This post is part of the April Blog Chain at Absolute Write. This month’s challenge is to describe one of your characters in 50 words or less and then have that character interview you. Mine is below and I have to say this was really fun!
Part 1.
David Heiland is anything but your average high school student: State track and archery champion, honor roll student, and oh, yeah, heir to a multi-million dollar fortune. He never dreamed he’d soon add protecting a magical, parallel world on the brink of annihilation to his list of achievements. When a traveler snatches David and his best friend, Charlotte, and ferries them to Fallhollow, David discovers far more unsettling truths: his arrival has awakened a vengeful dragon, a magic man is out to kill him, and his entire fifteen years of life has been nothing but a gargantuan lie.
Part 2.
Today didn’t start out great at all. I burned my thumb on the frying pan, the dog puked all over the living room rug, the cat fell in the fish tank and I spilled coffee all over my blouse.
I kicked my shoes into the corner as soon as I entered my office and opened the blinds, but the warm sunlight on the butter-colored walls did little to fix my mood. I sat down behind my desk, my fingers pressed to my temples, confident the day couldn’t get any worse. I was wrong.
I had just opened my e-mails when this teenager pushed through the door and walked into my office. No knock, no nothing. He just strutted in like he owned the place. Normally, this would have irritated the hell out of me, but in this case, I didn’t mind. This kid was gorgeous. Tall. Short, dark hair, intense blue eyes and was dressed like a million bucks.
“Ms. Ford?” he says to me in this smooth, honey-sweet Tennessee drawl that made my insides all gooey.
“Don’t you know how to knock?” I had to sound like I was in control. In all actuality, I was wishing I was thirty-five years younger.
“I need to speak with you,” he said.
“And you are?”
He sat down across from me his elbows on his knees and twisted his Rolex on his wrist so the hands faced just so. “You don’t recognize me?”
I shook my head. “Should I?”
His eyes drifted to my coffee stain and then he looked away as if embarrassed by my slovenliness. I hugged my legal pad.
“You wrote a book about me. Word is, you’re writing another. I want to know why?”
“I write books and stories about a lot of people. That doesn’t tell me who you are.”
“I’m David. David Heiland?” His tone carried that “duh” factor.
I gagged on my own spit. “What?” I said. “I-I don’t understand. What are you doing in Florida? You’re supposed to be in Havendale, Tennessee.”
“I had to come see you. I had to find out why you’re doing this to me.”
I leaned forward, confused. “Doing what to you?”
“Messing up my life. Why did you wait until I was almost sixteen to tell me my parents were alive, and what is it with this paladin crap? And Eric?” He looked away, searching for words. He finally found them. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but if Eric takes Charlotte away from me . . .”
I gave him a wry smile. “Um, how can he take something away from you that’s not yours?”
“She is mine. You know how much I love her. Now, thanks to you, the whole world knows, too.”
“Why don’t you tell her how you feel?”
He looked at the floor and tumbled his thumbs one over the other. “I don’t know. Scared, I guess.”
“Admitting your feelings is a scary thing to do. It took me a long time to learn that lesson. Sometimes you just have to go for it.”
“Yeah, well I won’t have a chance if you keep Eric hanging around.”
I nodded and smiled. “I think I understand what’s going on here. Do you mind if I give you a bit of advice?” He sat back and gestured for me to continue. “I think you’re allowing your fear to overshadow your faith. I learned long ago fear and faith cannot exist together. You’re doubting what you have to offer. Trust me when I say you either have to believe in you, believe in what you are, or let your fear take over. Only you can choose which one will be your ally.”
“Fine, but why did you have to tell the world about it? Don’t you have any respect for privacy?”
“I’m a writer, David. You have a unique story. It needs to be told.”
He chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “Yeah? What’s so unique about it?”
“Don’t you see, David? You’re different. Most people we read about don’t have the finer things in life. They are always striving for something more. They want the dream. They want to amount to something or gain acceptance or wealth or love. You, on the other hand, already have it. Look at you. You’re good-looking. You’re an honor student. You’re a champion athlete. You’re rich, you have a beautiful home. You’re surrounded by love, and yet, in spite of all those things, you long for something the rest of us have and yet take for granted: parents. I know what that feels like. Both of my parents are dead and I know how much I miss them. I couldn’t see you suffer anymore. It was time you knew the truth and give you what you want. You’ve missed almost sixteen years with them. I couldn’t have you miss more time.”
