ARE MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS AS INTERESTED IN REFUGEE MINISTRY AS I AM?

 

 

Remember being introduced to my 20 favorite characters last year? I thought about doing an update and if there are any changes to the line-up. I'll probably wait at least two years before tweaking this line-up. (If you want a reminder who they are, you can put your cursor over the photo and it will remind you.)

One ministry that fascinated me since I first learned of it was ministry to refugees. By the way, I read just yesterday the difference between a refugee and a displaced person - the latter has to move but still remains in his home country, while the refugee relocates to a new country. 

Well, one of the most reminders of this interest was skimming through a bio about an author and finding out that one character was actually a refugee. 

So I looked at my collection of characters, asking myself if the characters I like reflect my interest in refugees. How many of these characters either aided/worked with a refugee, married a refugee, or was either temporarily or permanently a refugee?

Would you believe six? That's 30%. Considering that refugees were not a major theme in most stories I read, I'd consider that a notable number.

Let me list those six, starting with the back-row and going left to right.

1. Brennen Caldwell (second from left, back row), from the Firebird novels by Kathy Tyers. His wife, Lady Firebird, willingly became a refugee from her home world Netaia. On that planet, rulers were allowed two heirs, and following children were called wastelings, who were obligated to die and were assigned to suicide missions for that purpose. Lady Firebird was the third-born. Having failed on her suicide mission, she became a refugee.
2. Fightmaster Loretus (sixth from left, back row), from Tales of the Infinite by R.J. Larson. Kien Lantec, normally a diplomat, was exiled from his homeland, and Loretus was assigned to help him in his fighting skills. 
3. Crusader (first from right, back row), from Numb by John Otte. Crusader was a hit-man who became expendable and by the end of the story he relocated to another planet.
4. Arvandus the griffin (first from left, front row), from The Firebrand Chronicles by J.M. Hackman and
5. Dorann the tracker (fourth from left, front row), from Tales of Faeraven by Janalyn Voigt had similar experiences. Their home countries were captured by the bad guys and found themselves as refugees in other territories until the good guys reclaimed their territory.
6. ...No, I'll wait to reveal the final one.

I will add that other characters, while currently not involved in refugee work, would be quick to help. Suppose someone came to the dinner where my twenty favorite characters were and told them a batch of refugees were arriving and were in need. Father Antony (back row, fifth from left, from Donna Fletcher Crow's Monastery Murders) would immediately be heading out the door to aid them. Felix McClintock the Zealot and Arianna Sloan (front row, seventh and eighth from left, respectively from The Merely Mortal by J.P. Leck and the Teen Mission series by Jill Williamson) would be right behind him. Vythian Blix (back row, fourth from left from Paul Regnier's Space Drifters trilogy), after learning what they were doing, would desire to join them, but was discouraged from going because they didn't want Blix to scare the refugees (Arvandus probably was the most effective in discouraging Blix). Meanwhile, Drew Farthering (front row, second from left, from the Drew Farthering Mysteries by Julianna Deering), Duke of Marshington Ryland Montgomery (back row, fourth from right, from An Honorable Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter) and Agatha Christie's world famous detective Hercule Poirot (front row, sixth from left) would be making sure that any funding needs were fully covered. 

By the way, here's a fact you might not know. Post WWI England had refugees from other countries, including Belgium. Ah, the light comes on. Yes, Agatha Christie was aware of those refugees. Yes, when she created a detective for her first novel, that detective was a Belgian refugee. 

So maybe Hercule might be encouraging me to consider working with refugees, with assistance from the others. (And if Loretus gets involved, I'll make haste.)

 

WHEN MY 20 FAVORITE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS GOT TOGETHER FOR DINNER.

 

Above is a picture of my twenty favorite fictional characters, who got together in my fictional world Chrysostom. We chose that place because the atmosphere kills off COVID-19 germs so they didn't have to wear masks.

Unfortunately, photography doesn't exist on Chrysostom, so I had to draw the characters, which is hampered by my  drawing skill. So if the characters look more like my impressions of them than what the author intended, my apologies. 

Allow me to introduce you to them, front row first, left to right:

Arvandus the Gryphon from the Firebrand Chronicles by J. M. Hackman. A voice of wisdom to the main character.

