My Own Non-entry

Since the contest on favorite characters ends after tomorrow, I guess it would be nice if I mentioned some of my own huh? heh. Well..really... it's not like I can enter the contest!

Like many of you out there.. you know you have many more than one favorite character. Most likely you have a favorite from every book you've read, that you set back on the shelf and say to yourself, "I'm going to read that again one day". And most likely the reason you know you will reread that book.. is because the author gave you someone (or something) to remember.

This is where we Thank the many authors who let us into their worlds to share something special. Thank you one and all!

And so.. like others in the contest I will talk of a few characters that never really leave my mind...

I think the first one to appear to me was when I read The Hobbit. Ah, yes many of you are saying.. Gandalf. I read the Hobbit when my kids were young... maybe 35 years ago. Gandalf quickly became someone I wished were in my life for real! Back then I wasn't sure why he meant so much to me, but I do know I had to read more. And so I read the LOTR trilogy that followed. When Gandalf met the Balrog, and we all know what happened to him, I cried my eyes out. I'm sorry, but Frodo couldn't hold a candle to the loss "I" felt! It was then I knew this character would be with me for a very long time. Much, much later when the wonderful Peter Jackson gave Gandalf a face for me to identify with.. well.. that's all she wrote folks... that same scene in the movie brings me to tears every time! No matter how many times I see it or read it again, (and I know what happens later!) I still feel the loss.

Through my kids teen years, my reading slowed down a lot. But I did read some. I got into the Dragonlance series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman who gave me a whole group of characters to love. Tanis half-elf, Tas, Caramon and his "evil" twin brother, the wizard Raistlin. Now, I never would have thought that an evil wizard would evoke emotion to me, but thanks to Caramon, who always thought that somewhere deep inside Raistlin was good... well.. I found myself always hoping the same thing. Which in turn made Raistlin stick in my head and linger there ever after.

Sometime later I lucked in again and found David Eddings series of Belgarath. Sigh.. here I go again! Yet another wizard that drew me in. Another sorcerer with outrageous power, but always held it in check and only used what had to be used. (in today's day and age that "power" would be called "money") By now I knew that I wished there were real people such as these were.

I was finding a pattern here. They were all wizards.. they were all powerful... they were mentors and friends and father figures to others. And most of all they were always there when they were needed most. Hmmmmm.

Of course my emotional connection to these men didn't and hasn't ended even at my ripe old age.

Along came Harry Potter and Dumbledore! Again, there are a slew of characters to love here.. but Dumbledore stands out to me. Ever notice how strong wizards are, and how "the good ones" never show it unless absolutely necessary? How they can give unconditional love and caring to others? How they can forgive a mistake and continue to care?... What is it about being able to be both strong and emotional that makes these characters so appealing that we can't forget them?

I am so attached to these characters.. that one day, I wrote one for myself. Abbercorn. This one I have "personal ties to".. He is my combination of everything that I took from the others... and he's mine. What more can I say?

So.. that's my story and I'm sticking to it!.............

I've been loving all the other stories of favorite characters that I've been reading! I think it shows we all wind up having emotional ties one way or another to these wonderful beings !

Thank you all for joining in! I hope in some way, that writing your post brought back great memories!!