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- Rank: Chosen One
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@everyone-who’s-welcomed-me, it’s not fair that I answer all these and don’t get your answers. So everybody answer at least one of the questions you asked me. 🙂
You’ve got it! 😉
I only asked one, so I’ll only answer the one I asked.
But I have multiple WIPs, but two main ones, so…I guess I’ll answer for those two. XD
So, first, my fav MC to write from Freedom’s Fire:
Riker. (basically everyone here knows that by now…xD) But the reasons why are because:
1. His story and his redemption arc are one of my favorites. His story of discovering the Holocaust and dealing with and eventually conquering over his Guilt has been one of my favorites from the moment his story started.
2. His personality. His sweet disposition, love for others, and his loyalty and devotion to the people he loves most is unmatched, and I love writing that.
And for my second main WIP, Against All Odds:
Leo, because of his love for and his protectiveness over his brothers, his sweet personality, his story of finding faith in God, and, well, he reminds me very much of myself, as does Riker…which is probably why I love writing them the most…XD
1. Snakes are not cool. They’re vaguely interesting as long as I know they’re there, but a snake sneaking up on me is the opposite of cool.
😫
Lol I’m kidding. Not everyone has to like snakes XD
2. Alec Perry in Preacher on the Run was one of my favorite characters to write. He sort of wrote himself. If you love rough-edged lone-wolf characters with murky pasts who are a great help to the hero but could just as easily go rogue, Alec will be one of your favorites, too.
Nice! Sounds like a fun one.
3. The book I published was the first in a trilogy, so I’m still working with a lot of the same characters. I have other unpublished books that I’ve moved on from, though. I always love the characters, but I reach a point where their story is done, and I’m okay with that. They might feature in short stories or as background characters, but I’m also okay with starting a new series.
Ah, makes sense. I’m just so attached to my charries XD I can’t imagine what it would be like to finish my series after spending so many years building them lol
4. My favorite music depends on my mood. I love southern gospel, both the classic stuff and more contemporary; I like songs from musicals and Gilbert & Sullivan operettas; I listen to a lot of instrumental music along the lines of The Piano Guys or Phil Coulter’s Celtic arrangements; I sometimes play classical music if I’m not in a sing-along mood.
Cool! I don’t listen to the piano guys a lot, but they have some awesome covers!
You said to answer one of the questions myself… I’m going to choose the hardest one XD
As of lately my favorite character to wright has been Kaine. He’s misunderstood as being intimidating and kinda ruff, but it’s all just a front because he’s afraid. So yeah, I really enjoy writing him. He’s the sweetest cinnamon roll, you just wouldn’t think it at first. He’s my Kandy Kaine and I love him lol.
"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."
@booksbyjayna I live in Florida. Down here we get a lot of new coverage about invasive pythons. They eat native wildlife, but recently we found their eggs are being eaten by bobcats. So the animals are learning how to survive with a new predator in town…….
My dad had an idea of a story where a python queen is terrorizing the animals of the Everglades and a bobcat has a genius idea to destroy her eggs and defeat her. So he and I will coauthor it someday.
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
Alrighty!! Here we go!
1. Favorite Bible character?
Queen Esther, of course. 😉 Besides the fact that she has an epic name, I love reading her story because she trusted God so much and let Him use her in miraculous ways!
2. If you could visit any country in the world, which country would it be? And why?
I wish I could tour Europe, but that’s tons of countries. XD So if I had to pick, I’d pick Ireland because it’s super pretty and the people there have awesome accents. 😉
3. If you could spend a week in any of your published works, (or unpublished ones) which would it be and why?
Probably my WIP, the Endoxos Trilogy. I wouldn’t want to spend time in some parts of the story, but I would love spending time with my characters. That would be so much fun!!
4. Favorite meal?
So… There’s this meal that my mom makes called lasagna rolls. It’s very similar to lasagna but a bit different and it has spinach. (I know. Kind of random. XD) Other than that, I like anything Mexican and most Persian food. (My grandpa was from Iran)
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
@keilah-h Sounds interesting! It’s great that it’s a project you can share with your dad.
Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.com@freedomwriter76 and @mineralizedwritings, you mentioned your favorite characters and their “sweet personalities” and cinnamon-roll aspects. Do you find it difficult to write your male characters realistically? I have discovered that it’s something I have to be aware of and sometimes brainstorm with the men in my life. We don’t think the same way. 😉 I was just about to have a character say, “I don’t want to talk about it,” and my pastor said, “Okay, but men don’t say that in that situation.” Is that something you’ve run into as well?
Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.com@esther-c Great answers! I also love the story of Esther.
Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.com#amandadykesforever
There are a few things I don’t agree with in her books, as you may have seen in my Goodreads reviews, but I love her writing. She’s an autobuy author for me now.
Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.comY’know it’s am important thing to consider. I have not had many interactions with well… many people at all in my life. I have a hard time writing girls because I haven’t known many personally (my sister has always been my closest friend, other than that I’ve had some shallow chit chat friendships but nothing really significant) I like to write guys because I haven’t known very many nice ones XD I’ve known a few, but not personally. As far as family goes too, haven’t known many. So yeah. Writing sweet guys gives me hope there’s some out there. It looks different in my different characters, for instance my oc Layson if pretty typical not cinnamon roll, but he has a daughter and is super loving towards her. The whole cinnamon roll thing is also just how I perceive my charries… I just luv them XD. I don’t have any guys in my life to ask about how to write one (unless I reached out to an acquaintance on kp) so for now I figure they’re my characters and I’m not going to worry too much about it. A lot of how I make my guy charries realistic (the cinnamon rolls) is there response to trauma. I know it’s different for everyone, so I try the best I can. A lot of that is based off of how I have reacted to more minor things in life, but of the same nature. I can say it’s realistic because it’s how it’s affected me. I know some other guy might react differently, but so might some other girl. Idk, I don’t worry about it too much because I figure you can’t please everyone with your writing and I’m just writing my charries how I feel like it. Sorry that was long-winded, felt like info dumping it seems XDXD Everyone will probably have another perspective on it, that’s fine just sharing how I feel.
"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."
@booksbyjayna Yep! My brother helped a bit too.
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
I know a missionary family who was in Ukraine and had to flee the country; I can’t imagine what it would be like for the people still there. Is it hard to write a project about a conflict that hasn’t ended?
I’ve been touched by the stories I’ve heard and I think that’s what inspired me to write about it. Yes, it’s a bit difficult, but I am focusing more on the characters lives and less on war details and battles. Even though the war isn’t over, I’m hoping to make it a sweet/sad kind of ending, that will leave the readers with hope.
I’ve always loved the Revolutionary War era, so that’s what I enjoy writing right now, but I’m also interested in the War of 1812 and WWII (I wonder why historical eras are so often wars?).
( I know, it’s sad there’s been so many wars!) I think I like the Civil War era most, but the Revolutionary Era was fascinating as well!
Congratulations on finishing a draft—that’s a major accomplishment!
Thank you! I feel like the real work is just beginning. 😉
He must increase, but I must decrease.
@booksbyjayna I’ve been touched by the stories I’ve heard[…]
@felicity I think sometimes that whatever stage of a book project we’re in, it feels as if the real work is just beginning!Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.com- Rank: Chosen One
- Total Posts: 8156
@booksbyjayna. An interesting (and difficult!!!) question.
First off, I want to say that just like how us girls and women aren’t all the same, not all men are the same either. Some men are more apt to show their emotions and have a softer/sweeter demeanor than others. Not all guys are these big, tough guys who won’t show any emotions, and not all guys are super sweet and gentle. Some of them, as most of my characters are, are a mixture of both. (Of course, this is only my personal opinion, but God does make us all different, so…y’know)
Also, I more often than not base my guy characters off of the men (which isn’t too many, mind you!!!) I know in my life, most of whom, from what I have seen, aren’t afraid to show emotions, and most of whom I know to be men with very soft and gentle hearts that they’re not afraid to show.
And like @mineralizedwritings, it probably is a way of writing the kind of men I’d like to know more of one day, and the types of men I would love to have in my life more.
And also, it hasn’t been too difficult….because I myself relate to the whole “hide your emotions because tears are a sign of weakness” that many of my guy characters deal with, and I relate to the struggle to be strong by bottling your emotions and I relate to the thing of keeping your pain to yourself so you can be strong for everyone else.
In fact…writing girls is hard for me. 😅 Completely hard for me. I can write my male characters with ease, but when I try to write my (VERY FEW!!!) girl MC’s…I just can’t do it very well. They always feel like a cliche or otherwise unrealistic, and I just can’t stick with them very well. I don’t relate to them as much, even though I’m a girl…which confuses me still.
