A Taste of What’s to Come

My first novel, The Land of Shadows, is set to come out fall 2023, and I thought it would be interesting to give breakdowns of some of the characters that the reader will meet. There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes that’s difficult to incorporate into my works, and I want to share some of the thoughts that go through my mind as I’m creating characters. Besides, I like sharing bits on my book here and there to get potential readers interested.

The first character I ever made was Felzar. I was about ten years old, and my brothers and I found a sudden interest in writing stories. We had discovered this website called Wattpad where individuals can write and share their stories for everyone to see. This concept fascinated me, and I got to work right away on what eventually became the prologue to the first novel in my series, The Land of Shadows. It could hardly be called a chapter back then, more just a handful of haphazard and poorly written sentences thrown together, but some of the concepts have remained to this day. The chapter began with Felzar running for his life from some unknown creature. Why was he running? My ten year old brain hadn’t quite figured that one out yet. As the story became more developed, Felzar started to take on a larger role. He grew from just some random warrior, into one of the more important people in all Anoria, the nation where the events of the book take place. His motivations expanded as well. Now he is attempting to retrieve an ancient artifact to ensure Anoria’s safety, a selfless act that shows how committed he is to his people. The fact that he is acting alone shows that he can still be rash, though his intentions are good. He will always be one of my favorite characters, and I love how much his role in the story has grown.

Maran is a boy, on the cusp of becoming a man, that has lived his whole life in the small village of Brandir. Living on the border of Anoria, Maran is removed from the events of the world. The only conflict he has ever known are the occasional spats he has with his younger brother Jerathim. Despite all this, he dreams of a life filled with adventure and heroism, oblivious of the true cost that he must pay for such a life. As with all my characters, Maran has changed quite a bit through the different drafts of The Land of Shadows. He has become more relatable, his thoughts and actions suffused with anger and uncertainty. Yet he is defined not by his faults, but by his love for his family, and his desire to better himself.

The last character I want to cover for now is Roland. He is the Guardian of Anoria, a position of great authority, and eventually becomes a sort of mentor to Maran and his brother Jerathim. He is confident, caring, and strong, both in mind and body. While he can sometimes come across as demanding, his thoughts are always for the good of those around him, even at the cost of his own safety. Initially, Roland was just one of many generals in the army of Anoria, but he now takes on a much more active role in the story, even going so far as to take Maran and Jerathim under his wing.

The Land of Shadows is filled with the most fascinating characters, each one with their own tale to tell. I’m excited for my book to finally be released so that I can share each of them with the world. Make sure to check the current works page for any updates to the release schedule of The Land of Shadows, and as always happy writing out there.