Hero in as yet untitled work

Source: squidoo.com via Eva on Pinterest

I think this man might be the hero in WIP. Characterization sheet is a work in progress. I will be going back to this after I finish edits for Rebel Heart (100 pages to go)

Character Chart

CHARACTER CHART

Date this chart was completed:
Character's Full Name:
Reason or meaning of name:
Nickname:                                    Reason for nickname:
Birth date:
Astrological Sign:

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:

Age:                                              How old does s/he appear?
Eye Color:                                        Glasses or contacts:
Weight:                                           Height:
Type of body/build:
Skin tone:                                        Skin type:
Shape of face:                                    Distinguishing Marks:
Predominant feature:
Hair color:
   Distinguishable hair feature (bald,
   receding hairline, etc.):
Type of hair (coarse, fine, thick, etc?)
Character's typical hairstyle:
Looks like:
Is s/he healthy?
    If not, why not:
Physical disabilities:

FAVORITES:

Character's favorite color:
Character's least favorite color:
     Why?
Favorite Music:
Least favorite Music:
     Why?
Food:
Literature:
Expressions:
Expletives:
Mode of transportation:
    Daredevil or cautious?
    Same when alone?

HABITS:

Smokes:                                           What?
    When and how much?
Drinks:                                           What?
    When and how much?
Hobbies:
How does character spend a rainy day?

BACKGROUND:

Hometown:
Type of childhood:
First memory:
Most important childhood event that still affects him/her:
    Why?
Education:
Religion:
Finances:

FAMILY:

Mother:
    Relationship with her:
Father:
    Relationship with him:
Siblings:
    How many?                                    Birth order:
Relationship with each:
    Children of siblings:
Extended family?
    Close?                                       Why or why not?

OCCUPATION

Where does Character work? For how long?         
How does s/he feel about co-workers?    Get along with co-workers?
Like his/her job? Why or why not?

Character's dream job:

ATTITUDE:

Character's greatest fear:
    Why?
What is the worst thing that could happen to him/her?
What single event would most throw character's life in complete turmoil?
    Why?
Character is most at ease when:
Most ill at ease when:
Depressive or SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)?
Priorities:
Philosophy:
How s/he feels about self:
Past failure s/he would be embarrassed to have people know about:
    Why?
If granted one wish, what would it be? Why?

PERSONALITY:

Greatest source of strength in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as
such or not):
Greatest source of weakness in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as
such or not:
Character's soft spot:
    Is this soft spot obvious to others?
    If not, how does character hide it?
Biggest vulnerability:
Which of the 7 deadly sins does your character fight (or give into, willingly or not)?
       (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride)
Which of the 7 virtues does your character have (or fight against)?
(chastity, abstinence, liberality, diligence, patience, kindness, humility)

TRAITS:

Optimist or pessimist:                            Why?
Introvert or extrovert:                           Why?
Drives and motivations:
Talents:
Extremely skilled at:
Extremely unskilled at:
Good characteristics:
Character flaws:
Mannerisms:
Peculiarities:
Biggest regret:
Minor regrets:
Biggest accomplishment:
Minor accomplishments:
Character's darkest secret:
    Does anyone else know?
    If yes, did character tell them?
    If no, how did they find out?

SELF-PERCEPTION:

One word CHARACTER would use to describe self:
One paragraph description of how CHARACTER would describe self:
What does CHARACTER consider best physical characteristic?
What does CHARACTER consider worst physical characteristic?
    Are these realistic assessments?
    If not, why not?
How CHARACTER thinks others perceive him/her:
What four things would CHARACTER most like to change about self?  (#1 most
important, #2 second most important, etc.)
    1.
    2.
    3.
    4.
    Why?
If change #1 was made, would character be as happy as s/he thinks?
    If not, why not?

INTERRELATION WITH OTHERS:

Is character divorced?
Has character ever cheated on significant other?
How does character relate to others?
How is s/he perceived by...
    Strangers?
    Friends?
    Wife/Husband/Lover?
    Hero/Heroine?
How does character view hero/heroine?
    First impression:                            Why?
    What happens to change this perception?
What do family/friends like most about character?
What do family/friends like least about character?

GOALS:

Immediate goals:
Long-range goals:
    How does character plan to accomplish these goals?
    How will other characters be affected?

PROBLEMS/CRISIS:

How character reacts in a crisis:
How character faces problems:
Kinds of problems character usually runs into:
How character reacts to NEW problems:
How character reacts to change:

GENERAL:

Favorite clothing:                                Why?
Least favorite clothing:                          Why?
Jewelry:
    Other accessories:
Drives:
Where does character live?
Where does character want to live?
Spending habits (frugal, spendthrift, etc):       Why?
What does s/he do too much of?
    Too little of?
Most prized possession:                           Why?
Play musical instrument?   Which?
  How did s/he learn?