“You couldn’t just have them come home? Why did you have to put me in danger?”
“What kind of story would that be?” I set the legal pad on the desk. “Surely you don’t think I was just going to hand this one over to you. I mean, sometimes you do have to work for what you want.”
“But you opened a portal to a parallel world and threw me in it without any warning. Now there’s a dragon and a warlock trying to kill me! I didn’t ask for this!”
I stood up and walked around my desk and sat on the corner. “No one asks for the bad or the unexpected to happen, David, but it’s life. How we deal with those events is what shapes us, defines us, makes us who we are.”
“But what about Charlotte? Why did you thrust her into the mess with me? She doesn’t deserve this.”
“No, but she is your friend and friends stick together through the good times and the bad times. She’ll also come away from this with some valuable lessons. What the two of you must decide is whether you will be victims or victors. No one else can make that choice for you.”
“Which one do you choose when things go wrong?”
“After I have my pity party?” I smiled. “I always fall back on faith, so I guess that makes me a victor. Whatever will be, will be in the end. You just have to believe and never lose hope.”
“So how does it end for me? For Charlotte?”
I shrugged. “Exactly the way you want it to, I suppose.”
He nodded and stood. Damn, he was tall, and I have to admit, my heart fluttered. The kid was a lady killer. If only I was only 16 again.
Not.
He held out his hand. I shook it. “Thanks, for talking to me,” he said. “I have a lot to think about.” He walked to the door, paused and looked over his shoulder. “Can I just ask you to do me a favor? Make sure Charlotte gets home safely. That’s all I really care about.”
“It’s your story, sweetie. I’m only writing it.”
He nodded, gave me that ‘see ya’ wave, and closed the door behind him.
Be sure to check out the other entries!
orion_mk3 – link to this month’s post
Yoghurtelf – link to this month’s post
COchick – link to this month’s post
Steam&Ink – link to this month’s post
xcomplex – link to this month’s post
pezie – link to this month’s post
aimeelaine – link to this month’s post
auburnassassin – link to this month’s post
Della Odell – link to this month’s post
Juniper – link to this month’s post
Proach – link to this month’s post
allmyposts – link to this month’s post
jkellerford – link to this month’s post
LadyMage – http://katherinegilraine.com coming soon
dolores haze – http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/ coming soon
YA Chit Chat 
“What the two of you must decide is whether you will be victims or victors. No one else can make that choice for you.” Superb advice for your 16-year-old character. In fact, everything you had to say to him was good. Everyone can learn from it–even fictional characters. Great writing and by the way, I LOVE your blog.
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Thank you, Deanna! Your words mean a lot!
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I really enjoyed this! David is a likable character and, I like the idea that even though he has what a lot of people dream to obtain, he years for something many take for granted. Oh, and I’m with you on not wanting to be 16 again! 😛 Great post!
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I like that line too: “It’s your story, sweetie. I’m only writing it.”
David has just the right amount of bewilderment, charm, and earnestness. Charlotte is a lucky girl.
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aw, Kat, thank you. Can you talk to the agents for me and convince them of that? 🙂 The last agent that took a peek at my first 20 pages said that even though David’s voice is very strong, there needs to be more ‘girl appeal’. Alas. 🙂 I guess I need to make him more ’emotional’, something girls can relate to, other than the fact he’s rich, good looking, self confident and excels at everything he does. LOL. Looking forward to May’s blog chain.
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“His tone carried that “duh” factor” What a Great line!
And what a great voice. So natural!
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Awe! I’d miss my parents, too. 🙂 He sounds like a nice kid. 🙂 You’ve got a good voice going there, too. 🙂
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Thanks, Aimee. I loved your interview, too. Thanks for turning me onto the site! I’m looking forward to May’s adventure. Should be fun!!
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Oh to be 16 again indeed… Nice glimpse into David’s world. Love your blog, BTW.
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thank you, Claire!
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Love, love it. And love the way he walks into the interview. Made me smile, that.
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“It’s your story, sweetie. I’m only writing it.” Love that! I also love how you told him “Exactly the way you want it to.” Really, that is very true. He may think he wants it one way, but his choices will dictate what he really wants. Nice job!
