Scribes & Archers

List your SC’s, state one of their main hobbies, and tell us how they influence your MC in the story.

Parr Renate likes cooking, and he helps Coraline see that maybe a harsh exterior is a coping mechanism instead of an unchangeable character trait.

Gabel Tyrell loves tending horses (which is actually his job), and he’s always there to support Coraline and tell her she’s strong enough to be Paladin.

Casabree Selene tends the horses with Gabel and hangs around both the castle apothecary and the town apothecary where her mother works, and she’s always good at cheering Coraline up.

Toril Valda greatly enjoys chess, and he tends to distract Coraline. But he’s also a better guy than I was planning on, so he tends to help her out fairly often.

Ammadeus Maste has no hobbies. Literally. His character is such that he just wouldn’t. He’s dedicated to his work and keeping out of his past… whatever that is. He mentors Coraline and often challenges her.

There are more side characters, but I’ll stop there.

Who is the SC that is the closest to your MC?

Gabel. They’ve been friends since they were babies.

How do your SC’s act around people they don’t know?

Parr is standoffish even around people he knows, so…

Gabel is warm and open.

Casabree is chipper and chatty.

Toril is guarded, but polite.

Ammadeus doesn’t associate with people he doesn’t know.

What conflict do they add to the story (disagreeing with the MC, perhaps)?

Parr doesn’t like Coraline at all to begin with and he makes little effort to hide that fact.

Gabel tries to protect Coraline all the time, which gets on her nerves now and then because she doesn’t want him to endanger himself for her.

Casabree… I’m not sure yet.

Toril is a distraction Coraline has to get over. She’s strongly attracted to him, but she knows they shouldn’t be together for multiple reasons.

Ammadeus is secretive and Coraline doesn’t often understand why he tells her the things he does, so she’s often frustrated with him.

Would your MC die for any of them? What about vice versa?

She and Gabel would die for each other.

Coraline would die for Casabree.

She’d probably die for Toril, too, but I’m not sure.

Ammadeus would die for her, but I’m not sure she’d die for him.

If you were writing books about your SCs, what might the books be like?

*laughs hysterically* I’m actually half-planning to write multiple spin-off novellas/novels following side characters of the trilogy, so…

Gabel’s would be a lot of “I would really like to wring Orlan’s neck, but I can’t.” “Coraline, please don’t do anything stupid and put yourself in danger.” “Horses are wonderful.” (His would actually be kind of boring, I think, and he’s close enough to Coraline that I’m not likely to write from his POV anytime soon.)

Casabree’s would be totally unrelated to the main plot because she’s kind of all over the place as far as setting goes and she doesn’t have a huge bearing on the plot.

Toril is one I might actually consider writing, and I’d be interested to see how that would go, actually. Because currently his side of the story isn’t particularly fleshed out yet. Why does he protect Coraline so much? How does he feel about his diplomatic powers? How does he feel about Eliot and why?

Ammadeus’ would be a lot of pain and suffering. I’d have to actually figure out his backstory. (I know it involves wolves. That’s all I know.) And I’d have to deal with a lot more future-seeing than I currently do, which would be kind of annoying. But Ammadeus is another likely candidate for a spin-off novella, or at least a short story.

What is your favorite part about the setting?

Um… I really like the tone of both apothecaries (castle and town). They’re both really distinct and inviting, in my mind. And they’re all about healing people, which is cool.

What was the hardest part about coming up with the setting?

As far as Mandoria in general, the map. (I still don’t have a complete map.)

Is there anything about the setting that produced a major change in your character throughout the story?

Nope. Not yet, anyway.

Did you base your setting off of any place in particular?

Nope. Just my imagination.

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