February is Fantasy Month Week Two// Characters

So, I can't really believe that a whole week has passed already. We are now on week two of February is Fantasy Month. In this post I will be discussing characters. I'm a very character driven reader and writer, which means I feel very strongly on this subject.

Okay, before we go any further, I have an admission to make. I love assassins and thieves and princes and queens and pirates. Mercenaries are a particular weakness of mine. But no matter how much I will be intrigued by a character by hearing that they are an assassin or a mercenary, that's not what's going to make me love them as a character. There's so much more to a fantasy character than these titles and tropes.

Cedric from my Snow White novella Winter Cursed is a prince, but he is far from Prince Charming. He's a sarcastic, snarky dark lord with shadow powers and attention deficit disorder. Nikolai from my WIP Here is There is also a prince, he's also a rebel and pretends that he's crazy and less powerful to avoid notice. What do they have in common? They're both dethroned princes. They couldn't be more different though. Being dethroned made Cedric irresponsible, when Nikolai lost his throne, he never lost sight of his duty to his people.

Aleria from An Apprentice of Death (not a story I talk about much, but it's a high fantasy) and Adilah from League of Thieves are both assassins. Aleria is used, she's deadly. She's a pawn. She's the queen. She's every piece in the game and she will destroy you. Honestly, she scares me even if she doesn't look like much. She may or may not be responsible for killing my favorite character, but enough of that. Adilah, on the other hand, she fought to become what she is, she wasn't forced into it by anyone else. She is her own master, she fights to fit into this world, even disguising herself as a man to have this profession. My heroine Jaye in Of Gold and Iron also becomes an assassin, but she does so because she has no choice. She doesn't even plan on really assassinating anyone, to her the title is simply that, a title. Unlike Adilah and Aleria, being an assassin is what they are.

I guess the point that I'm trying to make is there are tropes, especially in a genre such as fantasy. When I figure out a character, I do sometimes go with these tropes because hey, they are tropes for a reason. But even with these tropes that I love so much, that isn't where it ends. That isn't who these characters are. That's just the snappy marketable bit that is supposed to get fantasy reader's attention.

Your characters have to grow, develop, be unique, be real in order for them to truly be loved. Don't make the mistake of thinking that just because you have kick-butt girl pirates that your story is complete. If you don't take the time to develop these kick-butt girl pirates to make them more than simply that, then your story is never going to truly be complete. I say this because I recently read a book that took no time to develop its characters because it thought that the tropes were enough. It was awful. Like I said, as a character driven reader and writer, to me, your characters are the most important part of your story.

I think I would be remiss if I didn't mention magic on the topic of fantasy characters. I know that there are some people who don't like magic. I am not one of those people. I love magic. The more magic in a book the better. But if you have a super powerful mage you also have to make certain that you don't make the mistake of letting their magic become who they are. They still have to be a character with flaws and hopes and dreads. The magic should cost them something. They should struggle with it and with other things as well. I also think it's realistic to have a mixed cast of magical and non-magical characters in a group of characters because talents vary so why shouldn't magic as well? Some books I have more magic, some, like League of Thieves, I have only one main character who has magic.

I'll touch briefly on the topic of romance, because I probably have too much to say on the matter and I don't want to get carried away (maybe I'll do a series about how to write romance...), but I will say that you don't have to have a romance between an assassin and their target or a pirate and a princess in order to have a swashbuckling swoony romance. If you do it right, you can have a romance between an assassin and an artist or a pirate and a traveler and have it be just as good if not better. It's not about what your characters are be it royalty or scoundrels or mages or magical creatures, it's about who they are. And I guess that's what the point of this slightly rambly post is.

All right, so that's it for this week in February is Fantasy Month, next week I'll talk about fantasy plots.

If you want more February is Fantasy Month be sure to check out the blogging schedule here. You can find other participants here and here. And we have a prize! So be sure to comment to increase your chances of winning.

And don't worry, guys, I didn't forget. I promised a cover reveal for A Winter Dark and Deadly and so a cover reveal I shall give you..

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Mirror… Mirror…

Elisabeth risked her life to defeat her stepmother and reclaim her crown, but her courtiers have a different idea of who should rule. Her twenty-first birthday is still years away, and it seems that if she does not marry they will give her throne to another regent until she comes of age.

All will fall…

However, she wonders if it will even come to that when she discovers that despite everything she has been told, her stepmother Ismena is still alive and bent on reclaiming her crown- as well as her beauty. Rumor has it that Ismena is searching for a mystical weapon in Mooraven that has the power to end them all. Elisabeth intends to find it first, but how much is she truly willing to risk to save her kingdom?

There is no fairest...

Winter is coming and with it war. However, Elisabeth’s court is determined to sit idly by and watch the threat from afar. With nowhere else to turn, she is forced to seek an alliance with the only person who can help her. Cedric saved her once, but can Elisabeth rely on him when he is obviously lying to her?

Of them all.

With a kingdom on the brink of war, Elisabeth quickly learns that there is no one she can fully trust. Not even herself with her control over her ice magic slipping and her heart yearning for the dark prince. Through it all, one thing becomes dangerously clear… the queen who has the most power is the one who will rule.

Add it on Goodreads here!

And, as some of you may already know, today is my birthday! Yay, I'm nineteen. Not sure what I'm going to do with myself... But enough of that because the reason I'm even stating this. The reason I'm stating this is because I want to share with you the birthday present my sister got me. She commissioned an artist to draw a picture of my characters.

It's Cedric and Elisabeth!!!!!!

Isn't this lovely piece of artwork just perfect??? It looks just like them, eep! I think I'm going to actually put this in A Winter Dark and Deadly when it finally gets published so that you all can enjoy this lovely piece of artwork as well. Thanks so much to my sister Jes!

Okay, so that's all from me for today. What about you? What are your favorite types of fantasy characters? What do you think of that cover? Comment below!