Meet my character: Isla Blackman

I was tagged in the Meet My Character blog hop by the fabulous historical fiction author Nicole Evelina. (Thanks, Nicole!) The idea is that you can write about a character in a new release or WIP. Given my impending release and WIP are both about Isla, she was my obvious choice.

However, I’ve written this based on the first book, for reasons.

Jenna-Louise Coleman, who looks a lot like I imagine Isla would. (Source.)

What is the name of your character? Is she fictional or a historical person?

Her name is Isla Rose Blackman, and she’s about to turn eighteen. Her father is David Andrew Blackman, a small farmer and hobbyist ironmonger with a farm outside Canberra. Isla lives with her aunt, Elizabeth Kent, and cousins, Sarah and Ryan. But she sees her father regularly and adores him.

This meme started among the histfic writers, hence the second half of the question. Since I write urban fantasy, the answer is always going to be “fictional”. As much as it might be hilarious to write a vampire story involving a real life politician, for example, I suspect I’d be sued shortly afterwards!

When and where is the story set?

For the most part, it is set in Canberra—Isla moved in with her aunt when she started high school so she’d be closer to class. And it is a contemporary story…in timeframe if not always in subject matter.

What should we know about Isla?

Isla has a good head on her shoulders. Her father raised her to be practical and have a critical mind; for example, she never went through the new age phase Sarah did as a teenager. When her cousins drag her to a Halloween party, she thinks it’s all a bit of fun but nothing more—an excuse to dress up. She only ever agreed to take part in the séance because Dominic was there, and she’d had a crush on him when she was younger.

Turns out he’s still hot.

What is the main conflict? What messes up her life?

The first speedbump in the road is when the séance tries to contact Isla’s mother, who passed away in childbirth, and the “spirits” reply “SHE IS NOT DEAD”. Isla can’t understand why the girl running the séance would set her up like that, given they’ve never met before…but then all sorts of weird things start happening.

What is the personal goal of the character?

At first, Isla hopes for a lightbulb moment where she suddenly knows what she wants to do with her life. She has the grades for university, but decides to take a gap year because she isn’t sure what she wants to study.

After a while, though, she just wants everything to go back to normal.

When can we expect Isla’s Inheritance to be published?

October 2014. *faints*

Who’s next in this blog hop?

I’m tagging two awesome writers, contemporary author Lauren K. McKellar, and fantasy and urban fantasy author K. A. Last. I loved both of their recent releases, The Problem With Crazy and Immagica respectively. Check them out!