Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Interview with Lord Midas Welby

Today is the Character Interview Blogfest. I've chosen to interview the main character from my fantasy novel The Shard. It's tough, because Midas is a fairly serious fellow, so it's not easy to get anything funny out of him. I decided to interview him a few years prior to the start of the novel (it would be interesting to do an after-novel interview someday).

Interview with Lord Midas Welby

A tall slim man, his brown goatee touched with gray, sits down beside me under the elm tree. He wears chainmail and a surcoat decorated with a black and red checkerboard pattern.

Me:  So, you’re a lord?

A very minor one. I think few of the other nobles truly consider me to be one. I actually got kicked into a moat once by a knight who was insulted by the very idea that I could be considered a noble.

Did you get revenge on that knight?

It's a long story. He's my vassal now.

You weren’t born a noble?

No. I was born in a tiny fishing village a little north of Mitinya in the Westlands.
(Map here)

Go on, how did you become a lord?

Well, for centuries it has been a rule that every able-bodied 16 year old boy must serve two years in the military, either at the capital of Pangalia or at the defensive fortress of East Gate. I began serving in Pangalia, but just a few weeks after I arrived, there was an attack by barbarians against some settlers beyond the gate, so King Alderic sent the army to crush them. It turned into a long campaign, as the neighboring Alsean tribe was joined by several others. This was how I met Lord Havlin Tathis of Iskimir. I was placed under his command.

I liked him, and he seemed to like me. He promoted me twice after battles, and when it was over he took me on as captain of the guard in Iskimir. Our friendship grew. I knew he was sad because he had failed to produce a male heir. One day he hit me up with the idea of marrying his daughter Rina. I was shocked, naturally. I didn’t know Rina; I had just seen her a few times at the castle. She was pretty, but always so aloof. I couldn’t say no to Lord Tathis, though.

So, he knighted me and arranged for our wedding to take place after a big tournament the king was throwing in Pangalia. We met King Alderic, who had me swear fealty, and that was it -- I was a noble. Lord Tathis gave me a tiny province on his southern border with Laithtaris and Vimar Keep.

So, does that make you Lord Tathis’s heir now?

No, though it’s possible I might be a steward if necessary. Hopefully not! I’ve had three sons with Rina, so my oldest boy Miros is Lord Tathis’s heir.

How is your marriage going?

Umm, do we have to talk about it? Rina’s a lovely woman, very smart and headstrong. She felt I was far beneath her, so she was quite unhappy with her father’s arrangement. She also doesn’t like Welby. It is tiny and she has no friends there, unlike her life in the huge city of Iskimir. She loves our children, especially our daughter Daria, but I think that’s all that keeps her happy. She’s started drinking a bit too much wine lately.

Are you happy as a noble, or would you rather be back in the fishing village?

I loved fishing with my father, though the ocean makes for a hard life. Those three moons cause crazy tides and choppy water. I wish I could be happier in my marriage, of course, but I am content. My sons are all growing fast and show great promise, plus they get along well together. I have a few good friends. My neighbor at Vimar Keep, Lord Solomon Arthanis, is a good friend, but his daughters are terrors, so I admit I avoid visiting. My closest friends are my vassals -- the knights Brindor, Voor, and Victus, and also my captain of the guard Dalthis. We go hunting sometimes, and now that my son Miros is getting older we are even taking him with us.

I know the lands have been at peace for years. Any looming dangers?

Not that I know about. That blasted dragon keeps coming out of hibernation every ten years or so and laying waste to the Eastlands, but the barbarians seem to have settled down. I hear they are actively trading with us now.

Welby borders on Laithtaris, where the elves live. Can you tell us about them?

They might as well be mythical as far as I can see. I’ve never seen an elf. Have you?

39 comments:

  1. Lord Welby's tale sounds interesting!

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  2. Great job, although his picture is a little younger than I would have thought. But nice pic anyway.

    "But the barbarians seemed to have settled down." This is a great line!

    Great job Ted.

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  3. Anne, I don't really have a great pic that matches the way I see him. Yeah, he is a bit older than this picture, and a little taller also (not to mention his colors are different). I tried finding a good shot of either Jeremy Irons or Liam Neeson from Kingdom of Heaven, but none of the ones I found worked.

    BTW, by the time of my story the nearest barbarian tribe HAS actually settled down, as their king was born of a Greatlander mother, who raised him to understand civilization better than the rest of his kin.

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  4. Holy crap that map is awesome! I take it this interview took place before the prologue?

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  5. Yes, Matt, a few years before then, when Miros was still alive.

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  6. Aha! I knew Midas ran deeper than what he showed in the short story. I was very intrigued that his wife felt she married beneath her and she's started drinking.

    Well done.

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  7. What an intriguing character, I'd love to know more about him. This interview was so well done! I love how his sense of internal conflict seems to come out - what he wants, his childhood, and all those lovely details.

    Thanks for participating!

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  8. Thanks for running the fest and for commenting, Sangu!

