Sunday, January 20, 2019

Jeffe Confesses Her Favorite Character


Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is "Your favorite character to have written and why."

I hate these kinds of questions, I really do.

I DON'T KNOW, OKAY??

Truly, I totally get why readers are interested in my favorites - I'm often interested in hearing from my favorite authors which books or characters of theirs are their favorites. Even better, I *love* hearing from my readers which characters they love best, and why. Maybe because I write a variety of personalities, backgrounds, and life paths, who readers pick as their favorite tells me a lot about how they see the world.

For me, though, the big secret is that ALL of my POV characters represent some aspect of me. I don't think I could write them otherwise. So, while they carry flaws of my own, they also get to live the lives I don't - like wielding actual magic or shapeshifting, or being a man! Some of my characters  definitely have more of me than others - but that doesn't necessarily make them my favorite.


All of my characters are my favorites for their particular story and journey. I notice I also tend to favor whoever I've written about recently.

So, in mulling this, a few characters do pop up as the ones I have strong feelings for. Thus, if you're forcing me to pick...

I'm going to say Ursula. I don't know if I can say exactly why, except that I truly love her. I think part of why Harlan is a vivid hero for so many is because he loves Ursula so completely, and that reflects my feelings. I love her sense of responsibility and honor, that she's so determined to protect everyone, that she's intelligent, clever, and a skilled warrior. She has depths of emotion, of vulnerability and deep love that she hides behind a thick wall. And she's always trying to do better, to be a better person, queen, partner, and sister.

There we are. I believe I've convinced myself!

Now, reward me for my thrashing and tell me YOUR favorite :D


10 comments:

  1. Hmmm... As for your heroines I think it's Jepp, although Andi is a very close second (photo finish).
    Hero: Zyr, no competition!
    It is weird, because I normally don't like cocky and brash lead characters, but the way you write them I love them, cheer them on, see their vulnerability under their strong exterior, and totally can't get enough of them.

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  2. Jepp! I didn't realize that. Very cool. I knew about Zyr.

    And thank you - it's important to me to show the vulnerability we all have :-)

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  3. Andi is probably my favorite, because she worries about her horse a lot ;) I'm also a big fan of the willing-to-consider-that-someone-isn't-really-a-monster-just-because-you-were-told-they-are.

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    1. Oh, that's cool :-) Andi really did change the game by being open minded

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  4. Ursula is also my favorite, but I have a very soft spot for Zynda and Jepp. Both because they are confident in their ways of life and remain true to them despite pressure from outside and their own doubts.

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    1. Oh yeah - I seriously considered saying Zynda is my favorite. A friend told me that, of all my characters, Zynda is the most like me. Which is funny, since she's a shapeshifter! And Jepp - she's so great, too. I want her knife skills in a big way.

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  5. I love all your characters, but I really love Dafne. I think her steadfast support of Ursula and her inner strength draw me, plus her adoration of books/learning echo within me. I also like her flaws.

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    1. You know, Dafne is Grace Draven's favorite too. She is the bookworm in us all, for sure!

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  6. That’s funny- I saw this headline in the Goodreads email and said to myself “I bet her favorite is Ursula.” I’m not sure why I have that impression - maybe because I love her so much too, or Harlan’s love for her like you said, but that’s what I thought. Maybe it was the most recent couple of novellas that featured her. She’s my favorite too, along with Dafne. I love her complexities and insecurities that are still there even though she’s a strong and fierce leader. Fun question!

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    1. Ha! You all see into my heart too well. :-) That's what I love about her, too, that she's willing to face her insecurities and still be fierce and strong. I want to be that!

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