5 prince publishing Archives - fundinmentalfundinmental

Welcome to my tour stop for A Spider In The Garden by Courtney Davis. Spiders creep me out and so does that cover. I love it!

I am happy to have Courntey Davis visiting fundinmental today and talking about her characters. Take it away Courtney:

How do I come up with my characters?

I think I am a bit of an observer in general. I am quiet and introverted so it’s natural for me to watch other people and I am sure that I unintentionally get ideas from the people I interact with or see, to add in to making my characters. Never on purpose though.

For the characters in A Spider in the Garden, as with most of my characters, I start with superficial things like their looks. Next, since it’s Urban Fantasy, I think about what powers they should have and any weaknesses. Then I think about their backgrounds, family situations and socio-economic status. I consider their love lives and view of relationships for their future. Even education and work at times must be considered. From that I start to get an idea of how this person would act or react in different situations and what their goals and hold backs might be.

I also consider their mood, some people are just serious all the time, others like to joke and laugh. In this story Aranha starts out in a deep depression, and that really plays into the events of the story and why she decides to do certain things.

With Urban Fantasy in particular with character development you have to consider what their species is like. If you create a species that is pack centric it is going to have a huge effect on how that character interacts with those in and out of their pack. If the species is weak then you may have to consider their drive for safety in the way they interact. A lot goes into character development and species development. I don’t always have it well planned before I start and sometimes have to go back and make adjustments after I decide something needed to be different, but that’s what editing is for!

Luckily, I find people very interesting, what makes them do certain things intrigues me. So I hope this helps me to write believable and relatable characters for others to read.

I love to people watch too. I make a game of it, imagining their lives, occupations… Thanks so much Courtney.

A Spider in the Garden by Courtney Davis

GENRE: Paranormal Fantasy/Romance

BLURB

Aranha is the last of her kind, a spider shifter who preys upon the dregs of society in an attempt to validate her existence and feed her hunger. She’s lived alone for two hundred years, no family and no friends; always watchful for those who would kill her.
Dag is one of a dying species, vampires who can walk in the day. They have lost their companions and live in dread of the day that they too will become extinct; leaving the earth to the vile creatures who prey upon humans without mercy.
Aranha sees danger in Dag’s face, Dag sees the future in hers. Neither can believe the other exists and their lives are about to get very complicated. Together they embark on a mission to save a young human from the vampires and learn the reality of what their two species were doing in The Garden of Eden.

EXCERPT

She didn’t like the idea of being in his space, but the public was no place for this conversation. She didn’t trust him, but she was curious as to what he could possibly think she needed his help with, and how did he even exist? She had as many questions as he did, she was sure. She couldn’t keep Jonah and herself safe if she didn’t know what was out there; maybe he wasn’t the only one and she needed to be aware of them as a danger too. She decided she had no better option. “I will follow you,” she agreed.

He nodded and held the door open for her gallantly. She didn’t move. “I said I’ll follow you.”

“You should trust me,” he said quietly.

His blue eyes stared straight into hers, it touched her soul and she had to steel herself against the threat of feelings she had no use for. “Why?” she hissed.

“I don’t think you have anyone else,” he said quietly, then went out the door and up the stairs.

She bristled at the truth in his words. Other than Jonah, she didn’t have anyone, but she didn’t have to trust him, she had no reason to think he meant her anything other than harm. She tucked her knives away and locked the door behind them. Three brown spiders crept out of the dark and looked up at her. “Cover the door, make sure it looks unused and unwelcoming.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Courtney Davis is an author of urban fantasy, paranormal, supernatural fiction with a little romance and humor thrown in. She loves creating worlds and exploring human, and inhuman, interaction. She lives in North Idaho with her husband and children where she teaches and enjoys time spent relaxing in the summer sun and winters by the fire. She has always had an affinity for reading and writing and a goal to make a career of it. There is no greater joy than to know her words took a reader out of reality for a time and into another world.

AUTHOR SOCIAL MEDIA