Hello everyone,
I am happy to start my blogging tour for my debut
novel, Revealed, at Rogue Angels
blog.
Today I would like to tell you about my characters.
During the writing process I got to know my characters. It might have
taken a while, but eventually they told me all their secrets and about their
past. At times it made me feel like a therapist, but I always cherished it that
they were so forthcoming.
The characters in Revealed
can mostly be divided in two groups, the rebels and panthers. I think one
important reason why people can identify with or recognize the animosity
between panthers and rebels is because the scenario is familiar, if you forget
about the vampires. How often in history have there been two opposing groups?
They both claim to possess the sole truth and that only they are the good guys.
One thing almost all characters at Panthera Academy have in common is
that they rarely show who they truly are. You have to play the game, if you
want to survive, so everyone keeps their cards covered. In this case it is
sometimes difficult to keep track of what they say and who they really are
because of the self-image and how others perceive them vary greatly.
What I like about Anne, the main character, is her
honesty. She might be a bit naive at times, but she genuinely wants to help her
friends. She could have gone home and acted as if nothing had happened, but she
hardly ever considered the idea because of her loyalty to the people she cares
about. While she is often quick to assume the worst, she has a sense of
optimism that just won’t let her give up.
Unfortunately there were times, when she put her trust in the wrong person, in
some cases, she might even have not realised it yet.
Anthony had always been clear in my mind. I knew
exactly what I wanted him to be like, when I started writing. However, I still
have to “fight” with him from time to time because he tries to manipulate the
plot. Because of this his fate isn’t fully decided yet.
Vivien was very interesting to write because she
turned out to be more than the shallow person I expected. It is always
interesting, when characters develop a life of their own. She turned around the
plot a bit, but I knew I would rather deal with an unexpected plot twist, than
a boring character.
Lilith was fun to write. She isn’t everything she
seems either, actually hardly anyone at Panthera Academy is. Her past is almost
as closely linked to Panthera Academy as that of Anthony and Vivien. While you
will have to wait to find out why until the sequels, it already explains a
little why she is so dedicated to the people at the school.
In a way she is similar to Anthony. They are like two
magnets of the same pole. Both attract people, suck them in and keep them
captivated, but at the same time they repel each other. However their methods
of keeping a crowd under control are different. Anthony uses popularity as a
means to keep everyone in line. If you want to be accepted by the in-crowd,
perhaps even become incredibly powerful by becoming immortal, you have to obey
the rules, which are set by the leaders of the panthers. Lilith however, tries
to accumulate power by manipulating people into believing her views are the
truth. Sometimes the lines between wanting to protect people from the panthers
and a desire to destroy the panthers blur, so even her closest friends can’t
identify her motivations. She attempts to secure her follower’s loyalty by
making use of certain traditions, e.g. the story she tells on Halloween. While I
was writing this particular scene, I had goose bumps myself.
Henry is a very complicated character, thus a
challenge to me as a writer. But I love challenges, which means he is one of my
favourites. There is a lot more to him than meets the eye because he tries to keep
his emotions and past secret.
There are many other characters in this novel, inside and outside of Panthera
Academy, with interesting pasts and agendas, but that’s the story for another
time…
Read an Excerpt:
Chapter One
“Miss
Watson, either you are going to be famous or you are about to die.”
I blinked
at the secretary of the chief editor of the Tea Party News.
“I didn’t
mean you were literary going to die, just your career,” she amended in a perky morning
person voice.
She was
wrong though. My career as a journalist was my life. I didn’t care for an
elaboration on how my career, and thus my life, would end so I interrupted her
mercilessly. “Miss Higgins, what are you talking about?”
“Oh, you
know.” She leaned forward as she said this in a stage whisper. She was old
enough to be my mother and dressed as if she was the same age as me, namely
eighteen, which didn’t help to improve her credibility.
“No, I
don’t,” I deadpanned.