Drew Farthering and Nick Dennison from the Drew Farthering Mysteries by Julianna Deering. Set in Depression Era England, these two friends do a great job solving the crimes, and I love how they relate to each other. By the way, both married American ladies.

Dorann the Tracker from Tales of Faeraven by Janalyn Voigt. Some characters capture me without having a reason, and Dorann is an example.

Mortuary Beautician Hilde Higgins from the Curl Up And Dye Mysteries by Nancy Mehl. Hilde also has a pug named Watson, a fish named Sherlock, a love for cooking with Spam, and a phobia of clowns. Her boyfriend, by the way, does charity work where he dresses up as a ... oh, you know already?

Hercule Poirot. Considering that 19 of the 23 Agatha Christie novels I read features him, as well as the first two novels where Sophie Hannah picked up rather recently, no question why he's on my list.

Felix McClintock, a.k.a. The Zealot, from The Merely Mortal by J. P. Leck. His path is a little more ... what shall I call it? Intense? ... than other characters, this Christian can hold his own against evil spiritual forces and their earthly incarnations.

Arianna Sloan from the Teen Mission Series by Jill Williamson. Considering the fact that she's the same age as main character Spencer Garmond, she has a major spot in this series.

Debuggers ThreadBare and BullHammer from The Darktrench Shadow series by Kerry Nietz. Threadbare is one of the characters I can really relate to, but I also enjoy when his buddy BullHammer shows up.

Back row:

George Sullivan, director of the Office of Joint Liasions (OJL) from The Fast Track Thrillers by Suzanne Hartmann.

Brennan Caldwell from the Firebird Trilogy by Kathy Tyers. He gave one of my all time favorite quotes - "Don't think like a wasteling."

Tanner Calhoun from the Serena Jones Mysteries by Sandra Orchard. A FBI Agent with a sense of humor.

Blix, the peaceable Vythian warrior from Space Drifters by Paul Regnier.

Father Antony Sherwood from the Monastery Murders by Donna Fletcher Crow. My all time favorite character, who I also relate to.

Fightmaster Loretus from the two latter books of the Books Of The Infinite by R. J. Larson. My second favorite character. One of those who manages to be both tormentor and friend at the same time.

Ryland Montgomery, Duke of Marshington and spy, from An Honorable Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter. Yes, those familiar with the book will wonder why a historical romance shows up on my list. But when Kristi and I were in the same critique group, I looked forward to her contribution each week.

Wilder Flynn - who loves to tell stories and is obsessed with his hair - from Dangerous Obsession by Jessica Patch. This story is the third part of the Security Specialists triology, and Wilder is the director. Considering we're talking Love Inspired Suspense here, my hunch is he's more of a supporting cast member in the first two books.

Attorney Wyatt Jackson from Rule Of Law by Randy Singer. Jackson has a dog named Clients. When someone calls for him, his assistant tells them he's with Clients. He also calls his mobile home Court.

Crusader the Assassin from Numb by John Otte. He served the overly religious government known as the Ministrix to maintain order, helped by the job that he was without feeling, either physically or emotionally. But then, something happens.

Have you had the honor of reading the adventures of these characters? How would you like to join this group for dinner? What kinds of conversations can you imagine between this group?

DOES THE PLOT DIRECT THE CHARACTERS OR DO THE CHARACTERS DICTATE THE PLOT?

 

One definition of "Writer's Block." Courtesy of Terri Main and Wordmaster Books.

 

Last week, I spoke of different approaches in writing, both in "blank paging" vs. "outlining" as well as how much details of the characters the author allows the reader to decide on. But let me pose a question here - is "blank paging" more of structuring the story through the characters, what they believe, what they're struggling with, and how they respond? 

One thing that's true is sometimes the characters can be mutinous when you're writing. Maybe they don't want to say the words your putting in their mouth or they'd do things something different. I've heard authors mention that happen. 

Mark White in a contribution to Spiderman and Philosophy: The Web of Inquiry, he mentions the "One More Day" storyline where Aunt May is dying, and Peter Parker (aka Spiderman) makes a deal with Mephisto (Marvel's counterpart to The Devil) that she will live on the condition that history is rewritten and Parker's marriage to Mary Jane Watson never existed.

White mentions that story-line didn't sit well with the fans, and for good reason. Who in their right mind would suppose Peter Parker would make a deal with the devil? That's completely out of character for him!

