Hello! I have returned. And if you guessed that I would have 220 queries waiting for me, you would be both correct and psychic.
Needless to say, since I have about 100 non-query e-mails to attend to, query responses will be a bit delayed until further notice.
A quick You Tell Me for Wednesday, which was originally suggested by Dylan Ford, and partially inspired by The Atlasphere, which is in part an Ayn Rand fan dating site.
Fictional characters possess all of the power of real people when it comes to influencing and changing lives. So the question: what fictional characters have most affected you? Who has changed your personality, worldview, and/or ethics?
Audrianna says
All of the characters in "Thirteen Reasons Why" have influenced my greatly – simply because I now think, when I'm talking to someone, if I've influenced them for better or for worse. Reading this book made me super aware of what's going on around me and how even the smallest act can change the course a person's on. I guess as a writer I should have thought of that, but the book really presented it in a good way. I would totally recommend the book for anyone who hasn't read it.
Anna says
I like Helen Garp, Jenny Fields and Roberta Muldoon too…
I like "The World According to Garp" a lot. Having said that, I wouldn't say they've influenced me. But I sure like those women; strong, standing their ground, yet vulnerable.
Hope you had a good holiday, and since Dick Cheney wasn't there, I imagine it was fairly nice, if not maybe a tad quiet… :)))
Novice Writer Anonymous says
TeeVee Humphrey- it was one of the first books I ever read on my own and he always won out by being upright and honest.
Mr. Darcy- He turned me into a hopeless romantic. (Along with all the classic Disney films.)
Aslan- He was always so good to everyone even when they went wrong. Someone we can all emulate. (Yeah, I know he's modeled after Christ.)
Novice Writer Anonymous says
I hadn't heard that about David Eddings! I loved the Belgariad. And the Mallorean. There were even some endearing qualities to his Sparhawk books. I'm so sad now. *sniff*
Silk was always my favorite character of Eddings'. Though Belgarath would run a close second.
April Hollands says
Jane Ayre's martyrdom annoyed me so much that it made me go on to study literature at university, just to figure out exactly why she was who she was, and how I could marry my feminism with her 'happily ever after' ending. Still struggling with that one despite all the justifications for it.
Anonymous says
@ Brittany Hansen
My principal read that at my HS graduation to inspire us to be like that.
It is not a bad message to follow
Erastes says
Lazarus Long from Heinlein's Future History series. He opened my eyes to life, and love, and adventure.
Daniel says
Dirty Harry. Hardly a day goes by that I don't utter: "A Man's Got To Know His Limitations."
Jil says
Mowgli -I wanted to live with animals as he did, so I swung from trees and prayed to become a boy. After I grew older I thanked God for not listening to me!
National Velvet – oh the wonder of being left a stable full of horses and riding Pie in the Grand National. I grew up to train steeple chasers and show jumpers.
Catherine Earnshaw – running wild on the moor with her lover. (Where is he?)
As an only child I think all I am is bits of characters I grew up with.
pubbloghub says
I would have to say Thomas Covenant from Stephen Donaldson's books. Not because of who he was particularly, though I like the sort of anti-hero character thing, but the fact that following his journey is basically what inspired me to begin writing stories.
Nett Robbens says
Mame Dennis … (Auntie Mame, Mame) Lucille Ball played her in a movie, as did Rosalind Russell. However, there's a quote in Lucille Ball's version that I love.
"Life is a banquet and most sons of bitches are starving to death!"
Very influential line.
Alii Silverwing says
It's probably telling that my favorite characters/influences are all 50-year-old-ish men.
Jubal Harshaw from Stranger in a Strange land. Cynical, philosophical and steeped in a perpetual sense of wonder.
Next,(don't laugh, k?) a character named Saetan. He's a grandfatherly figure in a series I adore who has an impeccable sense of self.
Dr. Dolittle, too, from the Adventures Of. I've always been fascinated with his, well, his 'everything is an adventure' attitude.