“Of
course, you know what I’m talking about.” She winked at me
conspiratorially.
“No, I
honestly don’t.”
To my
surprise Miss Higgins started to laugh. “You are such a good actress, Anne. I
told Theodore you were perfect for the job.”
I sighed.
“Look, I really have no idea…”
My doomed
objection was interrupted as the door next to Miss Higgins’s desk was opened by
our boss who strolled in.
“Anne,
how good to see you. I’ve been dying to tell you some news. We are after all
working for a newspaper.” He laughed at his joke, while I smiled
uncertainly back at him.
“So, you
really don’t know?” Miss Higgins looked at me in shock, before her expression
changed back to the one of a meddlesome conspirator. “Soon you will know.”
“Thank
you, Miss Higgins.” I said with a tight smile, before I followed my boss into
his office.
He
beckoned me to take a seat across from him, as I waited patiently for the big
solution of this morning’s mystery.
Today had
started out normally enough. I got up, had breakfast and left for work.
But once
I entered the editorial department of the Tea Party News, I knew something was
up.
People
were giving me strange glances; people, to whom I usually was invisible,
started noticing me.
As if
this weren’t enough of a shock, after I had turned on my computer I realised I
had received a mail from Miss Higgins informing me about my boss wanting to see
me. It was the last proof I needed to know something was afoot.
I looked
expectantly across the desk at my boss, a rather chubby and balding but caring,
man who looked around fifty but was probably younger.
“Anne,
the decision you make today will decide whether you are going to be one of the
big, famous ones and will be admitted into the Olympus of journalists or,” I
wanted to roll my eyes, as he made a dramatic pause, “whether you are not meant
to be a journalist.”
I wanted
to groan. Why was everyone making such a big deal about this…this…well,
whatever it is this mystery thing was?
But since
my boss was the one to sign my paychecks, I kept a big, fat and friendly smile
pasted on my face.
“Today,
Anne, I’m going to offer you a job of life-changing potential.”
Hold on,
was I going to be promoted and get a raise?
With much
more enthusiasm I started to fire questions in true reporter fashion at him.
“Are you serious? What kind of job? Will me being still on probation be a
problem? When can I start? W-”
My boss
chuckled. “Give me a second to answer, will you?”
I smiled
sheepishly at him and kept my mouth shut firmly, waiting for him to explain.
“I have
an amazing and yet risky job offer for you.” I could see he was working himself
up into another dramatic tirade. In an attempt to avoid being subjected to such
a fate, I interjected with a polite smile. “Why don’t you tell me what this job
offer is about, sir?”
“Of course.”
His good mood seemed to falter for a moment before it changed back to
excitement. “I need a kind of foreign correspondent.” When my boss noticed I
was about to interrupt him again, he forgot about his need for dramatic pauses
and quickly continued. “I need someone to report from a boarding school in
Ireland.”
“Where’s
the catch?” I asked suspiciously, remembering the weird looks I had been
getting all day.
“The
whole reporting thing has to happen undercover. Nobody can know about you being
a journalist, if you accept the job which I am sure you will.”
“But how
do you expect me to investigate then?” This morning was so confusing, and I
hadn’t even had my daily dose of coffee yet.
“It’s
very simple. You will go there as a student, a senior to be exact.” My boss’s
glinted mischievously.
“You want
me to go back to school?” Now, I was truly horrified.
“Yeah, is
there something wrong with it?” It seemed ironic, since it was his time to be
confused now. “You graduated at the top of your class. If you were
valedictorian, why wouldn’t you want to go back to school?”
Why? Did
he just ask why I did not want to go back to a place, which was to me nothing
more than a disguise for hell?
“I
thought I was finally out of school.” I answered diplomatically. It wasn’t a
lie. My last day of school was the happiest one in my entire high school
career.
I didn’t
like school per se. I enjoyed the learning part enough. Actually, I loved it.
