Introductions
by: Linda M. Crate

Syn Seifer is a character I've had in my head since I was thirteen years old. She was a character that was originally used in my roleplaying days as the daughter of Severus Snape. However, she made several transitions when I decided to bring her into the Magic series.

 

For one, her mother was actually in the realm of living this time. However, I'm sure considering how nasty her mother is that she would have much rather preferred her to not be alive, at all. Secondly, she is a faerie and a shape-shifting dragon. I don't think that she minded those changes all too much. After all, who would mind taking to the skies and scaring the pants off of all their enemies should they feel so inclined? Third, I made her a singer. I think she was surprised by this but appreciative all the same.

 

Evidently she's grown tired of making potions all these years.

 

My characters are very vocal, but I think for the most part she liked her transitions.

 

Morgan d'Ernos is the son of Lucille Roddingale and Florian d'Ernos and is Syn's unrequited love for a large portion of the book. How that came about was, I knew from the start that Syn was in love with someone that didn't love her. She's had a very unfortunate past, and so it seemed given that, she would be unlucky in love, too. I figured that the man she should fall in love with should be attractive and yet socially awkward. The son of Florian d'Ernos and Lucille Roddingale would be both of those things.

 

I also had to be a little mean to Syn and give her a friend who wasn't good at keeping secrets. This character turned out to be a long-time friend of Syn and Morgan's 'brother from another mother' Byrant. He's the reason that Morgan finds out about Syn's unrequited love and it makes things a little more awkward than things already are.

 

This serves as the catalyst for the beginning of the book and Syn's journey into finding out what it truly means to be a good friend, how to persevere, and how to engage with someone you love but doesn't love you back yet they still want you in their life and to be a friend. It was an interesting problem but I have encountered this in life on both ends of the spectrum. It's never easy, but it's doable. This was just something that Syn wouldn't have any way of coping with given the reclusive tendencies that she and her father both share coupled along with bubbling snarkiness and sarcasm.

 

Syn's journey is one of learning how to cope with emotions, how to better herself, and how to learn to face her problems and her own personal demons whilst trusting that her friends won't betray her or hurt her with the knowledge of her past.

 

She is a complex and interesting individual and I'm really hoping that people love her as much as I do. She is very flawed, but she also has a huge capacity to love and adores protecting her friends since the only family she has ever known has pretty much shut her out in the cold.

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LitPick thanks Linda M. Crate for stopping by to introduce us to her characters!

Linda M. Crate is the author of the fantasy novel "Dragons & Magic," part of Linda's "Magic" series, which also includes the novel "Blood & Magic."