Wednesday 14 May 2014

Let me introduce my main character...


There's a Blog Hop going the rounds and I've been tagged  by Laura Purcell to talk about my main character. 
1. What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or a historic person? The hero of my novel is Oli Ketilsson and he is totally fictitious! I see this as a dual-hero story. Oli is young, somewhere around sixteen or seventeen, no one is quite sure and although it is his story, he shares the pages with his foster-father, Flane Ketilsson, who is only ten years older and a fully fledged Viking warrior. Flane was the hero of Far After Gold, which some of you may have read. If you haven't don't worry, it's not necessary to have done so.
2. When and where is the story set? The story covers a couple of weeks during the summer of 1046, when the worst of the Viking raids were over and Vikings were settling down and farming their new lands.  Oli and Flane live in Ulli's Steading on Loch Broom in north-west Scotland (aka Alba at that time), but a good deal of the story takes place in Dyflin (aka Dublin today). 
3. What should we know about him? When Oli was six or seven, his father was lost at sea and his body never found. His mother died in childbirth soon afterwards. Oli lived in the Steading, cared for by "no one and everyone," as Flane put it. When Flane took Emer to the steading, Oli became her first friend, and when they  married they adopted him as their son. He has always idolised Flane.
4. What is the main conflict? What messes up his life?  There are not many girls of Oli's age in the neighbourhood, so when Gisla leaps aboard Flane's ship as they leave Dyflin, Oli falls head over heels in love with her. She is terrified, escaping from someone or something, and instantly Oli wants to protect her. Flane isn't so sure, especially when a Viking warship follows them home to Alba and demands that the girl return to Dyflin in order to marry Karli Olafsson. From then on, Oli risks his life for her.
5. What is the personal goal of the character? To be as brave a warrior as his foster-father Flane, and to save Gisla and have her all to himself. 
6. Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it? VIKING MAGIC was published on 8th May 2014, and it is available via Amazon Kindle
I’ve tagged the talented Heather King continue the blog hop. She will post on 21st May 2014.

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