“Me, but Trapped Inside” by Jackie Gamber, author of
REDHEART and SELA, Books One and Two of the Leland Dragon Series
As a writer, one of the endlessly fascinating elements of my
job is people watching. Not just the kind done from a park bench, or a mall
walk. That kind of exterior observation is a great start, but I like to watch
people a little closer. From the inside, if I can.
Which is not to say I perform weird scientific explorations
into the human body. But I do like a good journey into the human mind.
Or, dragon mind, as applies to my Leland Dragon Series.
Particularly, in SELA, the second book of the series, I got
to live inside the mind of Sela Redheart, a dragon born child who has
transformed into a human, and has been trapped there. She was born one
creature, but life demanded another. She adapted.
In pondering Sela’s character development for the story, I had
to look at her from several angles. She’s a teen searching for answers to life.
To her life. She’s full of power and
magic, but doesn’t know how to tap into it. She wants to be more than she is,
but doesn’t feel allowed to have what she wants.
She’s a dragon, yes. But she’s us.
There are practicalities to consider for the story. Her
family knows who she really is inside. Especially her uncle, Orman. Orman tries
to protect her from knowing too much about humans, from becoming too much of
one. And there is danger in Leland Province for her that only multiplies
because she hasn’t the natural defenses anymore that her dragon skin provided.
And there’s the disconnect between human values and dragon values that affect
the way the two species interact; within their own societies, and with each
others’.
Sela, as a character, is a product of all these
external circumstances. She’s a person of two worlds, but kept too deeply from
either to really understand her place in them. She’s been holding on her to
dragon heritage, clinging to a hope that she can be the child of her memories
and dreams. But none of us remain a child forever, and she makes a choice to
embrace the mysterious, “other” life of a human. And in stepping out, of
course, therein lies her destiny.
I love the term “character” to describe a person in a story,
because it’s the same word we use to describe what we, ourselves, are made of.
The true core of who we are. That which we display by our actions, and choices.
And isn’t that what a person in a story displays as well?
For Sela, her journey from dragon to human and, eventually,
to wholeness, is so familiar to us. We sense that life has adapted us away from
who we know ourselves to be. Our better self. Our stronger self. We know we
have wings, and we’re meant to fly…if only we can tap into our magic.
Jackie Gamber is the
award-winning author of “Redheart” and “Sela”, Books One and Two of the Leland
Dragon Series, now available! For more information about Jackie and her mosaic
mind, visit http://www.jackiegamber.com
And meet Jackie
elsewhere on the world wide web at:
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