More Milo!

Hey look! I did something just like I promised! This isn't very interesting though, because the answers don't vary. Though I've realized I want to do a series of posts about Sirens.

Relationships

1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents. 

Non-existent. He doesn’t know much about either of them and he basically raised himself. 

2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like? 

Also non-existent. They were all fending for themselves and Milo had very little connection with any of them. There was a total of five kids. Two of them did stick together, but the rest went their own ways.

3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand? 

Nope. He’s always flying solo.

4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them? 

He has a few people that he ‘trades’ with or gets information from. He has various connections in most villages and cities, but they are few and far between. None of them truly trust him and he doesn’t trust them either. That is the closest he comes to relationships.

5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet? 

He doesn’t have a best friend. The closest he has or will ever have is going to be Julian. 

6. Does he have other close friends? 

None.

7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people? 

He makes enemies everywhere he goes. Friends are nearly impossible to come by for him.

8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends? 

Himself. He doesn’t think that family or friends are trustworthy. He never had a reason to believe them.

9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once? 

Single. Never married.

10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse? 

None.

11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest? 

His first crush was a Phantom (one of the three ‘species’ of Siren). He didn’t know she was  a Phantom. He hasn’t had any crushes lately. 

12. What does he look for in a romantic partner? 

If he’s looking for something, it’s purely physical, but Milo is too easily driven by money, so any kind of romance is just background noise.

13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?

None that he is aware of. 

14. Does he have any rivals or enemies? 

Uhhh, I’d love to give you a list and/or description, but the list is too long. 

BUSY! Oops.

I just realized a few things. First, I didn't post yesterday. Second, Monday was my 50th post! Isn't that exciting? As for missing Tuesday, I was home for about a half hour after work and then left again and didn't come home until 11:30PM. Sure, that isn't an excuse and I'm going to need to work out a posting schedule to coincide with work. 


In case you were wondering, so far I am liking it. I'm hesitant to say that I love it, because I haven't really started doing anything just yet and we will see how it goes. Customer service isn't really my favorite thing to do in the world, but I'm glad that I can be involved somewhere. Hopefully I will get the opportunity to do some graphics with them, too, eventually. No rush at the moment. This is all just a means to have a living and still get to write. Which I haven't done any of. DON'T JUDGE ME.


Okay, here's some more Milo!

Mental and Emotional

1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart? 

He is crafty. I wouldn’t ever call him book smart. He didn’t get the opportunity to get any education, but he can read and he’s clever. He’s extremely street smart to the point that no one can get anything by him without him knowing.

2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate? 

He’s quick on his feet. Thinking too hard about things produces less than wanted results. He sometimes plans longer cons, but he likes to be quick more.

3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical? 

He is much more intuitive. A lot of times that doesn’t work out for him when he is involved in friendships (to which he has very, very few). He tends to make stupid assumptions and his intuition isn’t so great on that level, but when it comes to lies and deceit? He’s great. He is neither idealistic or practical. He’s whatever he needs to be at the time.

4. What kind of education has the character had? 

Only what he learned on the street.

5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about? 

Thievery, cons and lying. He is the master at all of them. He’s good with languages and he’d love to learn Siren’s language.

6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert? 

Extroverted all the way.

7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven? 

He is cheerful and laid-back. He’s driven, but only when he knows whatever his goal is, it will make his life easier. He doesn’t like working much. He is the kind of free-loader type with the laid-back personality.

8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic? 

He rolls with the punches pretty well. He takes everything in stride and seems pretty relaxed about it, but he can turn his personality into whatever he needs it to be when he sees that there’s a possible con in it.

9. Is he more likely to act, or to react? 

He is more likely to act. He is always on the offensive.

10. Which is his default: fight or flight? 

Flight. He’s a coward.

11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks? 

He has a rampant sense of humor. He’s extremely sarcastic and can be very, very morbid.

12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them? 

Nope.

13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person? 

His whole life was based on the fact that he essentially raised himself. There was a moment in his life as a nine-year-old where he realized he needed to do more than beg for food, so he learned to steal it.

14. What does he fear? 

Oh, plenty of things, I’m sure. Getting caught is one of them, I would imagine. He doesn’t like authority so that would be something he avoids.

15. What are his hopes or aspirations? 

He doesn’t have any. Mostly, it’s ‘survive to the next day’ and/or make it big and be rich. He doesn’t exactly have a plan for that, though.

