Ask the Author – the Question: Of all your books, do you have a favorite character?
*looks into the camera again* Not to repeat myself from last week, but oh, come on!
Honestly, this is sort of like a favorite child question. First, it’s hard to pick because of course I *do* love them all, and second, I actually feel guilty admitting that I *do* have some favorites, as if they might somehow be offended. And at the same time, well…I do have some favorites. :)
I mean, my leads, obviously. Joanne and Gary and Morrison. Margrit and Alban.
But in my heart of hearts? In the depths of my soul?
The truth is, I love Janx and Daisani best, and (whispers) Janx best of *all*.
They’re both, in their way, sort of based on a specific character I love deeply. One who seems human on the surface and is exceptionally charming, but is also utterly, absolutely cold-bloodedly ruthless when it comes to their goals. Janx is *more* based on this particular character (and the fact that I haven’t told you who it is yet means I’m not going to), who is also incredibly physically attractive and flirtatious and just a *total* bastard. When I first read this character I fell completely in love with them and thought if I could someday write a character LIKE them, even half that good, I would be so incredibly proud of myself.
I really don’t know if I managed, because how could I, given that it’s an opinion outsiders would have to render? But I do know that I got close enough that Janx and his ruthless charm is my favorite character.
But because he’s so powerful in the context of the Old Races, he also needed an equally powerful, ruthless counterpart, which the character he’s based on didn’t have. So I’ve also got Daisani, who is equally selfishly motivated, equally powerful, less physically attractive and charming (although he’s pretty charming), richer in the conventional Wall Street sense, and arguably more dangerous than even Janx.
Arguably.
Which is part of why the two of them just can’t live without each other. They can *obliterate* anybody else. Some of the other leaders of the Old Races might give them a run for their money, but let’s be real: when it comes to the battle to see who the last man standing will be, the only two left in the fight at that point will be Janx and Daisani.
(Well. There are two other entities in the Old Races universe who could render them a forgotten smear on the sidewalk, but they’re not likely to come to the fight in the first place. WELL. And also there’s the witches, but they’re *different*.)
ANYWAY. o.o Janx and Daisani have known each other *forever*. They’re drawn to the same kind of person. They’re two sides of a coin, and they are extremely titchy about it, and I love them very, very much. :)
But you know who else I love, in my own books? I *love* Susannah from Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight (another Janx & Daisani story, in, uh, BABA YAGA’S DAUGHTER, I think), and I *love* Sophia (the Charlotte character) in MAGIC & MANNERS. They’re both much more minor characters than Janx & Daisani, obviously, but I *love* them. Susannah breaks my heart and Sophia makes me want to stand up and cheer. I *love* those characters. :)