Elijah David

If there's one thing I love in fiction — whether it's printed or presented in some audiovisual form like movies or video games — it's a long-haul revelation. I mean something that adds more dimension to a character than it ought to at face value because it fits into what we already know about them and builds on that knowledge in a way that is both satisfying and piquing. One example of this is the revelation about Snape near the end of Deathly Hallows ; knowing his history adds a great deal of depth to his interactions with the main characters throughout the series (and fits in with some details we might have forgotten from early on, such as his determination to save Harry in Year 1 when Harry's broomstick is bewitched during a Quidditch match). But I'm not here to talk about Snape. The title of the post is, after all, "Long Hauls and Minor Characters" —and I have a particular minor character in mind. Fasir. I'm going to assume none of you kno...

Someone recently asked me about a plot twist in Albion Academy  regarding Mrs. Pendragon. "Was that always the plan?" he asked. "At what point in the process did you know that was going to happen?" That particular twist (if you've read the book, you know which one) actually came into the story very early on. Once I'd established that my Merlin was not THE Merlin, but instead his descendant, I quickly had the idea of his origins. Vivienne's nature, motivations, and role in the plot came with Merlin's. Sometimes plot twists are like that. They weave themselves into the plot so early on that they are like fixed points in time. The author knows they're coming the whole way through. Endings like that of The Thief  can't really be written if they aren't supported in the whole of the book, and the process for those sorts of books goes much more smoothly if the author knows the ending in advance. Other times, though, the twists can surprise t...

Cait at Paper Fury and Sky at Further Up and Further In have put together a fun set of questions for this month's Beautiful People link-up in honor of Mother's Day. It's been a long while since I sat down and filled out one of these posts, but this one was too good to let slip away! Today we're digging into Merlin Pendragon's relationships with his parents. Be warned! Major spoilers are ahead for Albion Academy ! Continue at your own risk if you haven't read the book yet. (If you have, proceed with delicious glee.) 1. Overall, how good is their relationship with their parents? Merlin's relationship with his mother is strained at the start of Albion Academy because of her relationship with his sister, Kaya. As the story progresses, it becomes even more strained to the point of breaking when he learns that she's a sorceress who tried to seal his Second Sight. By the end of Albion Academy , Merlin is completely estranged from his mother ...

A friend of mine recently did a list of characters that she had obsessed/was obsessing over and I thought I'd do a similar list. These are in no particular order and the list is not exhaustive (by a long shot). 1.       Olorin/Gandalf from LotR 2.       Galadriel from LotR 3.       Glorfindel from LotR 4.       Hazel-rah from Watership Down 5.       Fiver from Watership Down 6.       Samwise Gamgee from LotR 7.       Aslan from Narnia 8.       Reepicheep from Narnia 9.       Edmund from Narnia 10.   Shasta from Narnia 11.   Puddleglum from Narnia 12.   Alphonse Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist 13.   Greed/Greedling from Fullmetal Alchemist 14.   Pinako Rockbell from Fullmetal Alchemist 15.   Hoenheim from Fu...

It's time once again for Beautiful People, the character interview-ish blog linkup hosted by Paper Fury and Further Up and Further In. This month I decided to look at Bryn, the Valkyrie narrator in my Albion Quartet. (I guess this means next month will be Merlin's turn since he's the only one left on the POV characters.) 1. How often do they smile? Would they smile at a stranger? Bryn isn't much of a smiler, but she will smile every so often. She would only smile at a stranger if she wanted to scare them (or encourage them if they're particularly helpless). 2. What is the cruelest thing they’ve ever been told? And what was their reaction? Merlin once accused her of abandoning him and Mortimer in a time of need. She ignored him and focused on the more pressing issue of her Valkyrie duties. 3. What is the kindest thing they’ve ever been told? And what was their reaction? Once, she saved Thor's life and Odin thanked her by offering her three favor...

I'm a sucker for a good redemption arc. Heck, I'm a sucker for a redemption arc, period. There's something thrilling about a character turning from bad to good, from being a villain to being a hero (or at least on the side of the hero). It gets my story-loving soul stirred up in ways few other tropes can. I've been thinking about what makes a redemption arc powerful (and what makes a good one). My friend Mirriam has posted recently about good and bad character deaths and what makes a good story  and she's even shared her hopes for Hive to be redeemed on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Another friend shared the news that Benedict Cumberbatch is voicing the Grinch in a new animated movie and that turned into a conversation about how the live action film basically destroyed the Grinch's redemption arc by making him the victim of the materialistic Whos. While there's nothing wrong with multiple redemption arcs in the same story, in that case, they jus...

It's time for another Beautiful People. This month I'm going to focus on Mortimer, one of the three narrators of my Albion/Merlin Quartet (or baker;s trilogy as my writing group calls it), because his prequel story is giving me grief and refusing to be written and I need to finish some edits on the first book. 1. What first inspired this character? Is there a person/actor you based them off? I needed a Djinni in the book, and I liked the name Mortimer (which comes in this case from the movie Arsenic and Old Lace ). There wasn't a particular person or actor in my mind when I created him. 2. Describe their daily routine. Mortimer's not much of a routine person, but his typical day involves school and hanging out with his friends and working on whatever new puzzle has been presented to them. 3. If they joined your local high school, what clique would they fit into? As a Djinni, Mortimer would be a candidate for class clown; based on his physique, he'd...

For this edition of Beautiful People, I'm going to focus on Radley and Clarice, two characters from my unfinished novel Shadowmen . They're the couple that I think of when I think of couples in my books, and they have been clamoring for the book to be written very loudly lately, so this might satisfy them (a bit). 1. How did they first meet? Radley met Clarice when she joined the school (which still needs a snazzy name). 2. What were their first impressions of each other? He thought she was going to be trouble since he's Catholic and she's the daughter of a Protestant preacher. She thought he would try to ask her out within a week because he had this "bad boy" vibe that she interpreted as overconfidence in the romance department. It took him a month. 3. How long have they been a couple? By the time of the novel, a year or two. 4. How committed/loyal are they to each other? Would they break up over a secret or a disagreement? Could s...

Currently Reading: Ladyhawke by Joan D. Vinge                               The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (reread)                               Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb Currently Writing: Merlin Book 2                              Wizard of Oz retelling (outlining and prewriting) When I was in grad school, one of the major topics we discussed in any given writing class was the idea of transgression or subversion -- working against or around the status quo. The discussion always made authors who transgressed against the commonly held ideas of society seem like the cool, rebellious kids at school that everyone wants to be acknowledged by. Except I never did. Maybe I'm the odd man out on this one, but I never saw the appeal in what appeared...