Cate VanNostrand's Blog, page 6
November 14, 2023
Ilmarien Legends Character Profile: Daelin Gwylen
Today on Southern Scribblings, I’ll be introducing you to my main male character, Daelin Gwylen! Born and raised in the human city of Baelimor, Daelin is expected to become king one day - if he can just run the Fallen Dwarves out of the kingdom first.
~
Full name: Daelin Gwylen. I asked an author for male name ideas many years ago, and “Daelin” was the first one she gave me. Gwylen is a blend of the Welsh word “gwyllt” for wild, and the Welsh “deilen” (I had no clue that was the word) for leaf. So Daelin’s last name literally means “wildleaf”.
Age: In HOAE he’s about 21, and I believe he stays 21 in this book too.
Race: Human (Baleimorian)
Appearance: Daelin has both dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He’s been trying to grow out his facial hair since turning 21 (much to the chagrin of his sister, Morgana, who I’ll be featuring soon). He’s around 5’ 10”, just a few inches taller than Nia. He’s not muscular-looking at a first glance, but both his time spent training as a swordfighter and working in the Fallen Dwarf mines have trimmed him up. He has a scar on his right shoulder, which he tells everyone came from a fight with the Fallen Dwarves. Only he and his sister Alaine know that it happened during a knife-training session gone wrong.
Counterpart: Oh boy. XD Daelin has a lot of on-screen counterparts. He looks the most like Richard Cypher from the Netflix show Legend of the Seeker (I’ve never seen the show, I just saw a pic of Kahlan and Richard together and thought they looked like my characters; I only know their names because of Google.), but he also resembles Kili from The Hobbit movies. In character, he’s noble and honors his people’s heritage like Prince Caspian, while remaining headstrong and with plenty of sarcastic/funny quips like D’Artagnan from the BBC show The Musketeers.
One-word descriptor: determined
Archetype: hero
Myers-Briggs: Daelin is an ESTJ, making him a Director.
Enneagram: Daelin is a 7 (Enthuisiast) with a 6 (Loyalist) wing, making him a Pathfinder.
Love Language: As the crown prince of Baelimor, Daelin has had people wait on him and give him what he desires. But he also wants people to get to know him better, hence why his love language is quality time.
Values: Daelin treasures his relationship with Elu, and he values his family above almost everything else. His home and his friends are also important to him, as well as protecting the truth that made him the man he is now.
Skills - Thanks to his training as the future king, and teaching himself the ways of a soldier by reading and training with his friends Seathan and Rhodri, Daelin is a well-rounded fighter and diplomat. Though he lacks real-world experience, he’s read many books on Baelimorian politics, as well as the history of the humans in Ilmarien. He can wield both a bow and a sword, though his preferred weapon is a sword.
Flaws: The Gwylen line is full of stubborn rulers, and Daelin is no exception. He’s headstrong to a fault, and during his early days of rebelling against the Fallen Dwarves, he earned himself the title of goifrus - the Old Baelimorian word for “short fuse”. While he is working on the first two, it’s very easy for Daelin to let his emotions get the better of him.
Worst Fear: Being a wing 6 on the Enneagram, Daelin has a fair amount of family-related anxiety and “what ifs” that go on in his head. His worst fear, however, is pretty legit. He’s afraid he won’t be able to stop the evil from taking his home - or worse, his family.
~
That’s all for now! So, what do you think of Daelin? I have R.M. Archer from www.rmarcher.com to thank for this character’s name. If you want to learn more about Daelin, just check out the character profiles below. Next week, I’ll be featuring the third primary character of the Ilmarien Legends - Fenorin Feiladur.
Until next week!
~
Full name: Daelin Gwylen. I asked an author for male name ideas many years ago, and “Daelin” was the first one she gave me. Gwylen is a blend of the Welsh word “gwyllt” for wild, and the Welsh “deilen” (I had no clue that was the word) for leaf. So Daelin’s last name literally means “wildleaf”.
Age: In HOAE he’s about 21, and I believe he stays 21 in this book too.