16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him? 

Probably that he’s a bit of  a sap and he’s terrified of woman.

Milo Detailed Character Profile

By request, I decided that Milo needed a detailed profile. I know these are hard to comment on, so don't feel pressured. I'm hoping to get writing soon. I'm not keeping to my schedule very well. Things come up and happen. That's just how it is. Here's the first part of Milo's profile.

Body and Appearance

1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy? 

He is five foot six inches and weighs about 190 lbs. He’s not heavyset, but he’s certainly not built. He seems a bit soft around the edges.

2. How old is he? 

35 ish. I haven’t settled on an exact age for him.

3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch? 

He hunches his shoulders forward when he walks and slouches when he sits. He shuffles his feet when he walks. He only picks himself up more when he feels like it will be beneficial. He can fake propriety.

4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities? 

He’s not the healthiest man out there. Years of traveling through old towns and industrial cities have given him a bit of a chronic cough, but it isn’t overly noticeable all the time. He’s not in shape, much. He gets winded after a run easily.

5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid? 

He changes the way he moves. When he’s not putting on a face, he comes across as relaxed, slouching when he walks and shuffling his feet. However, when he’d being charming, he holds himself high and appears to have very fluid movements.

6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror? 

He thinks he’s just the most handsome thing to be born in this world, however he actually has a forgettable face. It isn’t that he is unattractive, but he’s got very inviting features that seem very average if you were to try and describe him.

7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred? 

His skin looks worn and leathery. He looks like he spends a lot of time in the sun, but he isn’t dark skinned. He has some scars, but most of them are old from when he was a teenager.

8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style. 

Milo has dirty blonde hair with streaks of sun-bleached blonde. It’s thin and short and quite a mess all of the time. He doesn’t have a ‘style’ for his hair.

9. What color are his eyes? 

Medium hazel. 

10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features? 

Nothing that I can think of yet.

11. What are his chief tension centers? 

Everywhere. His lower back and hips from traveling and sleeping on hard floors.

12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit? 

He’s got a very small selection of clothing. Often he picks up something new at any town he passes through. He keeps away from bright colors and goes for more neutrals like greys, browns and navy blues. He likes a little bit of flair, however, so he makes sure that anything he gets will grab some attention.

13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them? 

His clothes never fit quite right and he does a lot of fidgeting. If it isn’t one thing it’s another. He adjusts his coats and sleeves habitually. He also has a tendency of wearing hats that are too big. He seems more comfortable in them than he should.

14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences? 

He dresses the same all the time. If he needs to dress up, he steals something.

15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando? 

Boxers, if there is such a thing in [kingdom].

It Isn't Midnight Yet!

Last minute post is last minute! Also, this is the very end of this very long character development questionnaire. This also happens to be my favorite part, though. Well, the last few questions at least. Hope you enjoy!

Daily Life

1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt? 

Wealthy. He will inherit all of the de Arques money and property. It helps that he’ll be king.

2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him? 

Royalty.

3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?

He resides in the main castle in the kingdom’s largest metropolis. It is where all governing takes place and it huge. However, it is also walled off and next to impossible to get into or out of. He knows nothing other than his home. He shares it with his family, an uncountable amount of servants and workers as well as a few noble families that live on smaller residences on the property.

4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on? 

He doesn’t. Things are just handed to him.

5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else? 

Currently nothing. He’s just the prince, but that royal life will end soon. He doesn’t really like it, but he can manage and he plays his part just as he should. His responsibility to his family and the quest is something he will do, but he’d rather do something else.

6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time? 

Archery, rifles, hunting, horseback riding, pranking… all the things a good 19-year-old boy should do. He spends his free time with Galen doing all of those things.

7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods? 

He eats every meal and some. He will have quite the shock to the system when all that changes after he leaves the castle.

Associations

Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color?  Blue 
2. Smell?  Leather 
3. Time of day?  Midday 
4. Season?  Autumn 
5. Book?  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 
6. Music?  Jazz (like Sinatra) 
7. Place?  A grass plain at the edge of a forest 
8. Substance?  Some kind of metal 
9. Plant?  Sequoia 
10. Animal? Golden eagle


Yay! I'm considering doing this for a few other characters, but I'm not sure I'll post them. Tell me if its been interesting at all. If so, then maybe I will. Or, you could tell me what character you'd like me to fill this out for.


