Submit Your Questions for Eva’s Character Interview!

/ saraletourneau

Recently I asked for suggestions about how to celebrate the site’s upcoming 6th blogoversary. Since then, I’ve come up with not one, but TWO ideas that I’m going ahead with. One will wait until after the Writer’s Digest Conference in July / August. But we can get started on the other today!

Why “we”? Well, the “day-of” blogoversary post will be a character interview with Eva, the protagonist for my YA fantasy novel The Keeper’s Curse. This means you get to ask the questions, and Eva will answer them! (Or, rather, I’ll answer for her. *lol*)

Instructions will follow after the jump. First, for your convenience, here’s a summary about Eva from her updated character profile:

Autumn Fairy

Eva looks something like this, except with gossamer, dragonfly-like wings and no fox ears.

As the first female Faerie elected to the Council of Selanaan, 17-year-old Isonyeva (Fae for “unknown fate,” and shorted to Eva) is a versatile fighter and skilled kisena (magician). She carries twin knives and a sword, but her weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. And with her magic, she often experiments and tests the limits of her powers for the sake of doing good. Appearance-wise, Eva has autumn-colored hair (shades of brown, red, and blonde), amber eyes, light skin, and a slender yet athletic frame of about 5 feet 3 inches.

When Eva was 5 years old, she and her parents were victims of the Mountain Folk’s raid on the Usteru rivertown of Eldenmonn. Her parents were killed, and Eva’s left wing was torn. Her Aunt Maji (Eva’s mother’s older sister) and Uncle Lusan kept her in a nearby village so her wing could heal before returning home. This was done out of fear of banishment by the King of Fae, since a torn wing is viewed as a sign of sin or transgression. As a result, no other Faerie saw Eva’s wing in its injured state – but it didn’t spare her from rumors, bullying, and rejection from peers as she grew up. Others turned away when Eva tried out for the Council, as it meant she shunned traditional expectations for Faerie women (e.g., marriage at a young age, fulfilling household duties like cooking and sewing).

Eva is loving and loyal to those she cares about. She confides in and is fiercely protective of her cousin Gidion, shares a special relationship with Aunt Maji, and often butts heads with but appreciates Uncle Lusan. She’s also the proud owner of a messenger bird named Thrush and a horse named Immer (Hartlandi for “friend”). Eva prefers a simple lifestyle, choosing to live with few yet sentimental possessions. No less important are her close bonds with each of her fellow Council members – Faerie men and boys whom she considers her adopted brothers.

What Eva’s friends and family don’t know about her is that she craves a chance to avenge her parents’ deaths. For years she’s secretly wished to kill any Mountain Folk who cross her path – a desire that breaks numerous Council laws, but one she keeps nonetheless. When the Council is tasked to join Lord Aurek Kolsteg and his company of Mountain Men on a mission to retrieve relics that once belonged to their last king, Eva is forced to question her prejudices and decide whether it’s worth risking everything she holds dear for the sake of vengeance.

Want to submit a question(s) for Eva’s interview? Leave them in the Comments section below by 11:59 PM Eastern on Friday, July 3rd! The final interview will post on Sunday, July 12th.

If you need help brainstorming, check out these previous posts about Eva:

24 thoughts on “Submit Your Questions for Eva’s Character Interview!”

  2. Fascinating! This isn’t so much a question for Eva but a question in general for all of fae-dom. What’s the story behind torn or injured wings seen as such a transgression? It seems so cruel, especially since it was through no fault of Eva’s own. Thanks 🙂

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  3. This is a great idea to celebrate your blogoversary. 🙂 (Well done on getting this far, by the way.) My question is, how did Eva cope with being taunted and bullied throughout her childhood? Does it still affect her now? How?

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  4. Congratulations on your blogoversary, Sara! What an amazing accomplishment! My question for Eva is this: If she could bring her parents back to life at the cost of never seeing her Council friends again, what decision would she make?

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  6. Yay you’re doing a character interview! 😀 Eva sounds really cool! I love the cousin relationship. It isn’t done much. Who is Eva’s best friend? Does she have a place she likes to go to be alone and think? Does she enjoy reading books?

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

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  7. Just want to say how excited I am for your book. It fun watching your process. And congrats to you and your blog. Happy to know you in this community/social media. As for Eva I don’t have question as of yet but I’m interested in the torn wings and what that’s all about. Is that prevalent in Fae folklore?

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    • Thanks, Sanovia! No, torn wings isn’t a prevalent concept in Fae folklore in general. It was something I thought of while writing TKC and thought it would be an interesting (albeit painful) addition to the story. Someone else had asked a similar question about torn wings, and Eva will discuss that more as part of the interview.

      If you think of any questions for Eva’s interview, just let me know. 😉

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  9. I have a practical and logistical question: Eva’s main weapon is a bow and arrow, but she also carries knives and a sword? How on earth does she find the room to carry all these weapons? And don’t her wings get in the way of a bow and arrow? Especially since she’s petite, I’m worried that she’ll be weighed down with all this hardware!

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    • Sorry for the delay in responding, Tammy. I wanted to talk it over with a couple world-building friends to help me see things logically… and you brought up some really good points that I need to take into account. Let me see if I can clarify now, based on a combination of old ideas that still work and new, more accurate ideas…

      Eva uses a hip quiver for her arrows. It’s the most logical place, since a back/shoulder quiver would get in the way of her wings. Also, since Eva’s wings can fold / rest against her body, there’s no worry of interference when’s she grounded and aiming a shot. If she’s in flight, I think it’s still possible depending on how she angles her arms, but I’m double-checking that…

      As for the knives, they’re sheathed in Eva’s boots (one on each boot). It’s recommended that archers have a second weapon of some kind in case they run out of arrows or their bowstring breaks and don’t have enough time to replace it.

      The sword… After discussing and thinking it over, this weapon may have to go completely. There’s no good place for it except on the hip opposite the quiver, but that would a) hinder her mobility, and b) like you mentioned, be too heavy. Plus, giving her a third weapon makes her too powerful. The knives and archery skills are plenty.

      I know I had done some research on weapons while writing the first draft… but not enough, and I let my imagination run away as a result. It’s going to mean significant changes to some parts of the story… But it’s for the good of the story, and I can fix them now during Draft #2.

      I hope this sheds some light on things and makes more sense than it did before. This is the kind of feedback I need to ensure the story works, or to correct what isn’t working so it does. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. 🙂

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  12. This was a great idea. And it looks like I’m just getting in before the deadline. : ) I hate to harp on the weapons (since the sword has already cause you some backtracking) but if her society wants woman to marry and take on household roles, how did she learn to fight? And are her fighting skills something she’s respected (or resented) for?

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