Race: Human (Baleimorian)
Appearance: Daelin has both dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He’s been trying to grow out his facial hair since turning 21 (much to the chagrin of his sister, Morgana, who I’ll be featuring soon). He’s around 5’ 10”, just a few inches taller than Nia. He’s not muscular-looking at a first glance, but both his time spent training as a swordfighter and working in the Fallen Dwarf mines have trimmed him up. He has a scar on his right shoulder, which he tells everyone came from a fight with the Fallen Dwarves. Only he and his sister Alaine know that it happened during a knife-training session gone wrong.
Counterpart: Oh boy. XD Daelin has a lot of on-screen counterparts. He looks the most like Richard Cypher from the Netflix show Legend of the Seeker (I’ve never seen the show, I just saw a pic of Kahlan and Richard together and thought they looked like my characters; I only know their names because of Google.), but he also resembles Kili from The Hobbit movies. In character, he’s noble and honors his people’s heritage like Prince Caspian, while remaining headstrong and with plenty of sarcastic/funny quips like D’Artagnan from the BBC show The Musketeers.
One-word descriptor: determined
Archetype: hero
Myers-Briggs: Daelin is an ESTJ, making him a Director.
Enneagram: Daelin is a 7 (Enthuisiast) with a 6 (Loyalist) wing, making him a Pathfinder.
Love Language: As the crown prince of Baelimor, Daelin has had people wait on him and give him what he desires. But he also wants people to get to know him better, hence why his love language is quality time.
Values: Daelin treasures his relationship with Elu, and he values his family above almost everything else. His home and his friends are also important to him, as well as protecting the truth that made him the man he is now.
Skills - Thanks to his training as the future king, and teaching himself the ways of a soldier by reading and training with his friends Seathan and Rhodri, Daelin is a well-rounded fighter and diplomat. Though he lacks real-world experience, he’s read many books on Baelimorian politics, as well as the history of the humans in Ilmarien. He can wield both a bow and a sword, though his preferred weapon is a sword.
Flaws: The Gwylen line is full of stubborn rulers, and Daelin is no exception. He’s headstrong to a fault, and during his early days of rebelling against the Fallen Dwarves, he earned himself the title of goifrus - the Old Baelimorian word for “short fuse”. While he is working on the first two, it’s very easy for Daelin to let his emotions get the better of him.
Worst Fear: Being a wing 6 on the Enneagram, Daelin has a fair amount of family-related anxiety and “what ifs” that go on in his head. His worst fear, however, is pretty legit. He’s afraid he won’t be able to stop the evil from taking his home - or worse, his family.
~
That’s all for now! So, what do you think of Daelin? I have R.M. Archer from www.rmarcher.com to thank for this character’s name. If you want to learn more about Daelin, just check out the character profiles below. Next week, I’ll be featuring the third primary character of the Ilmarien Legends - Fenorin Feiladur.
Until next week!
November 7, 2023
Ilmarien Legends Character Profile: Niaren Induriel
Today on the blog, I'll be introducing you to my primary MC, Niaren! While she's not my only POV character, she's the one that started this whole trilogy, and she's the character that I resonate with the most. So without further, ado, meet Nia!
~
Full Name: Niaren Unduriel (Niaren means "true one" and Unduriel means "one who endures")
Age: during Heart of an Elf (HOAE), she was 20; over the course of Heart of a Warrior (HOAW), she turns 21
Race: Woodland Elf
Appearance: Niaren's hair is dark brown and cuts off around the mid-back area. During her hunts and patrols, her hair often goes off her shoulder in a long braid, but she puts in adorning mini braids during ceremonial events. In HOAE, she Dutch braids her hair during the battles/skirmishes with the Dwarves. (Side note: The reason I talk a lot about Nia's hair is (1), I love braiding and styling hair, and (2) braids/natural styles have significance in Ilmarien's Elvish culture, which I'll talk about in a future post.) She has blue eyes, and is of a slender build. She's relatively tall, about 5' 8". (Even thought Nia's an elf, Daelin is still a few inches taller than her, much to her occasional chagrin.) Her most notable feature is the Woodland Elf mark behind her right ear. It is the light blue letter (rune) E, for the word Elanduillen, which is the Elvish name for the Woodland Elves.
