Of course T is for Toryn. There are quite a few other Ts in this book, but he is by far the most important, especially in his own mind. Toryn is my favorite character, mostly due to his sense of humor but also because he is steadfastly loyal (even though he would deny that for about 2/3 of this series), and despite the fact that he’s caused more of my writing issues than any other character. He frequently goes off-script, often refuses to follow my outline, and stubbornly sends the story off in a new direction. I might have yelled at him out loud a few times. Despite the occasional headache of writing him, the gray tones of his worldview are a nice counter to Brydon’s slightly more black and white idealism. Where Brydon blithely goes forward to “do the right thing” Toryn is always there to remind him that to “do the practical thing” is sometimes a better option. I think by the end of the series, we’ll find that Toryn has influenced Brydon’s mindset far more than the reverse, although it’s possible that Toryn will pick up a sliver of Brydon’s eternal optimism by the end.
Toryn has a tendency to rub people the wrong way, usually intentionally, and although Alyn is his preferred target, I personally enjoy his interactions with Rakyn, the prince of Darkynhold, more than any others. They get on one another’s nerves just by existing in the same space and I think it’s because they are too similar, despite having vastly different backgrounds and upbringings. They would probably both be horrified by the comparison, so we won’t mention it to them.
I usually only ramble on about the book in this blog, but this time I would also like to mention I have a shiny new website, created for the express purpose of promoting Book III, which was put on a brief hiatus due to an unforeseen family issue, but which is now Back on Track(TM)! My main problem with finishing that book is that there are SO MANY moving pieces at the end. I had to place a large map on my dining room table and create tokens for everyone just to keep track of their movements. (Where is Garyn again? I swear he disappears so regularly he could secretly be a Vai.) I also need to finish the cover and make new banner images for the website. They are just placeholders at the moment. T is also for too much to do, too little time! But we’re getting there.
Links to stuff: WEBSITE and NEWSLETTER and FB GROUP. Adieu until next time, when I’ve hopefully figured out what “U” will stand for! It will not be UNFINISHED. (I hope.)