Character Conversation: Sir Anders Bockmann

If you're a recent follower, Character Conversations are little interviews with characters from my WIPs. When it comes to character development, those questionnaire-style character creation forms don't help me much. When I look at them, my brain just spits out run-of-the-mill answers. I get better results, especially for abstract questions like "What parts of you don't fit the hunky hero mold?" by chatting with my characters.

Now, I know this character well enough that I instantly got a smirky, X-rated response to the above question. And that response is, in itself, part of his less-heroic makeover-in-progress. My WIP is a massive re-write of a previous work, you see, and one of the problems tagged for fixing was that my hero boys (both of them) were too nice. To idealized. A little too tame.

In this character conversation with Sir Anders Bockmann, I wanted to address how the makeover is going now that we're halfway through part one (of three parts) of For Want of a Piglet (volume one of... I'm hoping three, not five? why am I doing this, again?) Like all conversations, it wanders off topic a bit. My side of the conversation is in italics.

Some character reference photos are for attitude, some for appearance.
This manages to be both. This is the delicious Alex Skarsgard.

I noticed you've picked up a bit of Jason Stackhouse (from True Blood, I haven't read the books) in the makeover. I could've lived without that. That boy is dumb as a sack of hammers and I won't have that in my heroes.

Did you not cast me as a 'horndog' without considering the why, when we last told this story? And then expected the leopard to change his spots overnight?

I'd be more the fool if it wasn't willful. Rather than a fool, I'm one who choose a dangerous game.

How willful? 

They've gone to such lengths to brand me the bad boy, should I not oblige them?

Your prey didn't do the branding, it seems to me. 

No. They put their wives and daughters in my sights, and me in theirs. If anyone wishes to call for a duel on it, they're welcome to. I didn't win the jousting tournament twice on my looks.

But what happens after five or ten years of being a bad boy? Do you think a thirty-year-old knight will still be winning jousts and sleeping in a friend's hayloft? (Anders is barely twenty, at this point in the story.)

Thirty? He shrugs. The cavalry will work knights till they drop, they won't turn me away. There's always the Order and training squires, if I'm not fit for duty.

Think those who branded you will trust you with their sons? Not make bad boys of them? 

Even I couldn't teach pigs to dance. The one who will dance aren't likely to be stopped.

So why can't you just be, as Kate said, the kind knight who untangled her from the stirrup when she fell off her horse?

He takes a minute to come up with an answer. Kate has no part in any of this. I've no quarrel with any outside the city walls, and she was peasant-born.

She knocked herself right out of your sights when she said that to you. 

The flirting was force of habit, no more. Ladies have their maids, and maids are a sure way to get close to the lady.

You thought she was easy meat. 

He shrugs again. And was mistaken. She's a disciple of Saint Qadeem and they're known to be odd ducks.

Denying interest, yes, that always works. How does Anders not fit the hunky hero mold? He's made a "game" of seducing girls and young wives (and maybe branching out into cougars) as a way to get back at those who have dismissed him as a bad seed. He's not thinking about his future or what consequences there might be for the women (unwanted pregnancies, domestic violence, STDs?) I think it's safe to say there's a self-destructive streak buried in him, as well as deep insecurities.

I think that's a good place to end on for now. How does your hero not fit the mold?

First Campaigner Challenge

Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “The door swung open” These four words will be included in the word count.

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), use the same beginning words and end with the words: "the door swung shut." (also included in the word count)

For those who want an even greater challenge, make your story 200 words EXACTLY!

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Flash fiction is not usually my kind of thing, but this snippet of backstory from my WIP (For Want of a Piglet) fit the bill so I've taken a stab at it. And I managed to hit all three conditions! I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to vote for your favorites on Rach's linky list. I've voted for a couple already.


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PIGLET


The door swung open and sudden silence made me look up from stoking the fire under the kettle. Father stood silhouetted by morning sun, the piglet hanging dead in his hand.

His growl chilled me. “Kate, did you do this?” Mother and my siblings’ eyes joined his on me.

“No.”

“I spent weeks arranging your betrothal.”

My tightening throat choked my voice. “On my life, Father, I didn’t.”

“It was the dower that finally convinced Schwartz to agree!” Father threw the piglet down. He slammed the door, rattling our hut. “What am I to do with you now? No — why shouldn’t I throw you out on the street if you’re so willing to betray me?”

“Show me the wound.” My voice rose even as it quavered, fearing he could show me a stab or a bruise. “Show me, or do you think me able to strangle a pig?” I held out my hands, strong for a girl but not big enough for such a job.

Father was many things, but he was ever a logical man. He glowered and picked up the piglet again. “May as well butcher the damn thing.”

I sighed in relief as the door swung shut.

Worldbuilding: alpaca

Maybe you read my Worldbuilding: wool post but you're itching to do things a little differently in your fantasy world. Sheep are a distinctly European critter and you want something more exotic to stock your background pastures with but still provide warm fiber for your characters to wear.

May I suggest the alpaca?

