Introducing the Cast of Characters

Today I’d like to introduce you to some of the characters from The Word Changers. All of these people, save one, are unique in that they portray Characters within characters.

Confused? Yeah, probably!

Let me explain.

Within The Word Changers is another book – a strange, dark fairy tale that Posy, our heroine, finds in her poky hometown library. It’s The Book: the one she falls into and spends the rest of the story within, the one she ends up traveling through and ultimately changing the words to … And within that fairy tale lies the rest of the cast of characters.

So without further ado, here is the lineup of each Character, including a bit about him or her, and even a few pictures to portray what some of them look like (in my head, at least!).

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Posy (Emma Watson)
Emma Watson makes a wonderful Posy. She has the perfect combination of vulnerability, innocence, strength and softness.

Posy: Uncertain of her worth, unsure of her path, she stumbles into something that seems like a dream, but ends up being more like a nightmare. A runaway princess, a forgotten Author … Posy has many things to find. But none as important as finding herself.

Kyran (Ben Barnes)
Dark hair, dark eyes, dark mood … Ben Barnes fits Kyran so well!

Prince Kyran: Haughty and condescending, the prince of the Kingdom is bored with his role in it, and fed up with his parents’ cruelty and manipulation. When he agrees to accompany Posy on her quest beyond the Borders of the Plot, he little realizes the life-changing journey that awaits him.

Falak:  Chief advisor to the king. Head of the council of owls. Oh, and he happens to be an owl himself. He is sharp, intelligent, and not quite all he seems …

Melanthius (John Rhys Davies)4
John Rhys-Davies. Imposing, heavy-browed, striking … in short, King Melathius.

King Melanthius:  Ruler of the Kingdom, Keeper of the Plot. But Melanthius has gone a step too far – he not only keeps the Plot, he now fully controls it along with all its characters. He has usurped the job that only the Author of the story has a right to.

Queen Valanor:  Cold, clever and beautiful. Her husband the king may rule the Kingdom, but she rules him. …At least, she thinks she does.

Evanthe1
Delicate but determined. Give this young model lavender eyes and she’s Princess Evanthe.

Princess Evanthe: She saw the truth of the wrong that was happening in the Kingdom and did the one thing she thought would remedy it … she ran away. She went into hiding far beyond the Borders of the Plot, where her brother Kyran and his companion Posy go to seek her.

The Mist:  A voice … a feeling … a whisper. The Mist is kept under tight control by King Melanthius, and its voice can’t be heard by many these days, at least for any purpose but petty information. Yet it has a power all its own, and a role much bigger than anyone dreams of.

Alvar:  A “common” character, with no large part in the Plot. All the same, he has a strong belief in every character’s importance, and he opposes the king openly – something that’s never been done. He even has plans for forming an army of his own to fight for freedom.

Faxon
Reader Hannah Williams sketched this fabulous picture of Faxon after reading The Word Changers

Faxon: Protector of the Glade. He is the leader of the exiled council of centaurs who were in power before the council of owls. He now lives in the Wild Land beyond the Plot as leader of a rogue centaur army. He helps Posy and Kyran in their search for the dark place they believe Princess Evanthe to be hiding.

Falak2
Falak usually has a particular glint in those uncanny orange eyes

Seraphine, Limnoreia, and Adamaris:  A trio of exquisite mermaid sisters who have been wronged by the King Melanthius and banished from the Plot. They live in an underwater palace full of secrets and darkness. They have a choice – seek revenge for their own sakes, or join Kyran and Posy to fight in the name of justice.

The Wild Folk:  These are the folk native to the Wild Land. They are truly natural creatures who have always lived beyond the Borders of the Plot, and whom have never been a part of the book at all. They are so bonded with the Wild Land forest that they even look like a part of it. They are peaceful and quiet by nature, yet when the King threatens their land with invasion, many of them decide action must be taken.

The Author:  He wrote the story, yes, but his characters haven’t heard from him in centuries. They have even begun to believe he never existed at all, and is only a myth kept alive in tales. But some still believe he lurks somewhere beyond the Borders of the Plot, waiting to lay claim to his story once again.

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37 thoughts on “Introducing the Cast of Characters

  1. I love who you chose to show what your characters look like! I just imagined the cover models for Posy and Kyran, but I like Emma Watson and Ben Barnes better. 😀

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  2. Glad you like them better! I know sometimes once I get an idea of what a character looks like in my head, I don’t like it to change … but I’m set in my ways like that – haha 😉

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    1. Thanks, Daniel! Hope you can pick up a copy soon … FYI, if you are interested in a physical copy, my publisher’s (Conquest) website is a few dollars cheaper than Amazon 🙂

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  3. Interesting! I think the descriptions are perfect. The pictures I think mostly work, though I had pictured them differently. Kyran and Posy were similar to their cover selves in my head, but also different… It was the starting point but they blossomed into “characters” of their own as I read. 😉 The only picture here that REALLY surprised me was John Rys-Davies! 😀

    Also the Mist. I LOVE the Blue Mist. Every time I think of it or see it mentioned I just sort of wilt. ^_^ (Well, and Kyran of course. ❤ )

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    1. I do the same thing sometimes with books I see as movies. The characters in my head “blossom,” just as you say, and don’t match with another person’s representation! I wish I could come up with an image of the Mist … ! 😉

      I’m curious to know … how did you see Melanthius? What surprised you about John Rhys-Davies?

