Meet the Character: Echo McIntyre

Character art by Savannah Jezowski

Echo, the titular character of my newest book “An Echo of the Fae” is a twelve-year old girl who lives on the island of Ennis Rosliath, in the village by the same name.

Quiet and bookish, Echo is not an athlete, though she does enjoy climbing trees. Although the sea provides the island with most of its livelihood, Echo lives in terror of its depths and often imagines that malicious beings live below the surface waiting to pull unsuspecting waders under. She prefers the “haunted” forest that stretches across the center of the island and the woodland creatures there who are her friends. For Echo, conversing with animals is far easier than interacting with people, for she always gets tongue-tied and can’t think of a thing to say, or what she tries to say comes out garbled and mixed up.

She is the only child of her parents, Gareth and Runa McIntyre.

Gareth used to be a sailor and fisherman, who dreamed of adventure on the high seas. But his dreams were cut short when he suffered an injury that left him crippled. Now he works on the docks as a stevedore, loading ships with cargo and supplies. His adventures are limited to the pages of his books. After many years, he has managed to collect nearly a dozen of them, more books than anyone in the village can boast. Echo loves listening to her father read these books out loud to her and her mother each night, and she has read them herself many times, as well.

Runa stays home and tends their small farm with Gareth’s help and they make a comfortable living. Runa is well-known and beloved throughout the village for her delicious pastries, her healing abilities, and her gentle, comforting presence. She is often the one called in the middle of the night if a baby is coming.

The McIntyres helped found the village of Ennis Rosliath and are well-esteemed in the village. They live in a log cabin set on a promontory that juts out over the ocean high up on the north-eastern shore above the village. In spite of her family’s high standing, however, Echo often finds herself to be teased for her elfin features and the fact that she bears little resemblance to her parents, a sore spot for her amongst her peers.