I’ve had the idea for this post in my list for some time now, but I’ve been neglecting to write it for two big reasons:
One, I don’t have a firm grasp of my current protagonist yet. I’m talking about a character currently named Libby, the protagonist of my main project, Subscription Life. I knew I needed her, but very nearly the entire time I was outlining the story, she was a massive blank. It wasn’t until toward the end of the outline that her real purpose finally struck me, so that’s part of what I’ve gone back to add into to the first third or so of the outline. But as of writing this post, I haven’t actually written any prose involving her yet (I’m working on the prologue, which she isn’t in) so she’s still largely a blank to me.
The second reason I’ve been putting this off is because… well… it’s been so long since I read any of my other novels that I’m not as close to those protagonists as I once was. Sure, they’re old friends, but I really don’t know them so well as I once did anymore. Some… I don’t even necessarily recall the names of offhand, because it’s been so long out of mind or because I’ve had so many others I’ve created and cast aside as their projects were discarded.
Still, I’m going to bull forward now, stop making excuses, and go through some of my characters I do at least still have some sense of and at least come up with an initial impression they might have of me. Maybe I’ll revisit this in the future once I know more about Libby, but for now, let’s see who I’ve got.
WHAT I’D SAY ON MEETING A.F. GRAPPIN (as a person, not as an author)
Silen Bassis, protagonist of Criminal From Birth and its sequel:
“So you think you’re special?”
Silen wouldn’t say much, honestly, but he’d think a lot. Mostly he’d assess if I were a threat, how much of one, and how I might be one. He’d weigh what advantage he could get from having me as a possible tool he could use, but there would be no personal value assigned and definitely no attachment. Not even a friendship. Frankly, he’d probably hate me because I have a more positive outlook on life than he does despite my own trauma. He’s allowed himself to be consumed by it, rage against it specifically rather than grow despite it. We would not be friends.
Cair Gafford, protagonist of Starsigns
“Sure, nice to meet you too.”
Cair and my dynamic, as people, would be strained at first, mostly because of how much like me as a preteen he is. He’s got complicated relationships with most adults and would absolutely not trust me, just because I am an adult. Over time, we could absolutely get along, but the first meeting would be extremely tense. I would have to earn him, which would be totally worth it.
Luc Sebastien Bertrand, protagonist of The Deadly Studies
“Well, you could easily have been one of us, couldn’t you? Wait… no. Not in the long run.”
To be fair, as I’ve mentioned many times, I did not truly create Luc. John G. Walker did, but he gave me the freedom and honor of creating his backstory, which I enjoyed immensely.
Luc is probably the most layered, complicated protagonist I’ve written, and that man would see right through me immediately. Then again, he is a very strong observer and assessor of people, and he’d have me clocked as a schemer from the get-go. But he would also be able to tell I’m not assassin material. Unless I was one of their intelligence agents or a paper pusher. Luc and I could be friends, though a lot of our personal interests don’t align, except for… well, Dungeons & Dragons. On a nerd level and on an LGBT+ level, we would very much get along. Once we got into video games and stuff, we’d be able to hang out easily, but I wouldn’t see it being a friendship between us specifically. More like if we had shared friends, we’d be more likely to hang out in that context: larger gatherings. But we’d possibly gravitate toward one another in those situations.
That’s really about all I can get. Hallac from The Trials of Hallac and Selinde from Empeddigo are so far removed from my memory that they’re little more than outlines. And I don’t even remember the names of the main characters from Mere Acquaintances.
I do plan to eventually do one about telling some of my characters I’m their author/god/whatever. Keep your eyes peeled for that eventually!
One, I don’t have a firm grasp of my current protagonist yet. I’m talking about a character currently named Libby, the protagonist of my main project, Subscription Life. I knew I needed her, but very nearly the entire time I was outlining the story, she was a massive blank. It wasn’t until toward the end of the outline that her real purpose finally struck me, so that’s part of what I’ve gone back to add into to the first third or so of the outline. But as of writing this post, I haven’t actually written any prose involving her yet (I’m working on the prologue, which she isn’t in) so she’s still largely a blank to me.
The second reason I’ve been putting this off is because… well… it’s been so long since I read any of my other novels that I’m not as close to those protagonists as I once was. Sure, they’re old friends, but I really don’t know them so well as I once did anymore. Some… I don’t even necessarily recall the names of offhand, because it’s been so long out of mind or because I’ve had so many others I’ve created and cast aside as their projects were discarded.
Still, I’m going to bull forward now, stop making excuses, and go through some of my characters I do at least still have some sense of and at least come up with an initial impression they might have of me. Maybe I’ll revisit this in the future once I know more about Libby, but for now, let’s see who I’ve got.
WHAT I’D SAY ON MEETING A.F. GRAPPIN (as a person, not as an author)
Silen Bassis, protagonist of Criminal From Birth and its sequel:
“So you think you’re special?”
Silen wouldn’t say much, honestly, but he’d think a lot. Mostly he’d assess if I were a threat, how much of one, and how I might be one. He’d weigh what advantage he could get from having me as a possible tool he could use, but there would be no personal value assigned and definitely no attachment. Not even a friendship. Frankly, he’d probably hate me because I have a more positive outlook on life than he does despite my own trauma. He’s allowed himself to be consumed by it, rage against it specifically rather than grow despite it. We would not be friends.
Cair Gafford, protagonist of Starsigns
“Sure, nice to meet you too.”
Cair and my dynamic, as people, would be strained at first, mostly because of how much like me as a preteen he is. He’s got complicated relationships with most adults and would absolutely not trust me, just because I am an adult. Over time, we could absolutely get along, but the first meeting would be extremely tense. I would have to earn him, which would be totally worth it.
Luc Sebastien Bertrand, protagonist of The Deadly Studies
“Well, you could easily have been one of us, couldn’t you? Wait… no. Not in the long run.”
To be fair, as I’ve mentioned many times, I did not truly create Luc. John G. Walker did, but he gave me the freedom and honor of creating his backstory, which I enjoyed immensely.
Luc is probably the most layered, complicated protagonist I’ve written, and that man would see right through me immediately. Then again, he is a very strong observer and assessor of people, and he’d have me clocked as a schemer from the get-go. But he would also be able to tell I’m not assassin material. Unless I was one of their intelligence agents or a paper pusher. Luc and I could be friends, though a lot of our personal interests don’t align, except for… well, Dungeons & Dragons. On a nerd level and on an LGBT+ level, we would very much get along. Once we got into video games and stuff, we’d be able to hang out easily, but I wouldn’t see it being a friendship between us specifically. More like if we had shared friends, we’d be more likely to hang out in that context: larger gatherings. But we’d possibly gravitate toward one another in those situations.
That’s really about all I can get. Hallac from The Trials of Hallac and Selinde from Empeddigo are so far removed from my memory that they’re little more than outlines. And I don’t even remember the names of the main characters from Mere Acquaintances.
I do plan to eventually do one about telling some of my characters I’m their author/god/whatever. Keep your eyes peeled for that eventually!
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