Counterpart: Kahlan Amnell from the Netflix show Legend of the Seeker, Arwen Undomiel from LOTR
One-word descriptor: fearless
Archetype: heroine
Myers-Briggs type: I actually like the Enneagram personality test better, but for kicks and giggles, I tested Nia's MB type. She's an INTJ, which the Internet calls a Logistician.
Enneagram: Nia is an 8 with a 7 wing, making her a Maverick. (Which honestly, describes her so well.)
Love language: I use the love languages as a way to determine what type of love expression my characters didn't receive as a child. So in Nia's case, she was raised to show little emotion and to not let what others say (or didn't say) make any difference to her. Because of this, Nia's love language is words of affirmation - she wants someone to tell her when she's doing good, or that's she loved.
Values - Nia values her father and her home. She always wants to explore, but that doesn't stop her from staying loyal to the forests of Melothlan. Even though her people are fairly agnostic when it comes to faith, Nia still values truth and goodness, which plays into one of her fears - the rest of the world falling into shadow because they do not care about truth like she does.
Skills - Nia is amazing with a bow and arrow, and her training as a Woodland Elf have enabled her to be one of the best swordfighters and hunters in Ilmarien. However, there's more to Nia than her physical capabilities. She is a polyglot, and can quickly pick up languages. She is good with children, possibly because when playing with kids, she's trying to reclaim the lost pieces of her childhood.
Flaws: Nia was born and raised in Melothlan, and because her duining day (21st birthday) hasn't come up yet, she is pretty naive to the ways of... well, every other person group from Ilmarien. She is also very overconfident in her fighting skills; this doesn't typically manifest itself, as she knows it's a problem. Lastly, Nia has a hard time processing difficult emotions, mostly because she was taught to repress them. She has a tendency to give into her anger when it gets out of control.
Worst fear: Nia has always been told that her mother died in childbirth. Therefore, she is scared that someone she loves or cares for will die because of her.
~
All right, that's it for today! Lord willing, my next blog post will be on my primary male main character, Daelin.
Until next week!
~
Full Name: Niaren Unduriel (Niaren means "true one" and Unduriel means "one who endures")
Age: during Heart of an Elf (HOAE), she was 20; over the course of Heart of a Warrior (HOAW), she turns 21
Race: Woodland Elf
Appearance: Niaren's hair is dark brown and cuts off around the mid-back area. During her hunts and patrols, her hair often goes off her shoulder in a long braid, but she puts in adorning mini braids during ceremonial events. In HOAE, she Dutch braids her hair during the battles/skirmishes with the Dwarves. (Side note: The reason I talk a lot about Nia's hair is (1), I love braiding and styling hair, and (2) braids/natural styles have significance in Ilmarien's Elvish culture, which I'll talk about in a future post.) She has blue eyes, and is of a slender build. She's relatively tall, about 5' 8". (Even thought Nia's an elf, Daelin is still a few inches taller than her, much to her occasional chagrin.) Her most notable feature is the Woodland Elf mark behind her right ear. It is the light blue letter (rune) E, for the word Elanduillen, which is the Elvish name for the Woodland Elves.
Counterpart: Kahlan Amnell from the Netflix show Legend of the Seeker, Arwen Undomiel from LOTR
One-word descriptor: fearless
Archetype: heroine
Myers-Briggs type: I actually like the Enneagram personality test better, but for kicks and giggles, I tested Nia's MB type. She's an INTJ, which the Internet calls a Logistician.
Enneagram: Nia is an 8 with a 7 wing, making her a Maverick. (Which honestly, describes her so well.)
Love language: I use the love languages as a way to determine what type of love expression my characters didn't receive as a child. So in Nia's case, she was raised to show little emotion and to not let what others say (or didn't say) make any difference to her. Because of this, Nia's love language is words of affirmation - she wants someone to tell her when she's doing good, or that's she loved.
Values - Nia values her father and her home. She always wants to explore, but that doesn't stop her from staying loyal to the forests of Melothlan. Even though her people are fairly agnostic when it comes to faith, Nia still values truth and goodness, which plays into one of her fears - the rest of the world falling into shadow because they do not care about truth like she does.