The problem, however, were my fellow students. Being ignored and bullied were the
main reasons why I loathed my high school time. Although there were also other
things I loathed, like not being taken seriously because I was still a student.
All in
all, I was glad it was over.
So the
thought of graduating again, after I had barely survived the first time,
made me want to throw up.
Nevertheless
I didn’t say no just yet. “How long would this take? You know I was planning on
going part-time to college this fall?”
My boss
shuffled through his papers, deliberately not meeting my eyes. “Well, I don’t
know how many days exactly…”
“Sir?”
“An
entire academic year.” He looked up from his files, looking guilty. “Look, it’s
one of the hardest assignments I have ever given out. You will have to leave
everything behind you for a whole school year. But if you make it, this could
be your breakthrough.”
“Why did
you choose me for this job?”
“You see,
since such young journalists like you don’t really make much money, we can
spare you for a year.” He said nonchalantly before he started grinning. “I am
kidding. I chose you because I have faith in you. You are the perfect
journalist for this job.”
“You
think?” I queried unconvinced.
“I know.”
He beamed at me. “Listen, I am going to finance you for a year in one of
Ireland’s finest boarding schools. This is an opportunity some people would
kill for.”
But I
wasn’t some people. I was me.
Okay,
maybe at some point when I still had been in the hellhole called high school, I
would have jumped at the opportunity and would have packed my suitcases without
any questions asked. But now I had finally survived high school and was
reluctant to go back.
“All
right, let’s go so far as to say I would accept this job offer. What would I be
writing about?”
My boss
looked happy, as if I had already accepted his offer for real. “This private
boarding school I am talking about is called Panthera Academy. I have received
hints from anonymous sources something big is going on there.”
Oh, no.
He had gone back to being mysterious and beating around the bush. “And what is
this big thing?”
“It is
exactly what I want you to find out.” He winked at me cheerily.
“But… how
am I supposed to know what I am looking for?”
He
shrugged. “This is all I know. There is a secret society in the school which is
sponsored by the alumni.”
I
frowned. “A school club which is financed by alumni doesn’t sound suspicious to
me.”
“It is
not an ordinary school club; it is a secret society.” My boss’s voice dropped
to a stage whisper. “And the really important thing is what this secret society
is doing.”
“What is
it this secret society is doing then?” It was unfathomable to me why I
automatically lowered my voice as well.
My boss
suddenly smirked as he leaned back in his chair. “My point exactly, I want you
to find out the answer to this question.”
This
still sounded all rather mysterious so I tried gathering information from
another angle. “What has a boarding school in Ireland to do with our newspaper
here in Boston?”
“It is a
great chance for our Tea Party News to improve our reputation and sell more
issues. I am certainly the only one with this information thus making us the
only newspaper, which will be able to publish anything about it. Uncovering
scandals always brings in a lot of money. We will even be able to sell copies
in Ireland.”
If you
asked me, we had reached the point where my boss had finally lost his mind. The
newspaper was doing fine, although I didn’t trust him to always make the best
business decisions for the paper.
So, I
asked. “Are you sure about this?”
“I am sure
about this.” He nodded encouragingly. “This is going to be your breakthrough,
trust me.”
I guessed
he wouldn’t give me any other details, no matter how long I continued asking.
“Can I at least sleep on it?”
“Sure.”
He looked disappointed for a moment since I wasn’t as happy to throw my life
away for a year as he was. “But if you do not take the offer soon, I will have
to give it to someone else. There is not much time until term starts.”
“I
understand.” I agreed and stood up.
“Miss
Higgins is going to give you information on the assignment.” My boss rose and
patted me on my shoulder. “I know you are going to make the right decision,
Anne.”
“Thank
you, sir.” I smiled at him.
When I
opened the door, I almost ran into Miss Higgins, who had obviously been
eavesdropping. She brushed back her long, blonde hair nervously, knowing I had
caught her.