They were influences, though, not role models. If I were to name a role model, I'd have to cite any number of plucky young female protagonists like Ashleigh (from the Thoroughbred series) and Cimmoren (From the Enchanted Forest series.) They knew what they wanted and they went through crazy shit to get it. Clever and hard-working. And their relatively recent publishing dates rather marks me as youngish.
Jen C says
Ryan said…
Early life:
Jason and Tommy from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Dude… that's rad! I loved MMPR! Jason was my favourite *swoon*.
As far as my influences go…
From TV: Sydney from Alias and Buffy – for being deadly, strong, firece women but also being nice and feminine in their down time. Proof that you can be a strong woman without losing your femininity.
Special mention to Ben from Lost, for being so deliciously dark and mysterious.
From books: Colleen from the Virutal Mode series by Piers Anthony. I really identified with her when I was younger and found the way she overcame obstacles with such strength and determination quite inspiring. I still feel a connection to quite a few Piers Anthony characters, especially from the Incarnations series.
30GreatBooks says
I'd have to say the narrator in Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake, who is sort of Vonnegut and sort of Kilgore Trout. Due to weird cosmic happenings, the characters have to re-live their lives but can't do or say anything different – they just have to watch everything unfold for a second time. It really made me think about life and decisions, and how I would feel about what I was doing if I had to do it twice.
Wendy says
Black Beauty taught me that life isn't always fair but made me want to be a better person (at five, admittedly).
Peter Pan and Wendy taught me I'm not the only one with a rubbish name.
Janie Starks from "Their eyes were watching God." I found her during my divorce and she saved my sanity.
Sebastian from Brideshead Revisted was probably the reason for aforementioned divorce since he taught me to love hopeless men, curse him.
I sipped Whiskey at fifteen because I wanted to be like Sebastian and it turned me off alcohol for life, so at least that part of his influence was positive.
And my dog Ryder was named after Charles Ryder from the same book. So it still keeps popping up.
Nathalie says
The Count of Monte Cristo and his resilience.
Lisa Dez says
Frodo (think book—not movie), the mostly reluctant and seriously accidental epitome of good. He also taught me to love reading when I was in Jr. High. Just an overall good guy.
abc says
Zooey Glass fo sho. More recently I was pretty freaking moved by the His Dark Materials Trilogy but I can't think of one particular character that changed me. Answer: D, all of the above.
Lupina says
I will always adore Ender Wiggin but he's so unique I could never say he has influenced me.
The Man in McCarthy's The Road, however, is someone I think about every day. The patience, the bravery, the honesty, the tenderness, the survival savvy,the self-sacrifice…what a human!
My other is Tess Durbeyfield of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles. She is a truly good person — graceful, kind, honest — caught in a horrible situation. I love all Hardy's heroines but Tess is the best.
David Jace says
(Nathan, how in the world do you have time to read all of these comments on every post?! You get hundreds!)
Good grief, there are so many characters to consider there. Since I was reading pretty young in life, I suspect more have affected me than I even know.
I named my son after King Trent the Transformer from Piers Anthony's Xanth series.
I've always admired Captain Willard Phule from Robert Asprin's (RIP) Phule's Company series and tried to keep him in mind when in positions of command. I particularly like his model of "changing the world to fit our needs."
Then again, I occasionally slip into Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivner: "I prefer not to be a little bit reasonable."
Mira says
Sigh.
So, please skip this post, since it's not on topic, if you're not interested in…well…me.
Speaking of which, how exactly does a dating service based on Ayn Rand's philosopy work?
"I love me."
"Oh my god, we have so much in common. I love me, too!"
*Smooch*
So, I was turned down.
By a very nice rejection letter.
Not the nicest rejection letter I ever got, which would be, of course, an acceptance letter, but still a pretty nice one.
And I will say, it did not once say: "I do not feel passionately about your work."
For that, Nathan, I thank you. (As well as reviewing my query letter and responding so quickly. I know we're not supposed to write thank you letters, so I'm sneaking it in here. Clever, hun?)
Still, I feel disappointed. I didn't really want to write the book, of course. But I really, really wanted to meet Nathan for lunch.
Now I'll have to keep hiding in the bushes during his meal time. It's not the same as when you are actually invited to sit down.