Last week, I mentioned that mystery writers tend to be outliners. But that's not how I wrote my mystery. I did have a schedule of events that formed the skeleton of the plot, but I had no idea until halfway through the writing who the murderer was. And then it hit me.

One reason? I had a detailed sheet for each character. It helps me remember details such as how many children they have and their ages. But I also found that the more detail I gave to the character, the more they help you write the plot. 

I know, I know. I sound like an expert when I'm not a published author yet. But I'll tell you what I'm putting my characters through for my next story so I have more rounded characters. I'll leave out what you'd expect (e.g. appearance, marital status and history, favorite foods and sports).

• Myers-Briggs Personality Test. This was not an original idea - I attended a writer's conference several years ago where the teacher mentioned this to determine which of 16 personalities each character has. Why not?
• T-Shirts, Bumper Stickers, Refrigerator Magnets, and the Like. That idea came to me when I noticed a couple of T-shirts people wore and what it revealed about the people. In fact, years ago I wrote a blog on it titled "Ye Shall Know Them By Their T-Shirts" - I put a link to it. Jill Williamson has a character in her Mission League series who has an awesome T-shirt collection.
• Term papers, Seminars, and Items They've Written. Many of my characters from my mystery are published authors.  Papers they wrote and workshops they attended will tell you about their interests and areas where they have some expertise.
• "The World's Smallest Political Quiz."  This is a ten question quiz which determines not only how they fit on the conservative/liberal continuum, but if they are more Libertarian or Statist. If you want to see that test, you can click here.

If the characters are Christian, I have a couple more tests for them to take.

• A Spiritual Gifts Questionaire. I'm not sure which one I'd use, but the point is if they're a Christian, they'll have a Spiritual Gift, and that might affect their approach to life as well. In the previously mentioned series, Jill Williamson had the spiritual gifts of the characters show up in the plot.
  
• The Spiritual Temperment Test in Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas. The author lists nine spiritual temperments. My characters will have these as well. 

 Sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it? But of course, I don't have to include all the information for each character in the book. 

Are there any characters in a story you've read that stand out, and would character charts be a key in their standing out?

BOOK REVIEW: THE MISSION LEAGUE SERIES BY JILL WILLIAMSON

Is something wrong with me? My all-time favorite series is about a group of people young enough to be my children, and close to being young enough to be my grandchildren!

Or I can put it another way: I'm a fan of a group of Christian teen-age James and Jane Bonds! 

The story focuses on Spencer Garmond, who is being raised by his grandmother after his mother dies, allegedly by the hands of his father. He is recruited during his freshman year of high school into a group called The Mission League, which his parents and grandparents were a part of.

Except Spencer is the rare non-Christian in his group. He's not used to hanging around "churchers", and isn't certain at first he wants to. Still, he joins the group (it beats the option of being sent to military school). He just hopes it doesn't mess with his dreams of playing Division I Basketball.

Then, he learns he's a possible "Profile Match" for a prophecy people in the group have had for decades. Additionally, he sees similarities between a cult group and a successful movie series.

The course of the book follows his years in high school and trips to Russia, Japan, the Alaskan wilderness, and Cambodia. Of course, he has normal everyday experiences like being chased by wolves, interrogated at knife point on who "The First Twin" is, facing multiple kidnapping attempts, and rapelling down a cliff with a pair of young ladies on a single harness.

This series - consisting of four full novels and a pair of novellas - is aimed for a young adult market. One could debate if it's a straight adventure or if it should be considered speculative with the emphasis on prophecy, but whatever you want to call it, it's exciting and enjoyable. And did I mention this was my all-time favorite fiction series?

Since the focus of this blog is spiritual and deals with apologetics, I'd like to deal with an interesting theological concept in this book. When a recruit joins the league, they are given a spiritual gift inventory so they know what their strengths are. 

But would a non-Christian like Spencer have spiritual gifts? The predominate view would be no; this novel takes a different view. Not only that, but Williamson chose not to give him gifts one might easily allow an unbeliever to have prior to faith like mercy or leadership or teaching. No, she gives Spencer the gifts of prophecy and discernment.

So, for those of you who enjoy answering the questions I leave at the end of my blog, do you believe God gives people who will be Christians Spiritual gifts prior to their rebirth or at least abilities and interests that will develop into Spiritual gifts following conversion?

Also, anybody else read and enjoy this series? And if not, when are you going to remedy that?