UNCATEGORIZED:

Person character secretly admires:
    Why?
Person character was most influenced by:
    Why?
Most important person in character's life before story starts:
    Why?
How does character spend the week before the story starts?

Friday's Featured Title

Read an Excerpt

Forever His by Chrsitine Young
Excerpt Heat Level: 3
Book Heat Level: 4

Buy at:  www.roguephoenixpress.com
This is the 4th book in the Lakota/Pinkerton series
Dakota's Bride, My Angel, The Locket, The Talisman, and Forever His

August 30, 1895
Near Buffalo Creek,
South Dakota


The sun beat down. Searing heat waves hit the hard packed earth, blistering, charring everything, even the dry prairie grass. Jacob St. John, his arms stretched overhead and bound to a whipping post, no longer counted the lashes tearing into his back, no longer felt the horrific agony.

More than a half-dozen men and one woman were gathered in the sage-patched backyard of the run-down shack. So far not one person made a sound as they watched Chavez wield the whip, stripping the flesh off his back.

If Chavez weren't so angry and seeking revenge of his own, he would probably have just had him shot. Revenge was a powerful motive. Chavez wanted Jacob to suffer, to yell before he died. It seemed Etta Barringer did too. So far Chavez was toying with him, taunting and teasing him, cutting an inch here, ripping an inch there, not doing much damage but making mincemeat out of his back.

Jacob hadn't made a sound yet, not even a sharp, indrawn breath. He wasn't about to even though he knew Chavez would get impatient and start slashing. There was no hurry. Chavez had as long as he wanted. No one save Etta knew where he was, no one would come looking for him, at least not until the sun went down. By then Chavez would be done with him, and he would either be dead or buzzard-bait. For the life of him, he couldn't figure why Etta would hand him over to Chavez. She had always been Pinkerton to the core, yet she had betrayed him once before. If he survived this, he meant to have answers. He'd move heaven and earth to search out the lying Etta Barringer and find out exactly what she had against him.

The pain of betrayal at the forefront of his mind, and vows of revenge against the instigator of this kept him going. He focused on the woman's laughter and the scent of lemons that permeated his soul.

He had been taken by surprise. Still, he didn't go down easily. It took all of Chavez's men to get him bound securely to the post in back of the shack. And of those men, not one came away from the encounter without a scratch. Blood from the multitude of small cuts Chavez had inflicted ran in rivulets from his back, pooling on the parched thirsty ground, soaking into the dirt, staining it.

He stood, his head proudly erect and that seemed to draw anger from Chavez. The grip of his fingers curled around the top of the post, the only sign of Jacob's pain--and fury.

The first real stroke of the whip felt like a red-hot branding iron searing across his back. Jacob didn't flinch, nor would he as long as he could hear her laughter or smell lemons floating languidly on the breeze. He wished he could see her, stare into her beguiling, green eyes until she knew he'd never stop hunting for her. Fury at his own weakness rose, and the anger he felt deep inside simmered, because she'd always attracted him. Ever since she showed up in a small town in Oregon, seduced him then drugged him and left him to sleep off the opium-laced whiskey, she'd fascinated him.

Concentrate on her--on what you're going to do when you find her again . . .

Review

Christine Young has done it again in this historical romance. The blizzards, betrayal, deceit and a ruthless bandito like Chavez made this a great romance.

Melinda for Night Owl Romance     5 out of 5

It's Monday Again

Source: pin.peugeot-4s.com via Deloris on Pinterest

Meara

I'm working on the characterization of a new fantasy novel. It was suggested that it might be fun to post the characterization sheets that I do for my books. So here goes, this is a partial for the heroine Meara. At this point I have not decided on a last name. This is a work in progress. I will update this as I work on my story.

Character Chart

CHARACTER CHARTDate this chart was completed:

Character's Full Name: Meara
Reason or meaning of name:Happy
Nickname:  Mer                                  Reason for nickname: Just shortened form One syllable
Birth date: April 30
Astrological Sign: Taurus

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:

Age:  24                                            How old does s/he appear?
Eye Color:   brown                                     Glasses or contacts: glasses for reading
Weight:  125                                         Height: 5' 7"
Type of body/build: slender
Skin tone:  pale                                      Skin type:
Shape of face:  oval                                  Distinguishing Marks:
Predominant feature: eyes
Hair color: blond/amber
   Distinguishable hair feature (bald,
   receding hairline, etc.): widows peak
Type of hair (coarse, fine, thick, etc?) thick
Character's typical hairstyle: pony tale
Looks like:
Is s/he healthy?
    If not, why not:
Physical disabilities:

FAVORITES:

Character's favorite color: yellow
Character's least favorite color: brown
     Why?
Favorite Music: country
Least favorite Music: hip hop
     Why?
Food: prawns on rice
Literature: old classics
Expressions: You don't understand
Expletives: crap
Mode of transportation: motorcycle
    Daredevil or cautious? cautious
    Same when alone?