LL&P

This is Getting Hard

I'm having a hard time posting every day apparently. Granted, this week has been chock full of insanity and running around. I can't really help that. Yesterday I was home for about a couple hours, but I was mostly getting ready to leave again. Don't get me wrong, it was mostly choice that I was out, but I was running errands, too. 


I'm apparently failing my own resolution. Then again, I knew going into this that at some point I'd screw it up and I was just going to have to work with it as best I can and keep moving forward. It isn't about the logistics, anyway. It was about doing something productive. It was about stepping out and saying that this is what I'm doing. I'm writing a trilogy. The end goal is in sight. This is just a means to remind myself every day of what I am supposed to be doing.


So, I'm sitting here, looking forward to the next couple weeks and praying that with the changes going on and the time restraints, how I will fit in this writing. I'll do it. Believe me, I will do it. I can find a way and I will. I'm still going to post here, I'm still going to be moving forward, it just might be a bit boring for the rest of you. Milo Monday returns next week. Hopefully Question Friday will, too. I'm hoping to have some writing done this week. That was the goal, but we'll see. With life happening at the same time, sometimes it just isn't feasible. It doesn't mean I'm just gonna wait it out. I just need to get past this next week. Then we'll buckle down for sure. 


Here's some info on Julian's beliefs. I told you that character profile was long.

Beliefs

1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?

I’m not sure I’ve picked what month he was born in. I think its probably June or July. That makes him a Cancer. Even if I did associate anything about my characters with their sign, he is nothing like it.

2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?

Religion and spirituality are very personalized in this world. I don’t see him is as much of anything other than just free spirited.

3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it? 

Everyone with an education is sort of raised with a sense of ethics and morals. The more rural or corrupt the area, the less ethics and morals have to say in the way they live their lives. Julian has a very proper understanding of what ethics and morals are expected of him. It was basically taught to him, but of course there are certain things that are simply just built into him. As for compromising them, he will learn that there are situations in which morals will change.

4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent? 

He is indifferent for the most part. He hasn’t had a lot of run ins with people with vary different moral standards from him and so he doesn’t have the experience with it. He will learn that there are limits to that indifference though. He will come up against quite a few foes that back him into a moral corner.

5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them? 

He doesn’t have many because he is so sheltered. He doesn’t know what is out there to be prejudice about. All he knows is that there is a kingdom that he will have to take care of, he will protect and no one in that kingdom is exempt from that protection. He might change his mind later. We’ll see.


LL&P

Julian Character Profile Continued

Alright, here's another part of the character info on Julian. There's some fun info in this.

Relationships

1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents. 

Respectful. He is more playful and teasing with his mother. His father, though still a strong bond and somewhat relaxed is more stiff.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like? 

His younger sister Sophia is his only sibling. They have a love/hate relationship. He loves her and wants to look out for her, but she’s smarter than he is and they both know it, so they do a lot of bickering.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand? 

The rest of his family feels a lot like a professional relationship. Being royalty gives them a lot of official duties and it feels exactly like that; official.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them? 

The D’Amores are very much a part of the family. Galen is his best friend and he’d never say he is like a brother, but he would die for him. Daphne is also someone he would die for, but he wouldn’t call a sister. Not anymore, at least.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet? 

Galen D’Amore and they were raised together. Julian has never not known him.
6. Does he have other close friends? 

That’s about it.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people? 

He is outgoing and friendly enough, but he doesn’t retain a lot of close friendships. He doesn’t trust that people want to be friends with him because of who he is, but what he is.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends? 

He has been hard wired to be loyal to his family, but if you asked him, he couldn’t tell you which is more important.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once? 

Single, as all princes are until after the quest.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse? 

Well, he’s not married, but he’s somewhat romantic with Daphne. At least as much of one as he can be in for proper society.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest? 

Daphne for both. There’s not a lot of women around the castle that aren’t just there looking for a leg up in society.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner? 

He isn’t really focused on that. He has a healthy understanding that he has a quest to go on and it would be ridiculous to get involved with someone before disappearing for a year.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?

None yet. It is less if he wants them and more that he will have to have children for the good of the kingdom.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies? 

He has quite a few that he knows nothing about yet.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?

Heterosexual and on that scale, he’d be a 0.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him? 

Sex isn’t really a topic that is talked about in the books. I would say that for him, it’s a little less important to him than the average twenty-year-old. He doesn’t have time to think about it at this point in his life.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits? 

