Beautiful People: Raymond

1. What is their secret desire?

Raymond doesn't have many secrets or secret desires for that matter, but if he had a secret desire it would have something to do with the servant girl Elaine. 

2. What is the best and brightest moment they experience during the story?

The best and brightest moment is definitely when Raymond and Aeronwen are reunited with their family (and with Elaine). 

3. What are the emotional places your characters are afraid to go to?

Raymond is scared of emotions in general. He's not a very emotional person. He prefers to be pragmatic and hands-on. In this way he's very similar to Cole. However, unlike Cole, Raymond struggles to show his emotions even when he feels them. 

Cole couldn't hide his emotions if he tried but Raymond often feels like an impenetrable rock and this disturbs him because he does feel things deeply...he just has trouble showing it and expressing it. And the thought of being forced to express his emotions is a formidable one to Raymond. 

4. Is there a place/city/room where they will never go? Why?

The only place Raymond would never go is the Enchanted Forest. Passage into the Enchanted Forest is forbidden and even those who dare enter unlawfully meet an untimely demise there. The Enchanted Forest is protected by the Order of Emrys and cannot be entered without permission.

5. If they were permanently leaving town, what would they easily throw out? What would they refuse to part with? (Why?)

Raymond is not a very materialistic person. However, there are a few things he would be loathe to part with. One of those things is his horse, Bryn, named after his uncle who died in battle during the Thousand Years War. Raymond also loves his sword, which also belonged to King Brynmor.

6. What do they want (consciously and tangibly)?

The first thing Raymond wants is to marry Elaine. In his mind, this is the most formidable obstacle in his path. This beats battling the Enchantress Almandine, Alkyians and evil dragons. Elaine is a servant girl, hardly a suitable match for a prince and Raymond must either somehow make her nobility or convince King Glendower that marrying a servant girl is really not so bad after all.

Apart from Elaine, Raymond wants to be a good king. He wants to be strong and wise. He wants to challenge himself every single day. And Raymond does just that. He challenges himself physically and intellectually. You would not want to face him in battle because he would most likely be the last man standing. Think of all the Avengers (minus the Hulk), put them together, and basically you have Prince Raymond. 

He has Captain America's honor. 

Iron Man's intellect.

Thor's strength (and good looks).

Hawkeye's skill.

Black Widow's agility.

He even sometimes has a temper like the Hulk, except when Raymond gets angry he doesn't turn into a giant green monster. 

7. On the other hand: what do they need (on the emotional, subconscious level)?

Prince Raymond needs encouragement. He needs people to be confident in him and uphold him. He carries the weight of the world on his shoulders and while from the outside he looks as bold and fearless as any man can possibly be, on the inside he is terrified. He is afraid of failing his people and his parents.

Since he's not good at explaining his emotions (and prefers to not talk in depth about his emotions), Raymond needs his friends and family to understand him. He needs them to be able to read him by his actions and not be offended if he needs some space or time to himself. 

8. If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be?

Raymond's one deficiency, if it can even be called that, is public speaking. He hates making speeches. He hates being the center of attention. He is not a man of many words, nor is he inherently a diplomatic people-person. Nevertheless, his lack of eloquence is often what earns his respect. He doesn't say much and thus he doesn't run the risk of saying something foolish or offensive. 

9. What is the most humiliating event of their life?

The most humiliating event in Raymond's life was probably when Aeronwen discovered Raymond loved Elaine. It didn't take her long, as Aeronwen is good friends with everyone in the palace and even closer friends with both Elaine or Raymond. It was embarrassing enough when Aeronwen eluded to her brother that he might have feelings for a certain servant girl, but it was utterly humiliating when Aeronwen accidentally blurted out Raymond's secret to Cole and Maggie. 

10. What things do they turn to when they need a bit of hope?

The person Raymond leans on the most is probably Aeronwen. He loves Elaine, but Aeronwen has known him the longest. She reads him perhaps better than Elaine. She has seen him at his weakest and supported him despite his failures. Also, Aeronwen is guaranteed to show Raymond the brighter, more positive side of things. She, in and of herself, is a source of light and hope.

Raymond also turns to the past. He turns to the history of the Silver Kingdom and the stories of his ancestors who fought bravely for thousands of years in order to preserve their noble heritage and the purity of the dragon race. He holds onto the hope of their perseverance.

Dani "Ruby" Fisher is a twenty-year-old girl who works full time as an administrative assistant and has a passion for learning how to love and obey her Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, more and more each day. She loves her family and friends and enjoys playing the piano and any other instrument she can get her hands on as well as dancing, teaching, writing in her journal, drinking tea, making attempts at poetry, holding her baby nephew, and occasionally blogging about life on her personal site A Vapor in the Wind.

Beautiful People: February Edition

Cole & Aeronwen

1. How long have they been a couple? 

It's difficult to pinpoint when exactly Aeronwen and Cole became an official couple. At the start of our story they have yet to meet each other, but toward the end it's pretty obvious to everyone that they love each other. 

Cole and Aeronwen are mature adults. Even once they establish that they love each other, they don't act on their feelings immediately but rather keep their relationship on hold for a long time in order to focus on the task at hand, i.e. saving the Silver Kingdom, defeating the Enchantress Almandine and restoring the kingdom of Alkyor.

2. How did they first meet? 

They met in the court of King Glendower when Cole and Maggie first arrive at the castle with Nuala (Royal Seamstress) and Elaine. 