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Nice! I like that you’ve spiced up the alternate magical world with a bit of Tennessee 🙂 And am I correct in surmising that your description forms the first paragraph of a query letter?
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yes, it does 🙂 too cheesy?
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Aw, all he really wants is for Charlotte to be safe. Good kid!
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Brilliant. I loved the part where Mac said the voices wander in and out of your mind, why not your room! that made me chuckle out loud. Cool. You should sign up at Absolute Write so you can participate in these kind of things. And set up a free blog on wordpress or blogger. You don’t have to post a lot but at least you’ll have one for fun events like this. 🙂 Hope you are well and school is treating you right.
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Hey Jen,
I LOVED this, as I don’t have my own blog I have writen an interview with Mac and thought I would post it here. Hope you don’t mind. I thought yours was amazing and the whole thing a really cool idea, here’s mind;
I was lying on my bed, writing as usual, I was onto a new story, when the door swung back on its hinges, I jumped up, my head swaying from the sudden movement. A man wearing a white shirt, silver trousers and a smirk looked at me. I stared back, to shocked to ask who he was, or why he was here.
“Hello.” He smiled I sat up, pulling the zip on my hoody up and trying to straighten my hair, he wasn’t exactly ugly, though a little old for me perhaps. “I need to talk to you.”
“And you would be…?” But I knew who it was, I just didn’t believe my own eyes. That smirk, the way he stood, tall but slightly hunched over, his hands deep in his pockets, there was no mistaking him.
“Mac of course, you didn’t recognise me.”
“Am I dreaming, or insane, because it’s not very often fictional characters walk into my room.”
“I’m not fictional and you know it. Anyway, we walk in and out of your head all the time, why not your room?”
“Well, I…”
“Anyway, I need to talk to you, it’s important.” He walked to my bed and sat down, one eyebrow raised, his lips pouting in that way he would pout whenever Teri annoyed him or made him worry.
“Ok, go ahead.”
“I want to know why you finished things off the way you did, you could have got Teri’s mum and dad back for her.”
“Yes but Teris mam and dad weren’t supposed to come back just like that.”
“So they do come back?” He was looking deep into my eyes and I wondered if he was actually real, if he was part real, part fiction, perhaps he would freeze in time a couple of years until I caught up with him, but no, Teri and him were soul mates, remember?
“What?”
“Teri’s mum and dad? You’re writing more, they come back?”
“I don’t know if I’m writing more yet.”
“You’re just going to leave us stranded.”
“Well, I don’t know.”
“what are you writing now?”
“Something new.”
“Well lucky for you that you can just move on and leave us stranded. We don’t even know whose Head of Department, we don’t know where James from the American Department has gone, or whether Matthias staying, or where Teri’s parents are. Fancy answering a few of those questions.”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Well you need to know.” We both sat frowning at each other. I sighed and sat back on the bed, legs crossed, watching him for a few moments.
“I’ll make you a promise, when I know the answers, I’ll write them. I think Teri’s mam and dad are still out there. I think Matthias will be around a while longer, but he won’t leave the way you’re thinking and I think you haven’t seen the last of James. Also, I’m forewarning you, the person you think is getting the Headship, isn’t.”
Mac looked shocked, he cross one leg over the other and stared in front of him, at the door a foot away, my room being so tiny, there was no else for him to stand or sit. I worried I might have left dirty clothes lying and tried to check without drawing his attention.
“You haven’t given that twat the headship have you?”
I remained silent, feeling a prickle of guilt, “I’m just the writer.”
Mac stood up and walked to the door, his hand on the handle. “Well, thanks for nothing.”
“Hey, Mac?”
He turned to look at me, one eyebrow raised questioningly.
“You got Teri.”
Mac grinned and laughed, “True.”
“Though, things are going to be a little rough for a year and then there will be a big surprise. Be nice to her about it though, she’ll be uncertain at first as it will be really, really unexpected.”
“Now you sound like a dodgy fortune-teller.”
“Well, I suppose you can change it, though it is Teri’s story and not yours, to change.”
Mac nodded, looking grim.
“Well thank-you, I’d better be seeing you around, get rid of whoever your writing about and get back to us please?”
I nodded, “In time.”
Then he was gone and I sat wondering whether I should share the experience, deciding I had fallen asleep I turned back to my new story. It seemed I had best hurry and get it finished so I get started The Time 2, though of course, it would NOT be called The Time 2…
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