Happy STS! Who is the character it took you longest to flesh out?
Howie.
He was supposed to be the protagonist of Rosethorn as well, which makes it odd. Like, his name is Howard Rosethorn. The series is literally named after him.
He’s the type of character who has things happen to him rather than makes things happen himself. He didn’t really have any agency during the course of the novel. His antagonist Seth, however, just wormed his way into my heart and conquered Howie’s story and, because he’s Howie’s polar opposite in terms of personality, I found him a lot more interesting to write.
For a long while, I kind of disregarded Howie as anything more than a plot device. UNTIL NOW. SEVEN YEARS AND THREE AND A HALF BOOKS LATER.
The plot brings him to the forefront for the fourth book, the one I’m on now. And I’ve started considering things I’ve never considered about Howie before. How does he feel, having all this stuff just happen to him? How does he react when his plot armour falls away? What does he do when Seth finally makes him snap? How have things changed for him between the first book and this one, and how does he feel about these changes? Where will he go from here?
Maybe it took me so long because I needed to improve as a writer before figuring out where his place in the series truly is? I dunno. But I’m enjoying the process of finding who Howie really is. It’s like discovering a new character.
Thanks for the ask!