3. What were their first thoughts of each other? (Love at first sight or "you're freakishly annoying"?)

Their first meeting is a very formal one. Cole doesn't take much notice of Aeronwen at the time because everything is still new to him and he's trying to take it all in. Aeronwen, on the other hand, is naturally fascinated with Cole and Maggie. Her first impression of Cole is that he is rather blundering and awkward but genuinely good at heart.

Even after they meet outside of the cermonious context of court, Cole keeps a respectful distance from Aeronwen, intimidated by her royal status and the protective presence of her father and older brother. Aeronwen makes the first move and Cole quickly realizes that she's not as formidable as her title would suggest. Rather, she is open and makes everyone around her at ease.

Cole becomes gradually more and more impressed with Aeronwen as he discovers she is not simply a wallflower in the court but possesses a highly competitive spirit. Aeronwen also quickly grows to like Cole, though she finds him somewhat irritating and blundering at first. 

4. What do they do that most annoys each other?

Cole is not shy when sharing his opinion, especially if he thinks something or someone is wrong. His intelligence often comes across as arrogance and this annoys Aeronwen. She often accuses him of lacking empathy for others' feelings. Peoples' emotions are not Cole's forte. He is pragmatic by nature and would rather not beat around the bush.

Aeronwen, on the other hand, is a relentless optimist and romantic. She sees the world through rose tinted lenses. She can be optimistic to a fault and Cole, being the sensible realist that he is, is not afraid to burst her idealistic bubble of reality.

5. Are their personalities opposite or similar?

Cole and Aeronwen have inherently opposite personalities. Cole is a pragmatic realist. Aeronwen is an optimistic romantic. As different as they are, Cole and Aeronwen both make inspiring leaders in their own right and utilize their varying strengths and weaknesses to make a powerful team.

6. How would their lives be different without each other?

I think the answer to this question is kind of obvious...

7. Are they ever embarrassed of each other?

I don't think they are ever embarrassed as much as they're simply disapproving or ashamed of the other person's actions and choices every now and then. 

8. Does anyone disapprove of their relationship?

Not really. Cole and Aeronwen are kind of a match made in Heaven, especially once Cole discovers who he really is. Toward the beginning, both of them keep their distance simply because if not for Cole's heritage (which neither of them know about at that point), their relationship wouldn't be suitable.

Nobody disapproves in the end, though Prince Raymond might be a little overprotective for a while.

9. Do they see their relationship as long-term/leading to marriage?

They both definitely see their relationship as long-term and (spoiler alert!) they get married in the end, so, yeah.

10. If they could plan the "perfect outing" together, where would they go?

Cole and Aeronwe's perfect outing would be a horse-back ride at dawn followed by a picnic breakfast while they watch the sunrise. 

Dani "Ruby" Fisher is a twenty-year-old girl who works full time as an administrative assistant and has a passion for learning how to love and obey her Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, more and more each day. She loves her family and friends and enjoys playing the piano and any other instrument she can get her hands on as well as dancing, teaching, writing in her journal, drinking tea, making attempts at poetry, holding her baby nephew, and occasionally blogging about life on her personal site A Vapor in the Wind.

Welcome!

Earlier this year in January, before I moved and overturned my life yet again, I met with my good coauthor, whom you may or may not know as Winter Star. We talked over coffee about life and where our lives were going. We also talked about our novel and where we wanted it to go. The more we talked, the more I realized how separate and individual our lives were becoming. It was amazing, exciting and tragic all at the same time.

The tragic part was that we don't share everything like we used to when we were children. In fact, we have very little in common now. But the amazing part was that we both decided we wanted to continue this story, our Untimely Quest. And we didn't just leave it at that. We never seem to. No, once we light on the subject of An Untimely Quest, it tends to have a sort of snowball effect on our conversation. 

The ideas begin to fly and the missing puzzle pieces of our epic tale start falling into place and I realize, "We might have something really good here!" During this last conversation, I felt this more than ever. Last year was extremely rough for both myself and Winter. Each of us had our hearts broken in multiple ways. We grew up a lot.

And I could tell by our conversation. 

I could also tell by where we both wanted our story to go.

Up until now An Untimely Quest has been a sort of lighthearted spin off Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. But as Winter and I both continued throwing around ideas and working through character development, I realized that neither of us wanted to write a children's novel anymore. I think we've both come through this year and realized that life isn't always happy-go-lucky adventuring. It's tragedy, strife, victory, and glory. And you can't get the victory without the strife. You don't get the glory without the tragedy.

So where do we plan on going next with this novel? At the end of our conference, we both agreed that it was time to hit (yet another) restart button on this blog. Way back when this novel first started, it was a role playing story of sorts. It was ridiculous, incoherent, and hilarious. But the more we kept writing, the more we fell in love with our characters and imaginary world. So we took the ideas from that original role play and expanded upon those.

I decided that I didn't like having every unedited chapter of my novel displayed for the world to see, but I like the idea of having an online resource where Winter and I can collect and publish information on our characters, plot development, book soundtracks, etc. A lot of authors use Pinterest in a similar fashion now. So I guess you can think of this blog as a souped up Pinterest board for our novel.

I look forward to sharing some fun information and trivia on my favorite characters from An Untimely Quest, as well as character and novel "soundtracks", excerpts, writing updates and author updates. Stay tuned. 

Dani "Ruby" Fisher is a nineteen-year-old girl who has a passion for learning how to love and obey her Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, more and more each day. She loves her family and friends and enjoys playing the piano and any other instrument she can get her hands on as well as dancing, teaching, writing in her journal, drinking tea, making attempts at poetry, holding her baby nephew, and occasionally blogging about life on her personal site A Vapor In The Wind.