Saturday 11 October 2003

Pic of the day: Who said romance was a simple thing? Some people just don't get it, like in this screenshot from the anime Daa! Daa! Daa!. (The subtitle reads: "Please accept me!")

My NaNoWriMo characters

Humans interest me. It's time to create some more of them. No, not on the physical plane of existence, more's the pity for the world's shallow gene pool. Rather, I am preparing for the National Novel Writing Month. You are not allowed to write on your novel before November 1st or after November 30th, but you are allowed to plan, take notes, and develop your characters as long as you don't include any of the text in the novel. So here we go, then.

My novel will tentatively be called DarkEyes. I plan to put it up on the web, not sell it, so I don't think I lose anything by giving away some character info. And there might just be a reader or two who want to stare in horrified fascination at the inner workings of a failed fiction writer's mind ... ^_^

I suppose DarkEyes is a fantasy novel, of sorts, but very very unlike the classic fantasy formula used by Tolkien, Donaldson, Jordan or even Piers J Anthony. Evil is not threatening to take over this world, except in the mind of the very religious. Wizards and elves are entirely absent, and kings and princesses play no greater role here than they do in contemporary Norway. Because this is contemporary Norway, except all characters, places and events are made up by me and don't correspond to similar items in the real world. And in this Norway, everyone speaks English! No, of course they don't, but Norwegian is used in the novel only in names. The tech level is ca AD 1995 ... Internet is available but you can't assume that everyone has an e-mail address. Same for mobile phones.

Rather than Tolkien, Jordan or Eddings, the novel may share some traits with Margit Sandemo's classic series such as The Ice People and The Black Knights. (Actually, I am not sure they are translated into English yet. I'd be happy to do so, but I already have a job, and her magic romance novels alone count at least a hundred.) Sandemo writes romance novels with a primarily female audience. Although her various books include magic, aliens, spirits, angels and immortals, they are still romance novels at heart, and most of them rather steamy at that. I don't mean to copy her style, but the idea of having a magic character in a perfectly normal world.

Of all the people in my novel, only one has "magic", and there are times when he would gladly have been without it. The rest are normal, in so far as anyone can be labeled and put in that bag. Here are the ones who have volunteered so far:

***

Main female character:
Anne-Linn Haug (nickname "Haugtusla")
Age: 18.
Sex: Female.
Hair: Bright red, thick, braided.
Build: Somewhat pear-shaped feminine. Barely average height.
Eyes: Green-blue depending on light.
Ethnicity: Norwegian.

Personality: Anne-Linn is idealistic, romantic, shy and awkward with strangers but very proactive and a leader type with her few friends. She loves ballads and renaissance music and plays keyboard, but has also some experience with flute and violin, and can sing, preferably soprano. She avoids sports but will take walks with her dog Tassen. Anne-Linn is known to occasionally binge on romance novels and daydream about meeting a tall, dark, mysterious stranger who will change her boring life ...

(The nickname "Haugtusla" is a Norwegian wordplay ... "Haugtussa", itself a wordplay, translates roughly as either "the underhill female gnome" or "the mentally unstable woman of the hill". It is the title of a famous work by the Norwegian writer Arne Garborg. "Haugtussa" centers on a young girl, living in a perfectly normal hard working farm district, and she alone has the ability to see the invisible: Ghosts, monsters of folklore etc. She is treated rather harshly, as you can imagine. "Haugtusla" on the other hand is composed of Anne-Linn's surname Haug (meaning hill) and the verb "tusle" which means to walk slowly and feebly.)

Supporting (?) characters:
Name: Marianne Hansen.
Age: 19.
Sex: Female.
Hair: Blond, long, straight.
Build: Hourglass, slightly taller than average.
Eyes: Light blue.
Ethnicity: Norwegian.

Personality: Marianne is the party girl. She likes boys, boys like her, what's the problem? Well, the problem currently is that she is engaged, so she can't go all the way with her male friends. But she can still have some fun, right? Her favorite sport is dancing, and she can dance for hours. You are unlikely to play any style of dance music that she doesn't master. She is also competent with clothes and makeup. Her current pet project is to help her friend and coworker Anne-Linn overcome her shyness and virginity (which add up to much the same as far as Marianne is concerned).

Name: Tassen (the Dog)
Age: 6.
Sex: Neutered male.
Fur: Pale, long, shaggy.
Build: Large, robust.

Personality: Tassen is a bit too fond of food but always willing to exercise with good company. He will listen to you with obvious sympathy and make small agreeing sounds or wag his tail at the right places. Tassen is peaceful, trusting and friendly to everyone ... well, almost everyone.

Main male character:
Name: Jon S. Rye (nickname "DarkEyes").
Age: 20.
Sex: Male (or "not yet"...)
Hair: Black, short.
Build: Slender, average height for a Scandinavian.
Eyes: Black. (Deep blue when wearing contacts.)
Ethnicity: Norwegian.

Jon was born with jet black irises. He was born out of wedlock, and his father is unknown, not least because his mother committed suicide shortly after seeing the baby. Needless to say, he had a troubled childhood. Jon also has half a dozen limited "super", "magic" or "psychic" powers, none of which is even remotely useful for catching criminals or saving the world. More about all this in the next installment. Look forward to it!