Beautiful People, Vol. 13: Nomaro, One of the Protagonists for a Future Novella

March 17, 2016March 16, 2016 / saraletourneau / 24 Comments

Beautiful People is a monthly blog meme hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In. Every month they pose 10 questions for writers to answer about their writing and give readers the opportunity to learn more about the writer’s characters.

Ohhhhhhhhhh am I excited about this month’s Beautiful People! Most of BP posts discussing The Keeper’s Curse have showcased characters I’ve been working with for 3 years. Which means I know them pretty well at this point. Today’s, however, ventures into (mostly) unknown territory.

Last November, when Cait and Sky did Beautiful Books in honor of NaNoWriMo, I decided to share my brainstorming on a novella I’m planning to write (or start writing) when TKC is with beta-readers. I already know one of the protagonists well (it’s Eva from TKC, though 13 years old instead of 17). Her “co-star” – not so much, apart from the little bits in his character profile so far. Continue reading →

Beautiful People, Vol. 12: Doni from The Keeper’s Curse

February 16, 2016March 12, 2016 / saraletourneau / 26 Comments

First of all, this post marks 1 year since I started doing Beautiful People! 😀

gandalf-fireworks

Since it’s February, Cait and Sky have asked another round of Valentine-inspired questions. The thing is, I’ve already covered the one romantic couple I’ve been writing about for the past year… and this year’s questions aren’t much different from last year’s. So, into the BP archives I went, and dug up a set of questions that were perfect for a character from The Keeper’s Curse whom I haven’t introduced to you yet.

Some quick facts about Doni: He’s 14 years old, with blonde-streaked light brown hair and light brown eyes. He’s also the youngest and most recently appointed member of the Council of Selanaan (which Eva, TKC’s protagonist, is also part of), and is their chief healer. Now, onto the questions!

(Don’t forget to submit your question(s) for Aurek’s upcoming character interview! I’ve extended the submitting period until Tuesday, February 23rd. So, if you’re anxious to learn more about another character from TKC, click here for more details.)
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Beautiful People, Vol. 10: Prince Virik, One of the Antagonists

December 10, 2015May 5, 2016 / saraletourneau / 29 Comments

Since Cait and Sky are doing one last round of Beautiful Books for NaNoWriMo-ers, I’m diving into the Beautiful People archives again for a character questionnaire. I never plan ahead of time who I’ll cover in these posts – and when I saw the list of 10 questions you’re about to read, I immediately knew who would be the best fit.

I haven’t said much about Prince Virikar (who more often goes by Virik) with the exception of a couple paragraphs here. It’s partly because he’s only a minor antagonist in my WIP, The Keeper’s Curse, and partly because I’ve been looking for an opportunity to get to know him better, especially since I’d like to write more about him in the future. My biggest concern with Virik is that I haven’t made him sympathetic enough; I don’t want him to be one-dimensional. So, if you have any feedback or additional questions after this post, please share them. I could really use the help!

Some quick facts about Virik: He’s 23 years old, with red-streaked black hair and gray eyes. He’s also the oldest of two sons of the King of Fae – but as you’ll find out, that doesn’t mean he’s next in line for the throne.

(Visit the Beautiful People category page to catch up on past BP posts.) Continue reading →

Beautiful People, Vol. 9: Rebelling Thanks to Remi (Who, Oddly Enough, Isn’t a Rebel…)

November 17, 2015November 15, 2015 / saraletourneau / 21 Comments

This should actually be Beautiful Books Vol. 2, which would have continued last month’s questions regarding NaNoWriMo or other writing projects. But after reading Cait and Sky’s questions for this month, I realized I answered similar ones last week in the Behind The Scenes Writing Tag. So, rather than repeating myself, I’m REBELLING. 😀

Harry Potter Rebel

I’m taking a set of questions from Cait and Sky’s Beautiful People archives and introducing you to another character from my YA fantasy novel, The Keeper’s Curse (which I’m currently revising). Today you’ll meet Remigan, or “Remi” for short. Like the protagonist Eva, Remi is a Faerie and a diplomat serving on the Council of Selanaan. He is 16 years old, has light brown eyes and dirty blonde hair with reddish streaks, and is a history buff. And if you read on, you’ll find out why I think of him as the male equivalent to Hermoine Granger. 😉

(Visit the Beautiful People category page to catch up on past BP posts.)