HABITS:

Smokes:   Nope                                        What?
    When and how much?
Drinks:                                           What? red wine
    When and how much?
Hobbies: drawing
How does character spend a rainy day? reading/drinking hot chocolate

BACKGROUND:

Hometown: Small suburb outside LA
Type of childhood: well loved/normal until both parents vanished when she was 16.
First memory: going to grandparents house and watching the birds
Most important childhood event that still affects him/her: Parent's disappearance
    Why?
Education: high school drop out/ self taught
Religion: questioning
Finances: none to speak of/no money

FAMILY:

Mother:
    Relationship with her: best friend--only one who understood her
Father:
    Relationship with him: close--sports together--
Siblings:
    How many?   none                                 Birth order:
Relationship with each:
    Children of siblings:
Extended family?
    Close?  everyone is gone                                     Why or why not?

OCCUPATION

Where does Character work? computer hacker For how long?         
How does s/he feel about co-workers?    Get along with co-workers?
Like his/her job? loves job except when videos of serial killers come through Why or why not?

Character's dream job: she has it

ATTITUDE:

Character's greatest fear: losing a member of her team
    Why?
What is the worst thing that could happen to him/her? make a mistake that could cost a life
What single event would most throw character's life in complete turmoil?
    Why? falling in love
Character is most at ease when: in front of the computer
Most ill at ease when: at parties and forced to socialize
Depressive or SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)?
Priorities: her team
Philosophy:
How s/he feels about self: doesn't really think about self--others come first--unworthy
Past failure s/he would be embarrassed to have people know about:
    Why? her illegal adventures hacking government sights--eventually caught
If granted one wish, what would it be? Why? Her parents come back

PERSONALITY:

Greatest source of strength in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as
such or not):perseverance--problem solver
Greatest source of weakness in character's personality (whether s/he sees it as
such or not: unable to quit
Character's soft spot: babies
    Is this soft spot obvious to others? no
    If not, how does character hide it? she is rarely around babies
Biggest vulnerability: envy
Which of the 7 deadly sins does your character fight (or give into, willingly or not)?
       (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride) envy
Which of the 7 virtues does your character have (or fight against)?
(chastity, abstinence, liberality, diligence, patience, kindness, humility) patience

TRAITS:

Optimist or pessimist: pessimist                           Why? because of her parents loss
Introvert or extrovert:  introvert                         Why?
Drives and motivations:
Talents:
Extremely skilled at: logic
Extremely unskilled at: creativity
Good characteristics:
Character flaws:
Mannerisms:
Peculiarities:
Biggest regret:
Minor regrets:
Biggest accomplishment:
Minor accomplishments:
Character's darkest secret:
    Does anyone else know?
    If yes, did character tell them?
    If no, how did they find out?

SELF-PERCEPTION:

One word CHARACTER would use to describe self:
One paragraph description of how CHARACTER would describe self:
What does CHARACTER consider best physical characteristic?
What does CHARACTER consider worst physical characteristic?
    Are these realistic assessments?
    If not, why not?
How CHARACTER thinks others perceive him/her:
What four things would CHARACTER most like to change about self?  (#1 most
important, #2 second most important, etc.)
    1.
    2.
    3.
    4.
    Why?
If change #1 was made, would character be as happy as s/he thinks?
    If not, why not?

INTERRELATION WITH OTHERS:

Is character divorced?
Has character ever cheated on significant other?
How does character relate to others?
How is s/he perceived by...
    Strangers?
    Friends?
    Wife/Husband/Lover?
    Hero/Heroine?
How does character view hero/heroine?
    First impression:                            Why?
    What happens to change this perception?
What do family/friends like most about character?
What do family/friends like least about character?

GOALS:

Immediate goals:
Long-range goals:
    How does character plan to accomplish these goals?
    How will other characters be affected?

PROBLEMS/CRISIS:

How character reacts in a crisis:
How character faces problems:
Kinds of problems character usually runs into:
How character reacts to NEW problems:
How character reacts to change:

GENERAL:

Favorite clothing:                                Why?
Least favorite clothing:                          Why?
Jewelry:
    Other accessories:
Drives:
Where does character live?
Where does character want to live?
Spending habits (frugal, spendthrift, etc):       Why?
What does s/he do too much of?
    Too little of?
Most prized possession:                           Why?
Play musical instrument?   Which?
  How did s/he learn?

UNCATEGORIZED:

Person character secretly admires:
    Why?
Person character was most influenced by:
    Why?
Most important person in character's life before story starts:
    Why?
How does character spend the week before the story starts?