Alpacas are native to South America, specifically the Andes. Their close cousins include the llama (which are a bit larger,) the vicuna and guanaco (both smaller.) Alpacas (and llamas) were domesticated long ago by the Andean natives. They can be shorn and the fiber processed in a similar manner as wool is. Natural colors range from ivory white to natural black, as well as many shades of brown. They are bigger than sheep -- the top of their head is going to be about shoulder-high on a medium-sized person.

I bet they are edible, too, but you don't hear much about that. 

Undyed alpaca yarn by Cascade Yarns

Alpaca as a fiber is similar to wool in many ways. It's a little stronger than wool once it's spun and it's noticeably warmer. It can insulate when wet. It's softer and has much of the same elasticity and memory advantages of wool. Alpaca has more of a "halo" and the resulting fabric will tend to look fuzzier than wool.

What's the down side? In my experience, it pills pretty fiercely, probably because of that fuzziness. You spend $80 on the yarn, a hundred hours knitting the sweater, and by the time you've worn it a few hours it's covered in pills under the arms and on the sleeves where they rub against each other. Frustrating. 

So if you put alpaca on your royalty, count on some chambermaid spending time shaving off the pills...

However, bear in mind that (European) royalty in our world were not wearing alpaca. The Spanish brought it back from Peru, but it didn't catch on as a fiber until much later. Apparently weaving with straight alpaca doesn't work so well and it took a while to figure out what to blend it with.

Alpaca can be knit and blocked into lace, though it comes out fuzzier than wool.

Alpacas are raised in many parts of the USA, these days, and if you look online you might find a ranch near you. You will not believe how soft these critters are until you pet one. And with that long neck, they're just... fascinating. In general, they're mild-mannered and make all kinds of interesting noises. They'd make an intriguing replacement for sheep and maybe small beasts of burden in a fantasy world, I think. I'd be curious to hear what you come up with!

Worldbuilding: wool

OK, how many of us love the clothing side of fantasy writing? Show of hands? Love those silks, velvets, lace? Or do leather straps and buckles float your boat? Why should it have to be one or the other, right?

For this post, I'm going to stick to fiber, though. I'm a knitter and crocheter, you see, so I'm going to geek out a little here.

"The knitting Madonna." She's almost
done, too, just putting the neck on with
a set of double-pointed needles.

As near as anybody can tell, knitting came to Europe sometime during the medieval period. The earliest for-sure knitted artifacts (regardless of what Wiki says) date from the Renaissance, but it looks like knitting was mainly used for everyday things that got worn to bits, such as stockings, socks and slippers. So there are not a lot of knitted artifacts.

There were forerunners to true, multi-needle knitting -- nalbinding is the most well known.

Crochet was invented much later. We think. It became popular in Europe in the 19th century as an alternative, easier, faster and therefore cheaper way to make lace. Easier and faster than traditional bobbin lace and tatting, that is.

Let's talk about wool. Wool is a lovely thing. If you think it's scratchy and nasty, two words for you: merino, and lambswool. Better yet, merino lambswool.

Merino is a particular breed of sheep, originally from Spain but now raised everywhere. Their wool is fine and soft because they were bred specifically for their wool (not for meat) starting sometime in the late medieval period or the early Renaissance.

Some sheep are bred for eating and the wool is an afterthought. Sometimes tough, scratchy wool is what you want -- for rugs or tapestries.

"Wool's hard to take care of" -- for fantasy folks who don't have washing machines, it's no harder than anything else. Wool will felt (as in, compact down int a solid, smaller mass that won't fit you anymore) when it's dunked in hot water and agitated. Washing machines are good at that. When washing by hand, it's not something you're likely to do accidentally. Felted wool has its own uses, of course -- it's tougher and even warmer than un-felted wool.

Knitted wool shawl, pinned out

Before modern fibers came along, wool was your go-to for warmth if you could not get fur. Unlike some modern fibers, wool will let your skin breathe. It insulates even when it's wet. It's stretchy and it has "memory," unlike plant fibers. I've knitted some Shetland lace shawls and there's this magic moment -- you finish the piece and it comes off the needles in a sad little crumple. You soak it briefly in water and then block it by pinning it out (on a bed or something) taut, under a fair amount of tension. Pulling all its little details wide open. Let dry. When you unpin it, it stays in that open shape. It's like butterfly wings emerging.

Wool comes off the sheep in a surprisingly coherent, sheep-shaped piece and is steeped in both the sheep's natural oils (lanolin, which your skin likes too) and whatever filth the sheep has been rolling in. Clean wool that has not been stripped of the lanolin has a scent to it... your best bet would be to find some unscented lanolin hand lotion if you want to smell it. Sometimes you can find "unstripped" wool with the lanolin at specialty yarn shops.

The natural colors of wool are lovely (I'm fond of earthy palettes) and can range from ivory through grey to natural black. There's also a range of browns from a light fawn to a reddish brown to chocolaty shades.

If you're still reading (lol) and you have questions about wool or knitting or crochet for your character-costuming needs, I'd be glad to talk your ear off or at least point you in the direction of an answer.