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  9. Such an intriguing character! I'd love to know more about him, and your story. Also, fantastic cliffhanger ending. It makes me wonder what his question means to you?

    <3 Kelsey Leigh

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  10. Thanks! Havn't seen you around before. Always glad to see new faces. Check out older blog posts for lots more information.

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  11. Midas gives reflective, intelligent responses, echoing tragedies to come. Well done interview and your excellent map lends depth and reality to your world. You did a great job, Ted.
    Roland

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  12. ooh this is a great interview with a very intriguing character... and I love, love, love the map!

    I'm very big on maps. My entire writing office is covered with maps!

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  13. Hi Ted! Wow, I'm impressed with all the great details you have provided. Very well thought out and researched says I! Did you have fun interviewing the guy???

    Come by and tell me what you think of my interview!

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  14. Thanks everyone! It was fun interviewing him, because I just asked basic questions, and I hoped to find some funny answers, but that didn't really happen. Instead he just revealed some of who he is and what conflicts have happened and are about to happen.

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  15. Oh, can I just swoon (yeah, when I see Orlando looking like that I have to use the work swoon)? It's to bad the man thinks he's above acting anymore. Whatever.
    Anyway, your interview was wonderful. I love your guy. He seems charming and sweet and I can tell there's a hero in there.

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  16. Thanks, RaShelle. Midas is a little older, in his early thirties at the time of this interview. I hope someday I can publish this book and let people get to know him better.

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  17. Hi Ted, just come across your blog via Maria Zannini, and I'm glad I have. It makes good reading. One thing caught my eye some postings down where you write:

    One minor quibble I have had with Blogger was that they ranked me so low - a mere 6.5 on their ten point scale. I see lots of blogs ranked better that don't have nearly as much as I do now. At the time I had no sidebar, no header to speak of, and only one or two posts (and certainly no followers). Their rules say they will only re-rate a blog if at least ten people rate it higher on Blogger. So, if anyone would like to help me get a re-ranking, please click on the little orange 'Blogged' icon and help me out with a ranking. Thanks in advance!


    I would gladly do that, but I have no idea how it works, or how you can tell in the first place what your ranking is

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  18. Hi Mike, and thanks for coming to my blog! I think you may need to register with Blogger in order for it to work, though I am not certain. Near the top of my blog on the right is a small orange and brown icon that says 'blogged'. If you click on that you can probably vote or comment or review the site. I say 'probably' because I get a view that is different from what you will see as a reader rather than the owner of the blog. Thanks for the support!

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  19. Mike, I tried to go become a follower of your blog, but you don't have that add-on! Perhaps you don't want it, but many of us budding writers find it useful. I like it because I can then use another add-on that scrolls all of the newest blog posts of the blogs that I follow. You can see it along the lower right side of my blog.

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  20. Love the pix! I have a feeling Lord Welby's life is going to get a lot more interesting ... :)

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  21. Wow, you really get to know a guy this way. I still haven't interviewed my characters yet. I think I will for my next WIP. I'm kind of nervous to find out what they are going to say!

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  22. It may be harder with future books, because I had these characters in my head for more than twenty years. The others will come quicker I hope!

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  23. Ted, I added you to my blog award list! Thanks so much for taking an interest in it. I love the picture you choose for your character, Midas. Orlando Bloom is my favorite :)

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  24. Thanks, Aubrie! I found a lot of new fantasy blogs from your links.

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  25. It would be interesting if your interview brought out strong disagreements between you and the Lord; it would be doubly interesting if one of his answers surprised or otherwise threw you for a loop.

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  26. Mohamed, I could imagine that with some of my characters, but this one is basically as close to being me as I will ever write.

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  27. He's SO believable! You have a great voice!

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  28. What a fun exercise, Ted. Lord Welby sounds like a very well developed, interesting character.

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  29. Can I just say I have a love for knights and medieval stuff? It's my favorite time period. And this guy sounds really interesting and he seems so well developed. I don't know if I could sit down and interview my characters they way you did on this blogfest.

    Really great interview.

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  30. there's an award for you on my blog! Come pick it up ; )

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  31. "Did you get revenge on that knight?

    It's a long story. He's my vassal now."

    I bet there's a story behind it!

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  32. Oh wow! I've never had so many new people show up. Thanks to Aubrie for that Fantasy and Sci-Fi award, as it helped bring so many new people around. I'm going on a two week vacation, so please forgive me if I can't comment much or blog much for now.

    Theresa, I have a short story about it. Once I polish it up I hope to try to sell it.

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  33. Great interview! You really get a great feel for the world through Lord Midas and the way he talks about things. I feel like I just got a brief summary of recent history for the region! It was nice to meet Lord Midas :)

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  34. Nice interview! I like your character and it sounds like a great story (or set up for the story?)

    I have an award for you at my blog today!

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  35. interviewing a character always crops up as an exercise in creative writing classes. Of course I doubt the results are as fun as your post

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  36. Very sweet of you to say, Eeleen!

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  37. That was an enjoyable and interesting peek under the covers. You have really done a good job of creating a character with depth.

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