used the ladies room in a royal palace. Life’s an adventure and Daryl’s having fun living it.
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