A new thing has entered the blogosphere and I AM ALL THE EXCITED. The precious, brilliant Liv. K. Fisher has recently started a new linkup, and it’s all about CHARACTERS. Only my favorite topic ever.

With the ever beloved Beautiful People linkup closed (*sniff, sniff*), Liv arose like a superhero and started a new one much in the same vein, in which she asks ten questions for us to answer about any one of our characters we choose. But this one is bimonthly and is tailored for Christian Speculative Fiction. But of course anyone is welcome to join.

It actually started in May, but I fail at life and didn’t get to it in time before the linkup closed. But I’m joining in on this second one, and hope to do them all because I am so addicted to character-centered posts. (Plus they’re just so helpful digging deeper into one’s character.)

ANYWAYS. For more info you can check out Liv’s first post about it HERE. Annnd if you want to join in on the July-August linkup (except August is almost over wuuuut????) the post for it is HERE.

So. I have some news…

I may have started a new story.

Yeppp. Even though I have 298324 other projects I could/should be working on. But I’ve been editing all yeeeear, guys. I need something new and fresh to work on for a bit. And Realm Makers filled me up on inspiration so much, I couldn’t help it. I miss having a project to work on just for fun with no pressure (it’s been a while), so a couple of weeks ago I spontaneously started a new novel that’s been in my head for many months now. Annnnd it’s a retelling. NO SURPRISE THERE. *grins*

Introducing…

Kings Bleed Gold

Can you guess what it’s a retelling of? Shockingly, it’s not a fairytale.

It’s King Midas!

So yeah, I’ve had this idea, since last October I believe, of a story about a bratty teenage King Midas getting kidnapped by dragons (because what dragon wouldn’t want a slave who can turn anything into gold, amiright? It just makes sense). And then I put Midas through lots of torture and terrible things to knock that bratty-ness out of him ‘cause I’m such a nice author to my characters. This is gonna be one of those major character arc things (and as we learned last week, I’m obsessed with those) and YEAH. IT’S FUN. There’s also wild fairies and possibly a plague of some kind and an underground city sorta kinda and the world is loosely based off Greek stuff and just a ton of strange, fantasy thiiings. I AM EXCITED. (I also have a Pinterest Board and I loooove the aesthetic of this story. ALL THE GOLD.)

I’ve like done…no real plotting or anything. I mean, technically I’ve been mentally plotting for like 10 months now, so I have a ton of ideas, just nothing linear and organized. Eheh. Again, right now I’m just kind of writing this casually for fun and doing whatever I like with it. But that’s a topic for another day. And eventually maybe I’ll share more abut this project. But I’ve already babbled so much and we haven’t even got to the point of this post yet!

So, without further rambling ado, meet Midas…

MIDAS

1.) Where does your character live, and how does that impact them?

Midas lives in his kingdom of Chrysafel in the castle which is…gold. ‘Cause he made it that way. Chrysafel is now the richest kingdom across the entire continent of Ellador (the fantasy land this is set in), because, ya know, they’ve got a prince (he’s not quite king at the beginning of the book) who can turn anything into gold with a single touch. It didn’t take long for their riches to skyrocket.

Midas loves his kingdom. In fact, he values it over most everything. And the people seemingly worship him with his ability. Not a great help to ebbing his ego. He lives a very cushy life for the most part.

2.) If they could book a vacation to anywhere in the/their world, where would they go and why?

Again, Midas loves his kingdom. It’s his favorite place to be. Though he does have to visit the fairies frequently for reeeeasons, and he enjoys their wild, enchanted wood. And their wild, enchanted selves.

He’s heard there are other fairies living much farther to the west of Ellador that aren’t nearly as friendly as the ones he deals with. His reckless, adventurous spirit somewhat desires to see these darker fairies and their home purely out of curiosity.

3.) On a scale from 1 (low) to 10 (high), how ambitious are they?

Like…9. Lol. Probably almost 10, honestly. It is his goals to make his kingdom bigger and grander and more resplendent than any kingdom that ever has or ever will exist. To the point that he’s “politely” kicking his parents off the throne so he can get started. He’s convinced himself that the kingdom needs him as the ruler and his parents deserve retirement and comfortable, carefree lives. Buuuut deep down I think the power is getting to his head. Being able to turn anything into gold can do that to a person.

But yeah, ambition is one of Midas’ greatest strengths. …And weaknesses.

4.) What do they want to achieve long-term?

*points to above answer* Making Chrysafel the richest, most powerful kingdom to ever stand. Or he thinks that’s what he wants. Making himself the richest, most powerful king is probably the root of his goal, he just denies it to even himself.

5.) Who inspires them?

Mmm… Not many people beyond himself at the beginning of the story. LOL. Later he meets people who inspire him to be a better person, but spoilers, sweetie. :)))

6.) How would they handle seclusion?

Terribly. Midas is a social creature and feeds off people and attention. He’s charismatic and loves to make jokes and be the life of the party. He’d go mad in seclusion.

He’d also be left with his thoughts in seclusion, and he spends so much energy convincing himself he’s doing right and rationalizing all his actions, he couldn’t handle being forced to really think about things for long. It would take him to a dark place he refuses to visit.

7.) Are they a cat person, or a dog person?

Midas thinks almost all animals are great. I want to say maybe sliiightly closer to a cat person, but he’d still be all for having a big, loyal dog. He particularly loves horses though.

He does love his gold ability, but he also really misses being able to feel things with his skin. He has to wear special clothes and gloves and things, and hasn’t felt anything beyond the material of those clothes and the hard surface of gold and water (because his ability doesn’t affect liquid) for years and years. Trying to pet a cat or dog with his ability would…erm…not end well. He’d have to use his gloves, and he really misses touching things for reals.

8.) What’s their favorite type of weather?

He loves clear, summer, starry nights. It’s his favorite time to go take a stroll. But bright, sunny days is also great so he can see the splendor of his kingdom. The boy… *shakes head*

9.) When they’re hungry, does it show? How?

Midas often gets too distracted to eat. He doesn’t put a ton of value in food, mainly because he’s had an abundance of it his whole life and has never had to go hungry. But also because eating is a bit of a tedious task. Nothing turns to gold when it touches the inside of his mouth, but if his lips touch things, it does turn to gold. So he has to be extremely careful, and it gets tiring.

10.) What’s one Bible verse your character would identify with?

“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.”
James 5:1-3

Oookay, he can’t exactly identify with that right now. But he will… *evil grin*

As you can see, I’ve got some work to do on the boy.

That was so much fun! Huge thanks to Liv for creating us a new, amazing character linkup. I’ve missed doing this! Don’t forget to check out HER BLOG for all the info on this new linkup!

TALK WITH ME