The Language of Worlds: Echo
It's time for another Language of Worlds Link-up! This link-up is hosted every two months by the marvelous Liv K. Fisher over on her blog. It's designed to help us get to know our characters better AND form new friendships in the blogosphere!Today, I thought I'd use the link-up to give you a glimpse at the protagonist of my newest story. Her name is Echo. She has dark hair and dark eyes, is a bit of a bookworm, and spends most of her free time in the forest. Found this image on Pinterest and it is definitely how I picture Echo! Though this girl looks a little younger than Echo is in the actual story. The photographer kindly gave me permission to share this picture here. Her other work is simply phenomenal, you should check out her WEBSITE and INSTAGRAM!
T H E Q U E S T I O N S
1. Your character goes on a leisurely stroll. Where to?Anytime Echo has the ability to go on a walk, she heads straight for the Faeorn, the old forest that takes up most of the center of Ennis Rosliath, the island she lives on. Sometimes she will go down by the shore, if her mother asks her to, but the ocean frightens her, so she stays pretty far away from it.2. What's their favorite food? Why? What does it taste like?Raspberry-rhubarb scones are her favorite, they are crumbly and have a mixture of sweetness and tartness to them. Sometimes her mother will drizzle icing on them for a special treat. However, these are not an everyday treat. For everyday, Echo loves breakfast. Her mother makes a big breakfast every morning of pork sausages, fried eggs with mushrooms, toast, and mealy pudding.3. Describe their typical day.Echo wakes up with the dawn and climbs down from her loft bedroom to help her mother with breakfast. Then she has her chores, which consist of milking Grainne, their cow, collecting eggs, feeding the chickens, weeding the vegetable garden, churning butter, sweeping the floor, and other tasks that might occur on a non-daily basis.When she has free time, Echo loves to read: her father has the largest library on the island (he owns about 10 books, a veritable king's ransom!). She also loves to go into the forest and spend the day wandering, feeding bits of honey cake to a squirrel she has befriended, and climbing trees.
4. When are they most productive? Morning, evening, or sometime in-between?Morning. Echo is a morning person and likes to make the most of the day before it gets too hot.
5. Who are they closest to?She is closest to her parents. Echo is shy and does not make friends easily, especially since she lives on an island in a harbor town and is terrified of the ocean. The other children are friendly, but she has a hard time talking to them and feels like an outsider in their groups.
6. Have they ever lost someone close to them?No. Echo's world is pretty small. She has no extended family that she knows of and is extremely shy/doesn't feel like she fits in most anywhere but at home. She loves her parents dearly and tries to get along with the other young girls her age, but often feels out of place with people she doesn't know well.
7. Describe their education.She is partially home-schooled and has attended the little village school, but they share a teacher with several other villages and so they only have school for three months of the year, so most of her education has occurred at home, which she prefers.8. What is their talent?Echo's talents lie within her mind: she is a thoughtful, logical, quick-thinking individual. She is good at solving puzzles and working out the best solution for any given scenario. She is also extremely loyal.
9. When do they doubt themself? What makes them do so?Echo doubts herself most when she is near the ocean, it intimidates her and she hates that she is afraid of it because she knows it is a big part of both her parents' lives and hearts, they love the ocean and she wishes she could share that with them. She tends to be overly sensitive in social situations and feels awkward and insecure around her peers. She knows that she is not the best at physical contests or acts of prowess, and prefers to sit with a book than partake in physical competitions.10. When do they feel most comfortable/cozy?Echo feels the most cozy when she is at home in the evenings listening to her father read or act out stories with some stick puppets he fashioned for her when she was young. She loves the sound of her mother bustling about the kitchen and the smells of baking cookies and scones for which her mother is famous.The other place where she has always been the most comfortable is in the Faeorn. This is another thing that tends to keep her apart from the other children in her village, because most people fear the forest and avoid it whenever possible.