Welcome back to the final stop here at Writing Room 101. If you’ve visited before, or managed to catch Renee elsewhere on her tour, thanks for your support.
This time I’d like to share two character interviews with you, provided for the blitz. They are a lot of fun, so I’m sure you’ll enjoy them as much as I did.
First up is Auren Trask (the series is told from Auren’s point of view). This is followed by Kato, who is Auren’s Foster father and Guardian.
Auren Trask
Character Interview
By: Kathryn Jenkins
Q: Tell us a little about you and the world you reside in?
A: The Serpent Isles are an island chain in the far north of my world. There are other land masses, mostly islands, around the world, but we are far from any of them. We are the most advanced culture on our world as well. Some of the other islands have primitive cultures, but the other islands are not very hospitable places to live. The wildlife is much too dangerous to coexist with on some, and the climates are too harsh on others. We are not sure why our culture seemed to thrive and advance, while others that remain are so primitive, but there are legends that suggest shadow stalkers played a role in that, if you believe in such things.
Q: What is it like to be a kid growing up among the Serpent Isles?
A: Boring…at least on Appolia. I think I live in the most boring town on the coldest island in the Serpent Isles. We only get about a month of warm weather, and it never gets warm enough to swim here. There’s lots of skiing and snow related activities, but I’ve never been into that sort of thing. I don’t really like the cold. I like rock climbing, rappelling, and caving, though. Kado takes me camping on a different island every summer, and we do all kinds of stuff like that. On Appolia, I spend most of my time studying and trying not to get myself into too much trouble. Kado keeps me busy studying a lot of different things outside of school as well, so I don’t have much time for my friends.
Q: You have a very protective foster father. Do you ever get the urge to rip your hair out, when it comes to dealing with him?
A: Well, no. I like my hair right where it is. I might consider ripping his out on occasion, though. Wait, never mind…that would not end well. We do butt heads a lot, though, and quite often I let my friend, Jade, talk me into breaking the rules. It’s great fun, until I get caught, which with Kado doesn’t take very long. Sometimes I swear he can read my mind.
Q: In episode one you have two very unique friends. Can you tell us about them and how you met each?
A: I met Jade Tobin and Deakan Nix on my first day of school when I was six years old. We connected right away and have been inseparable since. Sometimes I think with the way the two of them bicker, they might like each other, but I’ll never tell them that. It might take a cataclysmic event to get them to admit they have feelings for each other.
Jade is generally quiet and reserved, but at the same time very mischievous. She is someone you can trust with your innermost secrets, and she is a lot of fun to be around. She has very laid back parents, except that they tend to shelter her from the harsh realities of the world. She tends to be too trusting, and she can’t understand cruel people. Violence terrifies her.
Deakan is the exact opposite. You can always count on him to be running his mouth, except when he’s around his father. He’s very obedient and well behaved around his dad. It’s like he has two different personalities, but I’d bet any amount of money that the person he is away from his dad is the real Deakan. He always seems to have something to prove and has a tendency to really dislike authority figures.
Q: Your foster father spent many years training you. Do you feel glad after your experiences about having this training?
A: I would say I feel relieved more than glad. I don’t know what I would have done without the training to fall back on when my friends and I were in trouble. But the training itself has always been very difficult and limiting to my social life. So it’s really been a blessing and a curse.
Kado
Character Interview
By: Kathryn Jenkins
Q: Hi Kado, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
A: I am a shadow stalker who was chosen at birth to be trained by our Foramar to replace him upon his death. Auren believes I am a courier, but I have spent the last eighteen years acting as a liaison between the shadow stalkers and the Coalition, the current government of the northern territory of the Serpent Isles. It has been my cover for keeping Auren’s secret. Shadow stalkers do not live among the people of the Serpent Isles, and it was the only way to legitimize my reason for being here. I am very recognizable as a shadow stalker to those who have fought beside us in the war with the Galvadi Empire, which helped the Coalition win their independence. Auren’s presence with me is not unusual because many people who know of us know that we foster our children out to be raised by others.
Q: How did you come to be Auren’s foster father?
A: As I mentioned, the Foramar fostered and trained me throughout my childhood. When his wife became pregnant, he asked me to foster his child. Auren was born prematurely when the Dark Isle was attacked by the Galvadi. The stress of the attack caused the Foramar’s wife to go into labor. She died in childbirth, and I left the Dark Isle with Auren minutes after her birth.
Q: Its obvious many find you bizarre and hard on Auren. Do you think you’re hard on her?
A: Absolutely, I have to be, although sometimes I don’t think I’m hard enough on her. Being a shadow stalker is not easy at the best of times. Traveling to and from the shadow world is dangerous, and becomes more so when we start using our powers while partially within the shadow world and partially in the physical one. Auren, more than any other shadow stalker, has other dangers she will have to face in her life, and she needs to be prepared or she will not survive.
Q: What is your purpose for training Auren on the skills you decided to show her?
A: She needs to be able to survive in no matter what situation she may find herself in. She will need to be able to go to places other people can’t go and hide herself for days, weeks or more if necessary. She needs to be able to survive off the land, making her own tools if necessary. And she needs to know the islands better than anyone else, so she can accomplish all this. Her training will go above and beyond what a shadow stalker would normally endure, because she will face things that the average shadow stalker will never have to face. I
believe her father chose me to foster her because I have the foresight to know what she will need to learn.
Q: You have so much experience and knowledge about many things in your time. Can you tell us more about shadow stalkers?
A: The only thing I can share with you about the shadow stalkers at present is that we were created by the shadow people for a very specific purpose, although it’s not clear to us yet what that purpose is. Many cultures have their gods, mysterious beings who guide civilizations with a purpose that might not be apparent to the people. However, the people will trust in their gods’ will knowing that the gods have more knowledge and power than they do. While the shadow people are not gods, this is the power they have over us. We follow their will without question. In exchange for our obedience, we are given power that goes far beyond the power of any other mortal, which includes an extended lifespan. We will not live forever, but we will live at least twice as long as the average human.
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Thanks for visiting, and again for your support.
If you have any questions for Renee, you can either leave them in the comments and I’ll pass them on, or visit her website here.
![[WR101 Prompt Series] Thrilling Tuesdays' – Prompt #11](https://mbarkersimpson.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/thrilling-tuesdays-2.jpg?w=1080)
Melissa Barker-Simpson 