“Miss
Higgins, can you give Anne the file on the top secret assignment? Thank you.”
And my boss had already closed the door behind him, leaving me alone with Miss
Crazy Secretary.
“Certainly,”
she piped up. “Let’s talk about it over a cup of coffee, okay?”
“Actually,
if you would give me the file, it would be fine.” I smiled at her uncertainly,
scared she would attack any moment.
And
attack she did. “Oh, nonsense. We are going to have so much fun together,
looking at this file.”
“But if
it’s secret, we can’t talk about it, while we are out to get coffee and -” But
all my protests were futile and doomed to fail. Once she started, there was
nothing capable of stopping Miss Higgins, short of the news of her favourite
movie star getting a divorce.
“Well,
then we’ll stay here and talk about it all alone in my office!” she announced
good-naturedly, as she went off to get two cups of coffee.
I stayed
right where I was, rooted to the spot, still in shock. This assignment better
be good if I was going to spend an undefined amount of time with Miss Higgins
in a confined room. Alone.
“I am
back!” She announced cheerfully, as she shut the door to the office, cutting me
off from my only means of escape apart from the window, which was out of the
question, since we were on the third floor -- I might have been desperate to
get out of there, but not suicidal, before she set two cups of coffee on her
desk and beckoned me to take a seat across from her.
“Miss
Higgins, if I could just take a quick look, really only a peek, at those files,
I-”
It was
hopeless, a lost cause. So, I contented myself with drinking my cup of coffee,
while I let her blabber.
“This is
going to be so great. You can enjoy school without having to worry about your
grades because you already have graduated.” I almost felt guilty she was so
happy for me. Keyword being almost. “Now, this private boarding school is
called Panthera Academy -- a great name for a school, if you ask me. A great
name, for a place in general. Makes it sound so mysterious and romantic and -”
“Miss
Higgins?”
“What is
it, dear? Oh, right, the school. So, it is located near Galway. It’s supposed
to be a really beautiful city. At least considering what I have heard. I have
never been there, although I would love to go to Europe. Have you ever gone to
Europe? I have --”
“Miss
Higgins?” I interrupted her again. “I think your phone is ringing.”
And I
wasn’t lying. Miss Higgins pulled out her cell phone, a rather new model, which
was coloured neon pink, and blushed once she had looked at the caller ID.
“Um, I
will be right back,” she declared before she jumped up and vanished out the
door.
The only
thing I could hear was something along the lines of “Hello, Sweetkins. I missed
you my Sugar Pie.”
Ew… way
too much information. But at least I was rid of her, and it sounded as if she
was going to chat for a while with Sweetkins.
Without
thinking about it for more than a second, I snatched the file from where she
had left it and began leafing through it.
There
were pictures of this Panthera Academy, and I had to admit it did look amazing.
The school building was actually an old castle like Hogwarts in Harry Potter.
The
campus of the school consisted not only of the castle and its respective
gardens, but also of stables and a few hectares of forest where one could go
riding.
Next
there was a sheet with a short description of Panthera Academy. It looked as if
it had been cut out of a brochure.
Panthera Academy -- every
student and parents` dream
Panthera
Academy is a private boarding school near Galway. It has its origins in the
beginning of the 17th century.
The
120 students are sorted into four houses (Vanora, Vala, Wren and Arwain), which
are named after the two couples who founded Panthera Academy after their
lengthy travel to Italy.
In
their free time the students have the opportunity to enjoy the vast grounds
surrounding the historic castle, which acts as school building and dorm for
students and teachers.
The next
section was obviously meant for the parents, since it was about the good
reputation the school had and how much good manners mattered.
I skipped
down the page. My eyes almost bugged out as I read how much a term would cost
at this fancy school, let alone a whole year.
Oh boy,
this story really had to be big if the newspaper was willing to spend so much
money on a reporter who would spend their year doing no work except investigate
this mysterious, secret society.