He likes woman that can hold their own, none of this damsel in distress kind of stuff. Other than that, I have no information for you.

Wow, It is NOT My Week.

Soooo, totally supposed to post questions today. Totally deleted the questions on accident and now have nothing to answer. So, instead, you are getting more about Julian.

Mental and Emotional

1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart? 

He is intelligent but falls somewhere in the middle of book- and street-smart. He leans a little more towards street-smart.

2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate? 

He can be quick on his feet when he needs to be, but he’s likely to make a few mistakes before he is really sure about his trusting his first instinct.

3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical? 

He is very intuitive and actually has to learn to be logical. He has some, but he’s still working through it. He is more practical than idealistic, however. He tends to run in the middle of the road when it comes to how he thinks.

4. What kind of education has the character had? 

The very best that could be offered in the kingdom.

5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about? 

He doesn’t have an area of expertise. He is trained to be quick on his feet, physically intimidating and professional. He has no desire to learn more about the Quest of Kings, but that is something he’s had to learn the most of.

6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert? 

I’d never describe him as introverted, but he is not in your face extroverted.

7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven? 

Even-tempered, not easily riled up. He’s pretty playful and cheerful for the most part, but nothing he does is overbearing. He is laid-back and driven. Its strange, perhaps, but it’s how he is.

8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic? 

He’s relaxed when it comes to meeting new people. He’s not usually suspicious when it is in the castle, but outside those walls, he’s suspicious of everyone.

9. Is he more likely to act, or to react? 

Previous to the quest, he would do neither. He just let things happen around him instead of two him. Once on the quest he does a lot of instinctive reacting at first.

10. Which is his default: fight or flight? 

Flight.

11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks? 

He’s a man, so any sense of humor that any man in history has ever had, he’s got. He’s funny and he teases a lot. He’s sarcastic. Overall he’s pretty well rounded. He thinks puns are stupid, though.

12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them? 

Nope.

13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person? 

The first time he heard about the Quest of Kings he was about five years old and his grandfather told him about it. He was enthralled with it, knowing that the would do that same quest. Somewhere in there while growing up, he lost that sense of wonder. The only other moment (which actually happened around the same time) was getting his crossbow.

14. What does he fear? 

He has a healthy fear of death, destruction, and the world outside.

15. What are his hopes or aspirations? 

He doesn’t really have any.  He wasn’t given a lot of chance when it came to having personal goals. He was just told where he would end up in life. He is going on the quest with intentions of finishing it, but it doesn’t feel like his decision.

16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him? 

He questions his loyalty to the kingdom and especially to his father. He doesn’t talk about this at all, not even with Galen.

Uhhh... I can explain, really...

Yeaaaaahhh... so, after 39 successful posts (gimme credit) I finally missed a day. I knew I was going to at some point and considering all I had to do was post some more of that character profile, I'm pretty disappointed in myself for missing. However, I'm not going to get hung up on it, because that would be useless. Then again, I can't just let it slide, so this is my proposition;


Comment on this blog with suggestions for what you think is a suitable punishment. It can be anything you want whether that be something embarrassing or me answering one no boundaries question about the books. I'm leaving it up to you. I will then choose a punishment from your suggestions, because I'm not about to be publicly embarrassed all over the internet without some say. Get to it, people.


It is also Question Friday tomorrow. So, if you have questions for me, let me know! If I don't get any questions... I'll just post for Friday as if it was today or yesterday to make up for the missed post.


Here's some more info on Julian!

Speech

1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse? 

His voice is just a touch deeper than average. 

2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate? 

It is clear as a bell and he doesn’t slur his words at all, so its easy to understand him. He attempts to sound intimidating and commanding, but it usually falls just short, because there’s not a whole lot of intimidating man buried inside him. He doesn’t stutter or hesitate, but speaks clearly and openly. He doesn’t talk loudly, but just at the right pitch, somewhere in the middle. A lot of this comes from speech therapy that the princes and princesses go through growing up in order to be great speakers. However, when having down time, he tends to relax his gate of speech. 

3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics? 

The accent equivalent would be a high-class British accent. He doesn’t have any strange quirks in how he speaks, but he does tend to sound a little surfer-bumish when he’s just hanging out. He is really relaxed and uses a lot of slang. However, he can turn on the royal voice and sound extremely proper.

4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency? 

English is the only language that is applicable. Except for maybe the language that the Sirens speak, which I’m still not sure about. (No one understand that but them and someone who spends all their time around them.)

