Wil and Ethan

This is Ethan Dawn and Wil Archer, the main characters of my new book, Dawned. I spent a couple hours with my Wacom tablet without any real plan and I’m thrilled like no one’s business with the result. I especially love their expressions: Ethan is always angry so it’s natural that he’s frowning at her, but he’s also a little scared of Wil because she’s kind of impulsive and you never really know what she’s gonna do. Wil’s expression is very in tune with her character as well; the raised eyebrow and smirk, as if she’s challenging Ethan to say something.

The thing I love about these two characters is that they don’t hold back. They are entirely themselves. Sure, they’ve both got things in their pasts they’d rather forget that bleed into their temperaments as young adults, but identity issues? Forget about it. Ethan knows who he is and Wil knows who she is, and neither are afraid to show it.

Their reactions to one another is my absolute favorite thing about this new book. I love when they have conversations, which is rare since they really dislike each other, especially in the beginning. Writing their dialog makes me giggle every single time. Ethan refers to Wil only as “William” (Her real name is Willene), and later on in the book, “Not-Libra” (because the girl they’re on a quest to find is named Libra, and for a while, Ethan thought that Wil was her. He’s essentially trying to make her feel unimportant). In retaliation, Wil refers to Ethan as “Oh Captain My Captain” (Captain for short, it’s a reference to a Walt Whitman poem that my old theater director Jeremy used to read before opening night), or “My Fearless Leader” (as Ethan is technically in charge of the journey).

Example:

[Wil is talking to Rory, another character, and he mentions Ethan]

“If you two would shut up and concentrate on walking, we’d be in Old Nevada already.” Ethan yelled back crankily, probably sensing he was being discussed. He came to a stop, our first rest of the day, and lit up a cigarette.

I wrinkled my nose in his direction. “And if you stopped drinking and smoking, you’d have the brain cells necessary to function as a human being. But I suppose your charming personality is more of a birth defect than a result of your vices.”

“You know, if we killed you and left the body where President Delvecci could find it, maybe it would lull him into a false sense of security.”

“Oh, you won’t kill me. I’m too pretty.”

Ethan growled at me.

Can you tell how much fun I’m having?? Next week I’ll be posting a video where I read a section of the book. Look forward to it.