I love Blythe for her sense of honor and her strong self confidence. She knows exactly what she wants out of life and she won’t back down until she reaches it. But I also love that sometimes she doesn’t realize exactly what she wants until it’s almost too late and she has to reevaluate the things she thought were true.

I love Firedrake for their resilience. They’ve had a ton of horrible things happen in their life, but they always push past this and come out stronger for it. Somewhere under all that snark and bravado is a kind heart and if they could just get past all their inner negativity, they’d make a wonderful mentor.

I love Sol for his constant positivity and willingness to help out anyone. It doesn’t matter what happens, Sol will see the light at the end of the tunnel. And if that light happens to be an approaching train, he’ll invent something that gets him and his friends out of its path just in time because there’s no way he’s just saving himself.

Etri, though, I think I might love even more than I do all the others. In a way he possesses a little of everyone else. Even though he has intense social anxiety and self doubt, he can face the things that scare him when someone he cares about is in trouble. His honor is a different kind than Blythe’s and developed not out of cultural expectation and training, but as an individual need to do what’s right. Etri was born into a strict and frankly horrifying culture, but refused to live by those expectations and rules. It was love for his brother (defying the teachings that called for no family bonds) that got him and Sol safely out of there and to where they are now, and while he may not be willing to put his life on the line for strangers, once someone has earned his loyalty, they have it for life.

I think it’s because I see myself in Etri (an introvert with anxiety and not so great self confidence) that I also see the things I wish I could be in him (the bravery, the loyalty, the strength against odds). If he can do these things and face a deck stacked against him, then so can I. So he’s my favorite because he gives me, personally, the most hope. It would be such a wonderful experience if one day he and the other dorks do the same for the people who read my books- that others will be able to see themselves in these characters.

This turned super serious when I’m writing comedic stories and things usually devolve into Sol losing his pants or Adair accidentally hitting the others with invisibility paint or Firedrake’s pranks backfiring, but I guess sometimes I have to admit that there is seriousness mixed in with the sarcasm and pies and dorks. ;)


So here's a question for anyone reading this blog: if you're a writer, who's your favorite of your characters? Why are they your favorite? And are you having as hard a time picking as I did? (Seriously, now I feel guilty that I didn't pick everyone else lol.)

~Meri