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      1. That’s the beauty of books–they can help us imagine things and people that don’t exist. ^_^

        Hmm… I’m not sure exactly what surprised me about that. Probably because I’ve only seen him as Gimli and in Indiana Jones… I dunno, I guess I’ve always thought of John Rhys-Davies as being merry and nice, whereas Melanthius is much more serious and… disturbing? I thought of him as being fairly tall and not thin exactly but not particularly wide, clean-shaved but slightly wrinkled (in a weathered way, not old really) and I think I just mainly got an impression of an intimidating man in a royal robe, who was sometimes nice on the surface, at the beginning anyway, but had something behind his eyes that was frightening… I don’t know, that’s my overall thought on him for most of the book, I THINK; my opinions on Melanthius changed over and over throughout the book and I sometimes had no idea what to think of him! You did a good job making us uncertain of certain characters. 😉 And so sorry for the long ramble! It’s sometimes hard to explain thoughts on a character…

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      2. I love long rambles … you ramble all you want! 😀 I am always interested to hear how my characters come across to others! Loved your thoughts … so wonderfully detailed!

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  4. I never considered Ben Barnes as Kyran before, but it’s true – he’s perfect!! Definitely much closer to his “voice” in the book than the cover model Kyran – in my opinion, at least.

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  5. I haven’t read it, but it sounds very interesting! I definitely want read it now. I love the mix of characters and the concept of the main character going from our present day world into the world of The Book. 🙂

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    1. Thanks so much! I hope you get a chance to read it one day, Ashley 🙂 I’m giving away a copy of it if you’d like to enter your name below! Giveaway ends tomorrow (Friday) 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!!

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  6. Wow, you’re hard on Posy! I visualized her as MUCH prettier than Emma Watson. But then, I don’t like Emma Watson. 😛 Your Kyran, though, does look just like I imagined.

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      1. lol, it’s so funny! Hannah’s my sister, but when I heard the name “Kay Panabaker” I was like, who’s that? But then she reminded me. Kay would work well, actually. 😀

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      2. Actually “Deborah O’Carroll” is our friend and close neighbor, as well as Hannah being my sister. I’ve found it so amazing to watch you drift right into the middle of our knot, Ashlee! 😀

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      3. Well, I had no idea you were connected that way! How cool! I feel super privileged to be anywhere near your “knot”, to say the least! All three of you girls are so sweet! 🙂

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  7. Based on the description of your characters and their roles in the story, this sounds like a very intriguing one! I’ll have to read more about The Word Changers. Good luck with it! I’m glad to have found your blog.

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  8. I like these pics!
    Kyran looks right. I can actually think of lots of actors who I think look like him, Barnes among them. 🙂
    I think Melanthius looks best of them all. Just like what I thought.
    For some reason, I was visualizing Posy as looking like Kay Panabaker. lol But I guess I won’t argue with the author. 🙂

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  9. Kay Panabaker is one of my favorite actresses, she’s so pretty. 🙂
    Names that come to mind are Thomas McDonell and Dougray Scott. ( Obviously Scott needs to be younger for the role, but we can fantasize here, right? ) 🙂 I considered Skandar Keynes, but he’s not quite right–though his skin and hair are perfect.
    I think Thomas and Kay would look cute together. 🙂

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    1. Oh, wow, Hannah … you’ve basically nailed those!! I never thought of Skandar Keynes, but he’s great (also a better age probably for Kyran, huh?!). It’s funny that you mentioned Thomas McDonell, because I actually have his picture in my “inspiration” file on my computer for people who resemble my characters. I made that file a long time ago, obviously, and had forgotten he was even in it … under “Kyran,” of course! So cool 🙂

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  10. Seriously? That’s awesome. It just shows McDonell’s face is printed in your mind, printed itself onto the narrative, and then entered my brain–all without you knowing. haha 🙂

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  11. The whole time I read the book, I imagined Kyran so much like Ben Barnes. I practically freaked out when I found out that you shared my thought!

    P.S. Could you arrange something like Word Changers shirts or jewelry? That would be amazing. (The book is on my favorites list. Thank you so much for writing it!)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh, my, how cool is that! Haha! Yeah … Ben Barnes (sigh).

      I haven’t given much thought to any type of book swag for The Word Changers yet … but if I do, I’ll definitely let everyone know by posting it here on my blog!! I love the idea of doing something like that.

      Thanks so much for your sweet compliments! You definitely made my day 😀

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