Skills - Nia is amazing with a bow and arrow, and her training as a Woodland Elf have enabled her to be one of the best swordfighters and hunters in Ilmarien. However, there's more to Nia than her physical capabilities. She is a polyglot, and can quickly pick up languages. She is good with children, possibly because when playing with kids, she's trying to reclaim the lost pieces of her childhood.
Flaws: Nia was born and raised in Melothlan, and because her duining day (21st birthday) hasn't come up yet, she is pretty naive to the ways of... well, every other person group from Ilmarien. She is also very overconfident in her fighting skills; this doesn't typically manifest itself, as she knows it's a problem. Lastly, Nia has a hard time processing difficult emotions, mostly because she was taught to repress them. She has a tendency to give into her anger when it gets out of control.
Worst fear: Nia has always been told that her mother died in childbirth. Therefore, she is scared that someone she loves or cares for will die because of her.
~
All right, that's it for today! Lord willing, my next blog post will be on my primary male main character, Daelin.
Until next week!
October 31, 2023
I started a blog!
Hey everybody!
So, if you're a subscriber to my newsletter, then you probably saw last week that I said that I was going to start a blog as soon as I found out how the mechanics work. Well, it took me the whole of five minutes to realize that creating a blog on Weebly is pretty much a snap. So after a few YouTube videos, I'm here now!
So, "Why do you have a blog?" you may ask. After all, I already have a weekly newsletter that I release on Fridays.
Yes, that's true.
But since I started my website and my newsletter, I've wanted to share about my stories and novels with you guys. I love reading character interviews and story snippets on other author websites, and I love how I feel when I, as a reader, get to see a little bit into a work-in-progress. I'm also using this as an opportunity to build up more of a platform for my fantasy trilogy (which is currently unnamed right now XP).
So anyway, all boring details aside, here's what I've been up to so far:
1. I've completed novel prep for my NaNoWriMo project, which is Heart of an Elf's sequel. I get to start writing it tomorrow!!
2. I'm brainstorming a short story to submit to Wild Blue Wonder's upcoming anthology, Novelists in November.
3. I'm in the last half of the school semester, which means...finals. (Bleh.) But it also means that the end of school is near! I'm already making a winter break to-do list.
4. Today (October 31) is National Author's Day! On Oct. 31 (when we're not searching Pinterest for last-minute Halloween costumes or dumping bags of chocolate into our shopping carts), readers get to take the opportunity to support their favorite authors, and just to encourage writers in general! Today I'm recommending some books to my local libraries. ;)
Well, that's all for now. Join me on Thursday for my first update on my Nano project, and a character profile on my main character, Niaren Unduriel.
Until next time,
Cate :)
So, if you're a subscriber to my newsletter, then you probably saw last week that I said that I was going to start a blog as soon as I found out how the mechanics work. Well, it took me the whole of five minutes to realize that creating a blog on Weebly is pretty much a snap. So after a few YouTube videos, I'm here now!
So, "Why do you have a blog?" you may ask. After all, I already have a weekly newsletter that I release on Fridays.
Yes, that's true.
But since I started my website and my newsletter, I've wanted to share about my stories and novels with you guys. I love reading character interviews and story snippets on other author websites, and I love how I feel when I, as a reader, get to see a little bit into a work-in-progress. I'm also using this as an opportunity to build up more of a platform for my fantasy trilogy (which is currently unnamed right now XP).
So anyway, all boring details aside, here's what I've been up to so far:
1. I've completed novel prep for my NaNoWriMo project, which is Heart of an Elf's sequel. I get to start writing it tomorrow!!
2. I'm brainstorming a short story to submit to Wild Blue Wonder's upcoming anthology, Novelists in November.
3. I'm in the last half of the school semester, which means...finals. (Bleh.) But it also means that the end of school is near! I'm already making a winter break to-do list.
4. Today (October 31) is National Author's Day! On Oct. 31 (when we're not searching Pinterest for last-minute Halloween costumes or dumping bags of chocolate into our shopping carts), readers get to take the opportunity to support their favorite authors, and just to encourage writers in general! Today I'm recommending some books to my local libraries. ;)
Well, that's all for now. Join me on Thursday for my first update on my Nano project, and a character profile on my main character, Niaren Unduriel.
Until next time,
Cate :)