5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations? 

No.

6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words? 

He is very good on the spot, but sometimes he sounds kind of stupid, but that’s mostly because he doesn’t have a lot of experience with the world.

7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change? 

He is very eloquent when he needs to be. Otherwise, like I mentioned, super relaxed and lots of slang and half-sentences.

In Depth Profile

I found this in depth character profile. It is ridiculously long, so I won't be posting it all in one go. I decided that I wanted to do some seriously searching through Julian's personality and character before I got writing and this is working out well. For a writer, you know you completely understand your character when you can answer questions about them as easily as if it were yourself. I'm pretty sure I know everything I need to know about Julian. Here's the first part.

Body and Appearance

1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy? 

Julian stands at five feet and eleven inches. He is lean, but muscular, a trait he inherited from his father. Most of his weight is muscle, but looking at him clothed, you wouldn’t realize how toned he is.

2. How old is he? 

Nineteen, about to turn twenty in a couple days at the beginning of book one.

3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch? 

He stands relaxed, not quite giving the impression of royalty. He doesn’t quite slouch, but he doesn’t stand up straight either. His mother often tells him to stand up straight. However, when the time calls, he can stand tall, shoulders back like a good little prince.

4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?

His health is great. He is fit, mostly in preparation for spending a year out in the world having to fend for himself. He doesn’t know a lot about what to expect out there, so being in top shape is the best bet. He doesn’t have any illnesses or conditions that he is aware of. Nothing that would be a chronic threat at his age.

5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid? 

When he’s under no pressure and hanging out, he moves very relaxed and will even shuffle his feet, much like most young adults do. When he’s doing anything athletic, he is very powerful, with striking strength that is evident. He’s very precise and poised. Each motion is well defined.

6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror? 

He’s an attractive young man. He is very edgy and intense. He sees himself as not much more than some man who got trapped as the prince. He doesn’t think about how he looks because at this point, it doesn’t matter. It is about being a royal and not how he looks.

7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred? 

He has tan, medium toned olive skin. He doesn’t have freckles or anything that is particularly distinctive. He is not scarred (yet) and has clear skin.

8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style. 

Long, thick, strong, slightly wavy chocolate brown hair. It falls just above his shoulders, if not just a tad shorter. He wears it loose when he isn’t required to be in front of crowd of people, but when he needs to be formal, it is pulled back at the nape of his neck. He hates wearing it that way.

9. What color are his eyes? 

Dark brown with little definition.

10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features? 

Intense, narrowed eyes and a straw chin and jaw. He looks very regal, but his personality softens those features.

11. What are his chief tension centers? 

His shoulders and lower back. As an active man, those are strained more than other places, especially when it comes to sword fighting (or training) and various other physically demanding activities.

12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit? 

Mostly, whatever he is required to wear. When it comes to being formal, he wears whatever his mother has had the servants send. They are often elaborate suits ranging in color. He looks best in jewel tones, so his mother says. Otherwise, he wears only slacks, boots and loose flowing shirts. Depending on the activity, sometimes he wears lightweight leather armor. For the most part, he likes to feel and light as possible.

13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them? 

Everything he owns is tailored to him specifically, so everything fits him exactly as it should. He is comfortable in his more casual clothes, but the minute he’s dressed up, he is stiff and uncomfortable.

14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences? 

Well, here ‘job’ would translate as ‘on the quest.’ So he’s dressed himself more comfortable. He has a loose shirt, a waistcoat, an outer coat, fitted slacks that still allow him a wide range of motion and boots. However, he’s got quite the belt and holster full of gadgets and things. So he looks like a man on a mission.

15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando? 

Thanks to Meiri, we know that he wears briefs. Haha. Well, the equivalent to Victorian era briefs at least. 

More tomorrow. LL&P

Daphne D'Amore

As promised, you get to meet Galen's sister and Julian's first love, Daphne. I haven't decided exactly to what extent they are in love and I am not really sure how it will turn out in the end for them. I'm still deciding. The curse of these two is that they will spend a very crucial year of their lives apart, where they will change dramatically. We'll see how it turns out for them.

Name: Daphne D’Amore

Nickname: None

Age: 19

Height: 5’5”

Weight: 125

Build: Slender, but womanly.

Eyes: Medium blue (darker on the ousides and lighter in the middle)

Skin: Fair with freckles

Hair: Strawberry blonde.