I leafed
through the documents until I came across a list with subjects. Of course there
were the normal ones like science and art. Having to relive trig class was only
one reason speaking against going back to high school.
But there
were also interesting subjects like Ancient History, Computer Design, Politics
and Theatre Studies. What caught my eyes however, were the many languages being
offered. I had always had a thing for literature and exotic cultures. The
chance to learn Greek, German, Latin, French or Spanish was tempting.
On the
next page there was a calendar of the school. The first day of school was on
the third of September, not even a whole week away.
After a
Christmas vacation, Easter holidays and a few other minor breaks, the academic
year would end in June.
The rest
of the file appeared uninteresting. I quickly sorted the documents and put them
back into the folder, which I put onto the exact spot where I had found it. My
secret manoeuvre was finished just in time. When Miss Higgins returned again,
she put away her cell phone, before she took the file from her desk and opened
it. “Where was I? Oh, right, the super-secret assignment. This is all so
exciting, don’t you think? I think so. Now, what have we got in this file? Ah,
there it --”
“Miss
Higgins, thank you for your time, but I think I have heard enough about it.”
She looked as if I had just kicked her puppy. “I need to think about this now.
Alone.”
She
seemed disappointed but nodded and I left the office.
Back at
my desk I decided to look up Panthera Academy on the Internet. But to my
surprise I didn’t find anything, no homepage or newspaper articles. Nothing.
This only seemed to add to the mysterious reputation of this school.
The rest
of the day I threw myself into my work. Only, when I was home, I started
thinking about this extraordinary offer I had received.
Why in
the world should I do this?
I didn’t
know anything about the school or this mysterious secret society and what it
was about.
I
couldn’t just pack my things at a moment’s notice and leave the country for a
year.
This was
madness, nothing but utter madness, even if the challenge and mystery were
calling to me.
So, the
next day I decided to phone my boss and refuse the job offer.
“Office
of the chief editor of the Tea Party News, Miss Higgins speaking, how may I be
of assistance on this exceptionally lovely day?”
“Hi, this
is Anne Watson. Is the boss in?”
“Hello,
Anne,” she lilted. “Have you decided yet? If I were you, I would of course take
this incredible chance at starting my career. This is all theoretically
speaking of course. I am quite happy being a secretary, but if I--”
I took
the first pause she made to breathe as an opportunity to interject. “I am kind
of in a hurry.”
“Oh,
sure.” Her disappointed voice almost made me allow her to continue her tirade,
but I really was in a hurry. “I understand. I’ll put you through.”
“Yes?” a
bored voice answered.
“This is
Anne Watson, sir. I am calling about the assignment.”
“Ah,
Anne.” His mood instantly improved. “I knew you would be brave enough to take
this challenge.”
“Well,
actually --” Actually all I wanted to say was. I don’t want the assignment,
but he wouldn’t let me.
“It is a
hard assignment, but I know you are going to do a great job. This is going to
be your breakthrough, trust me. Before you know it, you will be editor
yourself.”
“Sir, I
--”
“You are
not going to regret this. Panthera Academy is a fine school. You will get to
take courses you couldn’t take before. You will be able to enjoy all the fun
things about school without ever having to worry about your grades. It’s every
young person’s dream. Heck, I would do this assignment myself if I was young
enough.”
“Sir?” I
tried again.
“I am
sorry, Anne, you wanted to tell me something?”
“Yeah, I
did.” I was about to open my mouth and tell him I didn’t want to have anything
to do with Panthera Academy when all of a sudden my mind shut itself off. Was
it really so bad not to at least give it a try?
Sure, I
had hated high school, but wasn’t this the perfect possibility to have a
wonderful high school experience for a change?
I was
young. What was there to lose? I could always give up and start college next
semester if Panthera Academy turned out to be as bad as my old high school.
“Anne?”
My boss asked. “What did you mean to tell me?”
