Bronwyn Hyatt, from “The Hum and the Shiver,” was my first contemporary protagonist in a novel, as well as my first female one. I’d written short stories with female main characters, and all my novels have had strong women in them, but this was the first time I put a female character front and center.
What kind(s) of character do you consider this character primarily to be, or how would you describe this character?
She’s a damaged hero. She essentially ran away from home to join the military, and now has to face all the things she tried to avoid, as well as recover physically and emotionally from serious injuries.
What is a character from a published fiction story by another author you would compare this character to and why are they similar?
Oddly, the closest is Robert Duvall’s character from the film “Tender Mercies,” written by the great Horton Foote. I read a review that described him as being “a once-famous country singer who comes back, but only as far as he wants to.” That idea of admitting your failures and yet still taking control of your destiny is very powerful, and it’s exactly what Bronwyn does.
To what extent did you use any pre-existing character formula, template, paradigm, character design, archetype, or theory or principles of making or analysing character in planning, writing, and refining this character?
I don’t really work that way. I mean, I’m sure outside critical analysis could lay out a whole list of elements that went into the character, but the actual process of creating her was much more intuitive.
How would you describe the first chapter, scene or section of this story in one paragraph?
Bronwyn returns home to her isolated Appalachian town after serving in Iraq, where she was captured and then rescued on live television. It’s a hero’s welcome, but she’s still recovering from her injuries and just wants to leave the public eye. Her family is there for her, but almost at once she realizes there are dangers here as well. There’s a ghost waiting to talk to her, omens of death seem to target her mother, and her old boyfriend is still lurking around. Her society, known as the Tufa, expects her to take her place in their hierarchy, something she’s always avoided. And her head trauma has caused her to lose the ability to play music, something that’s essential to the Tufa.
Pick one of your published stories. How would you describe the introduction of the main character, or one of the main characters, in this story?
I’ll use my short story “What’s the Frequency, Francis?” from the anthology “Haunted: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror.” The main character is Sir Francis Colby, a Victorian spiritualist; he’s introduced in the present day when a museum docent describes him and then presents another character with Colby’s first-person account, which makes up the bulk of the story.
What makes this an effective character introduction for this story?
We’re told about Colby, and we see him from the perspective of a century later, before we jump right into his point of view. It quickly gives the reader context and saves me from having to figure out a way to work background into the narrative proper.
What major changes does this character go through, or what major challenges does the character encounter and how does the character respond to them?
He battles evil spirits summoned by accident, and then at the end of the story his whole view of the universe is rattled. His Victorian certainty allows him to continue despite this; the person reading the document is not so lucky.
How would you describe the most important minor characters in this story and the changes in their character, or the challenges they encounter and how the respond them?
The most important minor character is the modern-day ghost hunter who reads the Colby document. Like Colby, he begins with certainty about the universe, only to lose it with the final revelation. The other significant minor character is Dr. Pugh, a “mad scientist” who sets the plot in motion.
What does the story gain from the minor characters?
Context. The minor characters provide differing views of the events.
To what extent would you describe the characters in this story as typical or atypical of characters in your fiction stories?
They’re typical types of this sort of story, which is sort of the point: the reader accepts them and thinks s/he knows them, only to have that change by the end. As far as whether they’re typical of my stories, I don’t have the perspective to say.
Author website: http://www.alexbledsoe.com/
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