Other Facial Features: Soft, alluring features. Very, very pretty with a quiet sort of beauty.

Occupation: None.

Personality: A little bit mysterious, can hold her own against the boys (having grown up with Galen, after all), outdoorsy, loves to ride horses, play sports and is competitive. She’s a great friend, very loyal and appreciative. She is one of those people, that no matter how hard you try, you just can’t not like her. She’s crafty and can think outside the box.

Background: Born 2 years after her older brother, Daphne grew up around royalty. Her mother always nurtured her and she’s well-rounded in art, music and even some of the sciences. She befriended Sophia de Arques at a young age, but quickly found herself drawn towards Julian and her brother since they were always going on their own little adventures. She learned to keep up with them and later on, because of a competition, Galen drew attention to Daphne which made Julian realize how beautiful she really was. They began to spend more time alone when she was eighteen, knowing that in a year Julian would be leaving. She often wonders if he will actually come back to her or if the outside world will change him.

Greek God Equivalent: Daphne (who isn’t a goddess, but rather a nymph)

Other: The story of Apollo and Daphne is really tragic. Apollo was making fun of Eros for using a bow and arrow, which is a warriors weapon when Eros was merely the god of love. Eros, angered, shot Apollo with a golden arrow and Daphne with a lead one. The golden arrow struck Apollo in the heart and made him fall in love with Daphne, but the lead arrow was made to make Daphne hate Apollo. Apollo chased her, trying to convince her to marry him, which she hated. When she realized that she couldn’t escape him, she told her father, Peneus (a river god), to open up the ground and swallow her or change her form. Her father turned her into a laurel tree. Apollo promised that he would always tend to the tree, using his powers over youthfulness to keep it always green. 

I decided to stick with the name Daphne because I really couldn't imagine changing it from that for this myth. I think the myth is such a great one and shows just how ridiculous the gods act when they are challenged. They are severely childish, so it makes that whole part of them really, really fun. I think that there's a great story behind Julian and Daphne and even though the legend is based on them hating each other, I'm definitely not taking that whole thing into consideration and more just that Julian was struck by her beauty after Galen somehow pointed it out. Daphne would be stupid to not accept Julian anyway. 

Tell me what you think of the D'Amore siblings! I rather like them. I'm sad that I won't get to include them as much as I realized I'd want to. Galen is a great character and I think Daphne will be able to hold her own too. For now, we will have to just deal with Julian and Milo and we'll see where it all takes them.

It's Thursday! Which means I need your questions for tomorrow's Question Friday! Meiri has been giving me some great questions lately and I hope you all can find it in your heart to ask me some too. Otherwise you will have to listen to me ask myself questions and Lord knows that will be boring/hilarious. Let's just not find out. 

LL&P

The Hero's Best Friend

I had to be working on the best friend of Julian and so I finally sat down and worked out who he is and what he's like. Right now, I'm totally in love with him. His history with Julian is just amazing and I will definitely give you more information on that later. For now, I would like you to me Galen D'Amore.

Name: Galen D’Amore

Nickname: None.

Age: 21

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 175 lbs.

Build: Lean, thin, lanky.

Eyes: Deep blue.

Skin: Fair

Hair: Light brown.

Other Facial Features: Angular, very attractive, sort of pretty.

Occupation: Duke after he inherits his father’s duchy.

Personality: Entertaining. He often finds himself in trouble beside Julian. They grew up together since their mother’s are close friends. He is quite the charmer and has a way of always remaining calm in spite of all the trouble they get themselves into. Even growing up, he was the talker for the prince, since Galen was able to talk his way out of next to anything.

Background: Raised among royalty. Galen’s mother is a childhood friend to Claire de Arques. He is not in line to take the thrown unless he happens to marry Sophia (which if anyone was going to do so, it would be him.) He is in the running of suitors for Sophia.

Greek God Equivalent: Eros (Roman Equivalent is Cupid)

Other: His sister is Daphne, which is Julian’s first love. Not quite sure how Galen feels about this just yet. 

You will get to meet Daphne D'Amore tomorrow. I'm making myself work on her too. I already have a physical descriptions of her. I might even tell you the story of how Julian first realized that he even had a thing for Daphne. But, you will just have to sit here and swoon over the awesomeness that is Galen. 