Continue reading →

Beautiful Books, Vol. 1: The Novella I’m Planning to Start Next Year

October 22, 2015March 9, 2016 / saraletourneau / 34 Comments

Beautiful Books is hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In. It’s similar to their usual monthly meme Beautiful People, except that this month’s questions celebrate preparations for NaNoWriMo and focus on your work-in-progress (WIP) or next writing project.

Wait! What happened to Beautiful People this month?!?!

Don’t worry. Beautiful People and its character questionnaires will be back. But in the spirit of NaNoWriMo, Cait and Sky have asked participants to answer 10 questions about the stories they’re currently working on or planning to write during November’s novel-writing madness. And even though I’m not doing NaNoWriMo, I’ve got an idea for a future novella to share instead. 😀 Here we go!

(Visit the Beautiful People category page to catch up on past BP posts.)

(Also, make sure you check out the thank-you giveaways! Click here to find out how you can win free tea, a free book, or a critique of your WIP’s first chapter.)

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Beautiful People, Vol. 8: Gidion’s First Solo “Flight”

September 21, 2015September 14, 2015 / saraletourneau / 25 Comments

Last month, I introduced Gidion from The Keeper’s Curse as part of the Friendship Edition of Beautiful People. And this month, he was the first character who jumped into my mind when I read Cait and Sky’s questions. It’s a neat coincidence, too, because I just “finalized” a tea inspired by Gidion for my tea-blending project. 😀

A quick character recap: Gidion is Eva’s 21-year-old cousin, and the third major character after Eva and Aurek Kolsteg. He’s also the Captain of the Council of Selanaan (which Eva is a part of, so he’s her boss too), and the Council’s chief negotiator.

(Visit the Beautiful People category page to catch up on past BP posts.)

Continue reading →

Beautiful People, Vol. 7: The Friendship Edition

August 17, 2015August 15, 2015 / saraletourneau / 17 Comments

Friendship is the theme for this month’s edition of Beautiful People. I didn’t even have to look at the questions to know which friends I’d focus on: Eva, a life-size Faerie and the protagonist of my YA fantasy WIP The Keeper’s Curse; and her cousin (also Fae), Gidion. So, apart from Saturday’s Chronicling The Craft, you’ll meet Gidion for the first time today!

Since you might already know a bit about Eva, here’s a quick bio for Gidion: He’s 21 years old, with green eyes and blonde-streaked ginger-red hair. And not only is he the Council of Selanaan’s chief negotiator, but he’s also the Council Captain. Which means that not only is he Eva’s cousin and best friend, but he’s also her boss. That has added an interesting dynamic to their relationship, as the questionnaire will reveal. 😉

(Visit the Beautiful People category page to catch up on past BP posts.)

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Beautiful People, Vol. 6: Keli

July 9, 2015July 8, 2015 / saraletourneau / 22 Comments

With Eva’s blogoversary interview coming on Sunday (thanks for all your questions, by the way!), I decided to focus this month’s Beautiful People on another character from The Keeper’s Curse. Originally I was thinking of either Doni, whom you met in the recent first page excerpt here, or Eva’s cousin Gidion. However, after reading this month’s Independence Day themed questions, I realized the best fit was a totally different option: Councilor Keliam, or Keli for short. So, guess who you’re meeting today? 🙂

Quick details about Keli: He’s an 18-year-old Faerie (and one year older than Eva), and the Council of Selanaan’s spy and surveillance expert. He’s tall and athletic / slender, with blue eyes and shoulder-length dark brown hair with streaks of lighter brown. And as you’ll find out, he takes his Council work seriously, but he knows how to have fun!

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Submit Your Questions for Eva’s Character Interview!

June 20, 2015June 19, 2015 / saraletourneau / 24 Comments

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: Continue reading →

Site Updates and Upcoming Changes (June 2015)

June 15, 2015June 14, 2015 / saraletourneau / 18 Comments

Happy Monday, everyone! 😉

I’ve worked on some more site updates since the main overhaul 3 weeks ago. In addition, some new article ideas have been percolating – ideas that excite me, but have caused me to reconsider aspects of my blogging schedule. So, I wanted to let you know what’s new, what may be changing, and what may be on the way.

As always, I welcome any questions, suggestions,or other feedback you have. Feel free to post them in the Comments section at the end of this article. Continue reading →