Anyway, if you are my friends, please don't spend time here telling me to buck up and keep going. I intend to do neither. I'm going to eat my weight in chocolate and spend the next week in bed.
Of course, I was going to do that anyway, but I won't feel quite as guilty indulging in total sloth and gluttony if I have a ready made excuse for it.
Anyway, I realize that as a fictional character, it's my responsiblity to be a role-model in situations such as these. Here is how to handle rejection: You say to yourself: It's personal. Nathan hates me. In fact, no one loves me. I'm all alone. Life is an endless series of meaningless incidents, and then you die. If you're lucky.
Okay. Somehow, writing that made me feel better.
So, where is that chocolate?
Ben Dutton says
Wilbur the pig from Charlotte's Web – taught me everything about being a good human (or pig) when I read it aged 5.
S says
Santiago, from Ernest Hemingway's THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA.
Elaine 'still writing' Smith says
Mira
Sad
But, chocolate is an excellent short term solution!
If chocolate had been a character in a book think how many mentions it might have got.
D. Michael Olive says
Two characters, different but similar. First, Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird and second, Dritzzt do'Urden from R.A. Salvatore's Dark Elf Trilogy. Both highly moral and trying to keep their dignity in a bigoted & corrupt world.
Mira says
Oh wait.
I just realized something important.
All the time I could have spent writing that book I didn't really want to write anyway…..
I can just devote that time to Nathan's blog.
Oh, I feel MUCH better now.
Boy oh boy oh boy.
I think I'll start with some fictional characters.
I need to go do some reseach. I'm going to list every book I ever read, and how the character affected me.
Oh, this is going to be good.
Let's see, when I was four, I read that picture book…what was it called. And then I read it again. We'll have to mention the repeats…hmmmm
wendy says
Mira, your rejection comments – hilarious! (although sympathies there) If you haven't been published yet, you will be soon. You're wittiness really made me laugh. 🙂
Jen C says
Mira,
Sorry to hear about your (lovely) rejection. I have always found that chocolate solves just about any problem on earth. (Except for sugar addiction… trust me, I know. I'm detoxing off it right now and I've had the shakes and falling-over-syndrome for the past 2 days.)
But, for emotional problems, chocolate is the way to go. Also, lots of action movies where things explode and people get beaten up but there's no actual story line (I'm looking at you, Transporter…). Then again, maybe it's just me.
Am I rambling again? Sorry. I guess I'm just so happy that Nathan's back! Yay!
Word Veri: unancha. unancha… means nothing, but if you say it a few times it's kinda fun.
thoughtful1 says
I met Bilbo Baggin when I was about 10 years old and he guided me to the lands of nasty spiders, cranky elves, clodhopper trolls, and at last to a dragon's den. I dare say the experience changed the way I saw the world, opened up the warm corners I had snuggled in and let me see the immensity of all it all. I have to say that was pretty profound for a ten year old and though I have met other characters who have touched me deeply, the devil in Paradise Lost and Benjy Compson in The Sound and the Fury come to mind, I think it was Bilbo who got me started on my journey. Then again though maybe it was Nancy Drew when I was 9 and Black Beauty when I was 7 who taught me to love those worlds in books. Once again, a hard hard question to answer simply.
Dawn Maria says
I'd have to say Celie, from Alice Walker's THE COLOR PURPLE. She is completely transformed by the end of the novel and the reader is there with her every step of the way. Love it every time I re-read it.
Mira says
Thanks Wendy, Elaine, Jen.
Jen, I'm happy that Nathan is back too! 🙂
Mmmmmmm.
Chocolate.
Jen C says
PS Mira, I feel the same way about Ayn Rand.
And if I wasn't a billion miles away I would offer to meet you for lunch instead of Nathan. A poor substitute, perhaps, but we could paint each other's nails and talk about boys we like? Always works in the movies…
Kristi says
Mira – sorry about the rejection but at least you're putting yourself out there. Good luck!
Melissa says
Wow what a list! Seeing all these names is a walk thorugh memories of characters loved long ago. What about Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple? They could solve any mystery.