LL&P

Percy Jackson's Got Nothing On Me

I told you I was going to rant about Percy Jackson and the Olympians and I totally am. The reason is, there seems to be a very prominent theme at the moment in movies and books that use Greek Mythology. Now, I don't know when this all started before it actually got popular, but that's just how it all tends to work. I mean, we've been on this stupid vampire kick for a while now. It is how it goes. We always have these trends in movies and books. We are all hoping this vampire thing ends soon.

Anyway, I was talking to my mom about my book and she was asking questions about it. She was wondering about my use of Greek Mythology and wondering if I was cutting it kind of close with all the myths that are going around right now. That's actually a very big concern. If I get in on the trend too late, I look like a knock off. If I come in on it too early, no one wants to read it because they don't have an interest. Then again, I'm taking on a genre that doesn't really get much attention. I'm hoping to change that.

Here's the benefit to using Greek Mythology as inspiration and not directly. I am taking the characters that i develop and linking them up with a myth or god or goddess. For me, this gives me something to compare it to. Greek Mythology created so many major themes in literature. You can't really escape them. There was love and revenge, there was adventure and tragedy. It took the conventional idea of god or gods being all-powerful, all-knowing and perfect beings and turned them into nearly human creations. They did the worst things. They fought with each other and betrayed each other. They fell in love and fell out of love. It was an amazing concept for an ancient culture to have developed. That is why I fell in love with it and that is why I chose it to use it as a base. I'm not taking stories directly from mythology, not completely. There are definitely parallels between my plot and characters and those found in mythology. However, there is nothing new under the sun, as they say. Everything will have come from that in the first place. So, I decided that seeking inspiration from mythology was a good way to make sure that I was hitting very human driven plots.

As for Percy Jackson, I must be the biggest nerd ever. I basically watched the movie and corrected the mythology the whole time. I understand that the author, Rick Riordan, gets creative license and I respect that. I felt like maybe there were things that could have been portrayed better. Unfortunately for me, I haven't read the books yet, but that is on my list of things to do because I'm dying to know how he approached most of mythology. Some of his ideas on the use of gods seemed a little off, but that still could have been the movie and not the actual books. We'll see. I was basically able to predict the entire thing because of the myths that were present and I could figure where it was going because of that. I felt super cool, even if it was super nerdy. It wasn't great, but that's what you get for making movies out of books. I would suggest you go see it if you like mythology. It seems to make more sense that way.

Cross my fingers that I get some work done tomorrow. I need to develop two more characters and I should be able to get writing. The first few captures should be easy enough, its going to be the rest of them when I need to know where Julian is going that I have to wait for my map to be finished. I'm so excited to get that finalized and looked at. Have a great night!

LL&P

Clothing Research

I've been searching the interwebs for a couple hours now. Basically, it started with Victorian era fashion and spread from there. If you don't know anything about steampunk fashion, don't worry, it is pretty easy. Basically, the entire genre came from the industrial revolutions of the Victorian age. So, when our modern dreamers decided to take their imaginative inventions and push them just that much further you ended up with steampunk. It only makes sense to then meld the scifi world with that and create a fashion built on Victorian style dress.

The Victorian age spanned across the 1800's. I am deciding to go with the late 1880's to the 1890's for my clothing inspiration. For women, this mean long skirts with bustles and coats that have strange names. If you saw Sherlock Holmes recently, just think of what Rachel McAdams wore the whole time. She is a perfect example of a foundation for my version of clothing. Now, if you take that sort of look, add chains, metal, pins, buttons, corsets, gears and pocket watches, you pretty much get what I'm looking for. The skirts may be shorter and the blouses a little lower, but overall, that is a great start.

Men's fashion is trousers, waistcoats and outer coats. Oh and spats over their shoes. I love spats. That is if you are a nobleman. The areas that are stricken with poverty will have less use for those things. When it comes to accessories, you get fasteners in women's hair, men with monocles and top hats, or bowler hats for more casual days. Of course, since  a lot of the men will take to the skies, I've decided to merge the era's clothing with pirates. There's also going to be a bit of World War II style fashion and traveling going on. I'm really going to do a lot of fusing with all the time periods because it's fiction, I can do that.

I'm going to be doing some artwork with my sister-in-law today. Hopefully we can get started on Julian and Milo's design. I'd like to also start on the map as soon as possible. Luckily my sister-in-law is an artist and loves drawing maps. This should be interesting. Because I don't have anything for you to look at just yet, go look through this website for some amazing steampunkish fashion. Some of it is just incredible and I can't wait to get working on stuff just like that. I wish I could sew.

LL&P