(also, I’ve had my Dad read many of my writings, and he’s never said anything about what a man would or wouldn’t say…I’ve never had anyone correct me about how my guys react…tbh…but maybe I just haven’t asked??? 🤷🏻♀️)
IDK…maybe none of that made any sense. 😅😅😅
1. Which character is most like me? Probably Elizabeth Woodbridge, the sister of my WIP’s hero. She’s not a major character, but she looks a bit like me and we are both learning to do hard things even when it scares us. Rane Armistead, my WIP’s secondary hero, shares my love for words and refinement. And in my first novel, already released, I identify strongly with Hank Jonas’s confession that silence makes him nervous so he says whatever he can think of just to be talking. 🙂
She sounds awesome!! Haha, I do that as well. It’s hard not to, isn’t it? Especially if you’re uncomfortable around that person. So, yes, I totally get you (and Hank 🙂
Oh that’s so cool that you’ve been published!! That’s one of my ultimate goals. 🙂
2. Favorite movie? Too hard. But I do love the 1934 Scarlet Pimpernel movie, starring Leslie Howard. And I really like the Hallmark series Signed, Sealed, Delivered. Oh, and the new Christopher Robin movie.
I’ve heard of those first two. Never watched them tho! Oh, I LOVE the new Christopher Robin movie!! It’s so sweet <3<3.
3. What three famous people would I want to meet and what would I ask them? Haven’t the foggiest. Maybe Patrick Henry, since he’s always been a Revolutionary War hero of mine. James Scott Bell, since his books on story structure saved my writerly sanity and I would love to tell him that. And maybe Elisabeth Elliott—a heroine of womanly faith. But there are plenty of Bible people it would be interesting to meet too.
Those are some great choices ;)!!
#HugRikerSquad
I’m sorry, @mineralizedwritings, that’s tough. Let me encourage you by saying that there are godly, caring guys out there. Godly, caring guys are still guys, and they don’t think or act like girls do. This is something I’m learning more and more. I’ve found some really helpful articles, though, which I’ll link to after this post.
Basically, one of the most important things is that guys don’t focus on feelings. Sure, some men are more emotional than others, just as some girls are, but even more emotional men don’t spend time sitting around talking about how they feel, analyzing how they feel, thinking about how they feel. Same for relationships. Good men value strong relationships, but they aren’t focused primarily on relationships. Men tend to be action-driven rather than emotion-driven, even if they do demonstrate emotion. They tend to be more logical than emotional and more assertive than accommodating. They also tend to talk much less than women—some data shows men speak an average of 7,000 words per day as opposed to women’s 20,000 words per day—and more straightforward in what they say. One of my writer friends says, “Take all the male dialogue in your story and cut it in half.”
This also means that guys react to trauma differently than girls do. As a rule, they’re not going to be thinking about how the trauma makes them feel; they’re going to be thinking about what to do in that situation. Again, action, not emotion.
Of course you don’t have to please anyone else with your characters (although if you venture into publishing, that will change). For me, it’s just trying to be as true to real life as I can.
An interesting (and difficult!!!) question. First off, I want to say that just like how us girls and women aren’t all the same, not all men are the same either.[…]
Absolutely, @freedomwriter76. Personalities are all across the board. The point is that personality differences don’t preclude the basic ways men and women differ. My pastor, whom I quoted earlier, has a very outgoing personality. He’s a talker. He gets emotional easily. He would not teach that tears are a sign of weakness; nor have other good men whom I know taught that, although they may joke about it. But my pastor would never have a heart-to-heart about how he feels just for the sake of talking about how he feels. Same for my former pastor, who is completely different personality type. Same for my dad, who is another completely different personality type. I’m guessing all of us girls in this discussion have different personalities and ways of expressing ourselves. But I’m also guessing we all put a considerable amount of thought into our feelings and how we’re relating to the people around us. There are gender differences that go deeper than personality types.
It’s great that you have the opportunity to model your characters on men you actually know. I don’t mean to imply in any way that men are not gentle or never have emotions or are afraid to show their emotions. I also know plenty of men who express emotion. It’s more that for most men, emotions and relationships do not occupy the place of prominence that they do for most women. I believe this is a reflection of the natural created order, in which men are designed to be the protectors and providers and women are designed to be the supporters and nurturers.
Oddly, it’s always been easier for me to create stories about male characters as well. But the more I write, the more I realize I have to be careful to actually write truly male characters and not what I think male characters are like or what I want them to be like. It’s good that we’re different, and I want to celebrate that in my writing.
Jayna Baas
Christian Author/Editor
www.booksbyjayna.com
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