“I…” I
took a deep breath and decided to go for my spur of the moment decision. “I
wanted to tell you I am going to take the assignment.”
“Of
course you are!” My boss chuckled. “You would have to be stupid not to.”
I had
been about to be so stupid. Whether my current decision was the smart one, I
would only know if I went through with it.
“I am
glad you agreed to do this assignment.” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“However, I have to warn you. You shouldn’t underestimate this. It could turn
out to be rather dangerous, especially, when you don’t know what to expect. Are
you still willing to do it?”
I thought
for a short moment. “Yes. Tell me everything you have heard about this secret
society.”
“Certainly,
you will need all the information you can get, although I am afraid it isn’t
much.” It sounded as if he was shoving around stacks of paper on his desk,
rummaging around in them until he found the desired sheet. “Supposedly this
secret society is almost as old as the school itself. It is big on cloak and
dagger operations and meetings in the middle of the night to do god knows
what.”
This
didn’t sound as interesting as I had expected. “So what? A bunch of kids
partying secretly doesn’t seem like such a big deal.”
“Where it
gets interesting is the number of unexplained deaths and people who died in
mysterious accidents has been uncommonly high ever since the school opened.”
A shiver
ran down my spine. “Are you saying there is someone at the school killing
students?”
“In a
way--yes.” He hesitated for a moment. “It doesn’t happen often and obvious
enough to raise suspicion. There is always an explanation for the deaths.
Whether said explanation is true is another question.”
“These
deaths are what you want me to investigate?”
I heard
him shuffling around. “They are to be the main focus of your research.”
He
wouldn’t have had to use a word like mission to make it sound dramatic. It was
scary and exhilarating on its own.
This
feeling of an adrenaline rush was why I had become a journalist in the first
place. Sure, I could have also become an extreme athlete, but I also loved
uncovering the truth.
This did
indeed sound like the perfect breakthrough, a memorable start for a great
career.
“Anne,
are you still there?” My boss interrupted my thoughts.
“I’ll do
it.” I repeated with more self-confidence than I thought I had.
“Glad to
hear you are so enthusiastic.” He chuckled again before he sobered a little. “I
have faith in you, just be careful.”
“Of
course.” I nodded eagerly even though he couldn’t see me.
“Since
you will still be a minor officially you will need a guardian,” he began to
explain.
“My
parents --”
“Don’t
worry about them.” He cut in quickly. “A good friend of mine lives not too far
away from Panthera Academy. His name is Colonel George O’Callaghan. He is going
to act as your guardian.”
“He is
going to act as my father?”
For some
reason the idea made my boss laugh. “Not at all. He is rather old, so he is
going to play the role of your grandfather.”
“Okay,” I
said, unsure of what to say.
“Don’t
worry. George is really nice. You will get along brilliantly.”
“If you
say so.” It was strange how the possibility of a murderer at this school didn’t
scare me as much as having to pretend someone whom I had never met before was
my grandfather.
“Go to
Miss Higgins. She will give your visa information, plane tickets and everything
else you will need.”
This is
how the phone call to my boss, in which I meant to tell him I wasn’t going to
take the assignment, ended with me going to Miss Higgins’s office to retrieve
the ticket and all other documents.
The idea
of me having gone mad only occurred to me when I was already at the airport a
few days later and had passed all the security checks.
When I
was actually boarding the plane to Dublin, I started thinking about whether I
had made the right decision.
Because
of my doubts I was beginning to feel so nervous I wanted to jump up and leave.
But I couldn’t. It was too late. We were already soaring over the Atlantic.
By the
time mainland was in sight again, I had calmed down and convinced myself. I had
made up my mind and there was no turning back.
This
decision was final.
As I
stepped off the plane, I thought to myself, Panthera Academy, here I come.
And so
the biggest adventure of my life began.
Copyright © Julia Fellner, 2011.
All rights reserved, Rogue Phoenix
Press.
