Wednesday 22 December 2010

GIVE A CHARACTER A CHRISTMAS PRESENT

Today I'm thrilled to participate in the YA Highways's Road Trip Wednesday, where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing - or reading - related question and answer it on their own blogs. Readers can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic, and people are welcome to add their own contribution - which I will be doing today for the first time! Hurrah!

Today's topic is: Give a book character a Christmas Present.

I'm going assume that it's good form not to give your own characters presents (which is a shame, really, as I'm sure Frost, Luca and Arian would just luuurve some new daggers, a new sword and possibly a small war-axe to play with) and this means I need to search for a fictional character that I feel really deserves something for Christmas.

And not in the 'Valentine Morgenstern deserves a nice hard spanking' sort of way, either.

So if I could reach into one imaginary world and give one fictional character a present, what would it be?

It depends on whether or not I'm giving a present as The Author, omnipresent creator. Because if I could give any fictional character ANY fictional present, I'd have to give a gift to Eugenides from Megan Whalen Turner's The Thief, The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia, one of my all-time favourite characters. And that gift would be his hand, which he lost in The Queen of Attolia.

It would simply reappear on the stump of his arm overnight, and after the scene in which he cries with joy in the arms of his beloved wife - and she cries too, at being redeemed from the consequences of her own cruel and hasty actions - I would sit back with tears on my own face, and happily wait to see what chaos and mischief he stirred up with two sets of opposible thumbs.

On the other hand (ha ha) if I'm giving a present just as a normal person who can't grow hands back overnight, then it's a tougher decision to make. But I think in the end I would have to plump for a special, sensitive skin spa-treatment for Derek from Kelley Armstrong's amazing Darkest Powers series.

For those who haven't read the books, Derek is a grumpy, prickly young man who has - among his many issues - some serious skin and hygiene problems. But underneath all that, the guy is sweet, funny and intelligent, and possesses a heart of gold. I reckon if he got a makeover, including a haircut and a skin polish, he'd feel much better about himself, and then maybe Chloe, the heroine of the books, would have an easier time.

So what about you, guys? If you could give one present to a character from a book, who and what would it be?

11 comments:

Nattasha said...

Oh..Gosh thats a tough one hmm..I might give food to Miranda's family in Life as we Knew it by Susan Pfeffer who's family suffer when an asteroid hits the moon sending the world into an Ice Age type thing.

a.u. said...

Ooh, that's a good one Nattasha. I liked that book! But didn't Miranda's family already have food at the end of the book?

Zoë Marriott said...

Nattasha: Giving food to starving people...hmmm...why didn't I think of that? Oh, well.

A.u: That's a good point. Are we giving the presents to the characters as they are at the beginning of the book, the end, or somewhere in the middle? That would seriously change the gift in most cases, I think.

Leila Austin said...

Great presents! I definitely have to hunt down those books :-)

Isabel said...

I am seriously stumped. One of my favorite characters of all time is Narian, from LEGACY, by Cayla Kluver, possibly my favorite book of all time. (Don't worry, your books are right up there with it!) But he's not really the type for presents, and I don't know what I'd give him. I'll have to think on that one...

Zoë Marriott said...

Leila: Hurray! I love giving book recommendations.

Isabel: the question IS difficult isn't it? But it makes you think about your favourite books and characters in a different way, which is good.

Nattasha said...

a.u I think they did, but it was just enough and just the essentials I would give them all the 'good' food they could eat and a christmas dinner considering the time of year.

If it was in the middle of the book I would give them the food to survive so that their neighbor wouldn't have to die. :)

Megha said...

I would give Michael, from Kensuke's Kingdom, a buoyancy aid so next time he fell in water, he wouldn't worry about drowning :P .

But I would also give something to Zira - a steel sword with her name carved on it :D . I love Zira.

Zoë Marriott said...

Well thought of, Megha. I'm sure both Michael and Zira would both be grateful.

a.u. said...

Nattasha: Very good point! :) That made me think! However, didn't Miranda's neighbor dying give the family something to eat/sell?

Ms. Marriott: I would say at the end of the book, because if it was in the middle, the end would be ruined.

I'm still deciding what character I would give presents to.

Nattasha said...

Ah very good point a.u

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