Mara Wolfe says
Alanna from Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness and Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings.
Mira says
Kristi – thanks.
Jen – that sounds like sooo much fun. I'm hopping on a plane to Australia right now.
Um. I'm bringing my chocolate with me.
Chocolate…..mmmmmmmmmm.
slcard says
I can't think of any fictional characters which have most influenced me; there are just too many real people who make me stop and rethink my existence.
You once said real life is boring, Mr. Bransford. I cannot agree at all. The fiction is what allows me to breathe.
Ink:
Thanks for the news regarding Mr. Eddings. I think my heart is a little broken now. Sparhawk really was great.
Rick Daley says
I had to travel for work today so I'm late getting to this, and quite disappointed that Steve Fuller already used my first choice. Is it coincidence that my travels took me to Cincinnati, and that's where Mr. Fuller resides?
As a father, The Man in THE ROAD showed me what true devotion to my children should look like, despite the circumstances dealt to us by life.
Laura Martone says
Wow, so many great choices today… I have to agree with Dawn Marie about Alice Walker's Celie – what an amazing, life-affirming transformation she makes.
I just thought of another life-affirming character who has influenced me in a positive way… Maude from HAROLD & MAUDE (the play and the movie). As she says, "Gimme an L. Gimme an I. Gimme a V. Gimme an E. L-I-V-E. Live. Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room!"
Amen, sister!
Oh, and Mira, don't let the turkeys get you down. You're at least in good company – Nathan rejected me, too… but it's all good. It actually forced me to write a better query (still, er, in progress). Mmm, chocolate.
thoughtful1 says
Absolutely, Miss Marple. And Sherlock Holmes. And then again what about those already mentioned high school influences, Jane Eyre, Cordelia in King Lear, Cathy and Heathcliffe…what a twisted view of love those I actually believed in for so long. I guess this dates me. Smile.
Lucinda says
Little Red Riding Hood and that gorgeous wolf lurking in the woods…
pilot says
Gee-whiz. I’m running again into much the same characters posted on May 20th.
The best answer belongs to Steve Fuller…. He said Jesus (if you’re willing to consider the New Testament fiction…. Which it my well be).
Hey Nathan, how about a post dealing with the best book or author?
Could get interesting…. LOL
John says
Without question, Jay Gatsby. He is triumph and tragedy at once.
D. G. Hudson says
In Life & writing – Sherlock Holmes and Yoda.
However, Gandalf and Spock influence my reading of fantasy and science fiction. Herbert's Paul Atreides and Duncan Idaho were favorite characters that kept changing, but managed to retain their core.
They all seemed to have more wisdom than most, and that's something I value. I also like the unorthodox attributes, or habits that each had as part of their character traits.
The authors who created them gave them some of that life-like essence, causing us as readers to perceive them as real people.
If it has to be only one – then I'd say Sherlock Holmes.
lisanneharris says
Snoopy. I loved his snicker. Wasn't it the coolest when he sat on top of his dog house clicking away on the typewriter? 🙂
J. M. Strother says
Babar. Yes, the elephant in the green suit. He was the foundation of my love of reading and not a bad role model to boot.
Scout and Atticus, from To Kill a Mockingbird. They deeply influenced my sense of justice.
~jon
Courtney says
Hmmm.
I'd have to say Sherlock Holmes, Kit from The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and Donal Grant from the book of that title written by George MacDonald, have all influenced me in some way or another.
The longer I think about it, the longer my list grows, though.
Word Ver: Munciser–somebody who excercises…money.
In a sentence: The munciser recently bribed a public official; he is now doing jail-time.
Eric says
Kurt Vonnegut's Lionel Boyd Johnson (a.k.a. Bokonon).
Eric says
And re: edonsi–I read the Dark is Rising sequence in middle school and loved it. I think you're the only person I've ever heard reference it.
Juliette says
Aslan
"'Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you." The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
I loved that Aslan wasn't a tame lion – that he retained his wildness and mystery while still being utterly Good.
It greatly influenced my understanding of God, scoffing at the thought that we can contain him in our rituals and cathedrals.
Wild, unpredictable and Good. Love it!