A is for…

April 1st!

Happy April Fools Day, everyone! Not only is it April Fools Day, but it is the beginning of the A to Z Challenge. My theme for the A to Z Challenge is: characters from the From the Ashes series!

So, what is A for, you ask?

Azad Viraak

As of today, I still know very little of my early life. I was born in the year 405 After the Stellar Wars. I know my father's name was Dezar Viraak, but I hardly remember him. My mother was not my birth mother. Her name was Ana, but I can't recall her last name. She gave birth to my sister, Rasha.

Rasha and I were taken away from our parents when we were young, I must have only been four or five years old. We were taken to a gifted school, one of the best in the Alliance. Rasha was a few years younger than me, so I would always take care of her when I wasn't in class. I remember that a lot of the kids in my class would make fun of me, since I was older than most of them.

It was hard to make friends until I met Altair Kasev. The fact that I used to consider him a friend disgusts me now. Yet as much as I hate to admit it, once, we were friends. We trained together nearly every day for the glory of the Alliance, for the glory of the Emperor. That is until I discovered his secret. He was not and would never be true to our nation and our Emperor.

My sister fell in love with him. And that's what killed her in the end.

I don't know where he is, or how I will find him, but I will find him. I don't care about what happens after. Altair destroyed the only kindness, the only good I had in my life. And he must pay for that.

This is what I live for. It's what I'll die for, and I will fight forever for my revenge.

***

This is the story of Azad Viraak, thank you everyone! Check out more A to Z Challenge Participants here!

Leave your A to Z Challenge post links in the comments and I'll come to visit you! And don't forget to check out my new blog, My Unofficial Guide To Everything!

–Jess

Your Star

So I've been thinking a lot about my characters lately.

In my first draft of From the Ashes, all of my characters were really flat. They had no histories, no connections, and very little life. They were characters in a story, and that's all.

What did I do to fix this? Or at least make it better?

Multiple things, actually.

First thing I did was make a 'cast'. If my book were a movie, who would my ideal cast be? It was really fun (and time consuming) to find people who'd work, but I finally settled on the top four.

Okay, now since I'm paranoid about being sued for using someone else's pictures (it happened to Roni Loren) unfortunately I can't just post them.

But here are the four Main Characters and who would ideally play them:

Jenn Proske as Jaina Indera (MC)

Matt Lanter as Altaïr Kasev (MC)

Taylor Lautner as Azad Viraak (Antagonist)

Logan Lerman as Liam Rodan (Supporting Character)

So those are my top four. By the way, the link leads directly to a picture, and it's pretty much exactly what I imagined them to look like. Still haven't settled on the 'perfect' Jaina, though. (Any suggestions?)

Anyway, that's the first thing I did.

Second, I wrote a backstory for each and every one of them. Not just those four. I mean like, all twelve important to important-ish characters in Book 1.

But of course I couldn't just stop there.

I had to make backstories for people that show up in Book 2 and 3, and sometimes for people who don't show up at all! Like Azad's dad...

I wrote so much about each person in fact, I think I could write a whole novel about most of them. (There's an idea!)

And, since I love music so much, I chose a song (or a few) to go with certain people.

The one I'm currently obsessed with is one that totally describes my Antagonist. He lost something very important to him in his past and it made him the 'bad guy' he is.

The song is called Your Star. Yes, of course it's by Evanescence!

The video has the lyrics in it so if you're not good at hearing the words, you can read it.

Do you guys have trouble making your character realistic? Have you written backstories for your characters? Have you chosen an ideal cast? Share your thoughts!

Happy Wednesday!

-Jess

P.S.

Check THIS out if you want something to post about today! It's really fun :)

H is for Hunger

H is for Hunger

The emptiness grows.

They said that over time it would fade, but they lied. The longer I wait, the worse it gets. Like a bottomless pit that continues to grow deeper. An aching pain I cannot destroy. It hurts to the point of madness.

Soon, I shall no longer be starving.

Soon, I’ll have revenge.

***

During the process of editing The Trials, I've had a few troubles with my antagonist. So, today, my flash fic is dedicated to him. So yeah, he's really out for revenge.

Anyway, as for the song, I was having lots of trouble finding one that went with Hunger so I kind of just picked one that was kind of like my character. Although, my MC doesn't like him at all, so it doesn't really go with the song, but it was the best I could come up with.

Okay! I'm pretty sure you've heard enough of my rambling, so here's the song Frozen by Madonna:

You can go here for the official music video, which I think is pretty cool, too!

Have a really Happy day!

--Jess

I Feel Bad For My Antagonist...

PREPOST UPDTATE: Our performance at the Quicken Loans Arena that I talked about in Wednesday's post didn't turn out so well. We all had lots of fun but it wasn't our best run through. And I didn't make the second round of ABNA. Oh well. Better luck next time!

There comes a point in story writing that your characters take on a life of their own. But the more real they become, the more I feel bad about doing bad things to them. I mean, sure, in the end it's all for the better (well, hopefully). Because the whole point of the story is to watch them overcome. I guess they don't always end up 'overcoming' but the possibility of failure is what makes the story interesting. And that's why we have antagonists.

But I feel bad for my antagonist.

I'm pretty sure my beta readers didn't feel bad for him. And my CP hasn't met him yet. I made him pretty easy to hate (I think). But then, I'm the only one who knows his full back-story. And when you really think about it, most bad guys think they're the good guys.

I mean, wouldn't you be angry if all of your efforts to be great were overshadowed by one of the the protagonists? And then if you thought that same protagonist was going to bring the galaxy crumbling down, wouldn't getting rid of them be the right thing?

From our point of view, no. That definitely isn't the right thing. But from his? Probably.

Besides, being the antagonist is hard. No one wants to be hated. Maybe they like causing trouble but they don't want to be hated.

As I said before, there comes a point when your characters take on a life of their own. And I'm pretty sure my antagonist hates me for making him the bad guy.

There ^^ is another antagonist I feel bad for...

What do you guys think? Who's an antagonist you feel bad for? Is it silly to feel bad for the antagonist?

Have a great weekend!

--Jess

P.S.

Knights of Micro-Fiction is on Monday! Be prepared! And, votes for my Campaign Entry are still needed appreciated!