In Defense of Therese in The Gatekeeper’s Saga
I’ve been fortunate that the majority of the readers of The Gatekeeper’s Sons have left positive reviews, and many of these readers have gone on to read the entire six-book saga, making it an Amazon bestseller multiple times. But occasionally I read reviews expressing a reader’s mixed feelings about the main character, Therese. In this post, I will briefly defend the choices I made in developing her character:
Why is Therese only 15 years old in the first book? Isn’t that a bit young?
This question usually comes from adult readers–not teens. As a mother of teens, I’m confident that 15 is the right age for Therese. One of the pleasures of reading young adult fiction is capturing all the “firsts”: first kiss, first love, first heart break, first time away from home, etc. If a character is going to be an older teen in a contemporary story, there will need to be a major reason why she hasn’t experienced any of these things.
Having teens of my own, I know firsthand that fifteen is that age when a person’s actions and feelings oscillate between childlike and adult-like. That was the age I wanted, and I wrote Therese so that she still has little girl aspects while managing to make some pretty mature decisions.
I also wanted Therese to age and mature in the series. If I’d started her at seventeen, I would have had less time to play with.
Finally, I was writing for the younger end of the market–for thirteen and fourteen-year-old readers. It made sense to make Therese closer in age to the target audience.
2. The idea of a plain girl being desired by so many is unrealistic and overdone. Why do you write Therese this way?
Therese is not a plain girl. She is a pretty girl who thinks she’s plain. Some readers have been unable to distinguish between Therese’s false perception of herself (common among teens) and reality.
3. How can Therese be so perfect? Isn’t she too much of a Mary-Sue?
Therese is not perfect. On the heels of her parents’ murders, all she wants is to die. After she discovers who Than is, her first thought is to use him to get to the Underworld, so she can be with her parents. She lies to people in her life to hide what she’s up to. She uses a drug that gets her friend killed. But, yes, in spite of those mistakes, Therese is a very good person. She’s based on my daughter, who is also a very good person. Very good people do exist, and they have exciting and interesting stories, too. A character doesn’t have to be an emo, foul-mouthed brat to be interesting.
4. Why do you choose insta-love for your characters? Isn’t that unrealistic?
My characters do not experience insta-love. They experience insta-attraction. There’s a difference. In the second, they are drawn to each other, but it takes time for the love to catch up with the attraction.
5. Why does Therese want to get married so soon in the story? You have her irritated with Than one minute and wanting to marry him the next.
Therese wants to use Than to get to the Underworld, so she can be with her parents. She eventually falls in love with him, but her initial desire to marry him comes from her desperation to do whatever it takes to find her parents.
I realize that it’s impossible to please all readers, and that’s okay. Some people will love Therese, and some won’t. But I hope readers will understand that we can’t create the same kind of character in every story we write. In my opinion, Therese is the perfect character for this particular story.
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