The more I work on Guardians the better I get to know my characters. I'm not quite at the point where I can feel them sitting on my shoulder watching me write, but I'll get there. In the meantime, one thing I can tell you is that they're nothing special. By this I don't mean that they are not special people but rather they are not extraordinary. This summer I've been read two different YA series where the protagonists are unique. Angie Sage wrote the Septimus Heap series where the main character Septimus is the seventh son of a seventh son. As an fantasy addict knows seven is an incredibly magical number and so any seventh son of a seventh son is predestined for greatness. The second trilogy I've read is called Poisons of Caux by Susannah Appelbaum. The protagonist Ivy becomes known as "the Chosen Child," and the subject of a prophecy made years before she was even born. So once again, anyone well-read in fantasy will assume that Ivy has to save the day by the end of book three. In Guardians my characters aren't predestined to save anything and Shana and Kalynn aren't gifted with any magic besides what any Guardian has. I think that's why I love my characters so much. They can't rely on any super powers but rather they need to solve their problems with their brains, their guts, and their ingenuity. And even though the novel is fantasy the characters are so real that they really will be sitting on my shoulders one day.
To read an excerpt about Ben and his ordinariness click here
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