Skip to main content

Beautiful People: Hilma

     Hi, I am once again participating in Beautiful People, hosted by Sky and Cait.  This month, I am featuring The Caver's Kiss for the second time.  As you may remember, last month BP landed on the same day that I concocted the idea for TCK.  So here I am today with my now-1-month-old story.  :)


Hilma is Ally's godmother.  She is a cross, grumpy old woman who loves Ally with all her heart.  She also is a woman who blames herself for what she considers "an-hundred-years-worth of disasters."

  1. What is her secret desire?  To keep Ally safe with her.
  2. What is the best and brightest moment she experiences during the story?  Whenever Ally is happy or whenever Ally is loving her as a daughter would.
  3. What are the emotional places your character is afraid to go to?  Hilma doesn't want to visit her regrets or her losses.  Amos's arrival forces Hilma to face her old regrets and threatens her with another loss.  She reacts with anger to hide her fear and pain...like a cornered animal, she is willing to fight with tooth and nail.
  4. Is there a place/city/room where she will never go?  Why?  No, unlike others in her village, Hilma is willing to go nearly anywhere.
  5. If she was permanently leaving town, what would she easily throw out?  What would she refuse to part with? (Why?)  She would refuse to leave Ally behind.  And she would take her grandmother's mortar and pestle...it was her one connection to a person who loved her in a past generation.  (Note: more people love Hilma than she realizes, but she is a little too crusty to accept it gracefully).
  6. What do they want (consciously and tangibly)?  To find a perfect husband for Ally.  To protect her village from any ill that could be cured with herbs.
  7. On the other hand: what does she need (on the emotional, subconscious level)? She needs Ally to love her.  She needs to be reassured that she has done a good job with her goddaughter.
  8. If she could change one thing about herself, what would it be?  She wishes she was capable of transporting herself instantly to the place of her choice on demand.  No running on obscure paths so no one could see you.  No being late for important events (like saving the kingdom).  Sadly, she hasn't found an herb that could give her that power yet. 
  9. What is the most humiliating event of her life?  Being wrong is the most humiliating thing.  So perhaps 3 events qualify: the day news came of Aurora's unhappiness, the day that Ally came into her life, and the day that Ally was going to leave her.
  10. What things does she turn to when she needs a bit of hope?  Hilma goes to her medicine room and pounds herbs with her mortar and pestle until she thinks of solutions.  Or she spends time with Ally -- Ally always gives her hope.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. Skye HoffertMarch 9, 2015 at 8:28 PM

    Hilma sounds sweet, just stopped by from the linkup. I read some of your snippets, The Caver's kiss sounds awesome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Esther Brooksmith (wisdomcreates)March 11, 2015 at 3:21 PM

      I'm so glad that you took the time to read my snippets and that you liked them. You have no idea how happy that makes me! :D
      I am also delighted that you see what a sweet heart Hilma has. :)

      Delete
  2. Becca McCallumMarch 11, 2015 at 5:19 AM

    Aw, I really like Hilma! (although she'd probably shout at me and slam the door in my face...) I can relate to the 'needing to be reassured that she's done a good job' - and I can just imagine her pounding away at her herbs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Esther Brooksmith (wisdomcreates)March 11, 2015 at 3:26 PM

      Haha! You're right, Becca! I doubt Hilma would get along with you right away -- though it certainly wouldn't be your fault. She doesn't make new friends quickly. ;)
      Yes, I like Hilma, too, with all her faults. I'm so glad you have met her now. :D

      I always love it when you comment. :)

      Delete
  3. Aimee MeesterMarch 20, 2015 at 11:49 AM

    I love this! She seems really, really fun - I'd totally read about and love a character like that.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbye and God Be With You

It's rather fitting that some things come to a close on this day -- the last day of the year. I submitted my last entry into the Rooglewood contest this morning.  I can hardly believe it took me until the day of the deadline to send it in because I'm usually earlier than that.  And, even with the extra time I took, I still felt a little bit like maybe I could have done better if I had more time. But there was no feeling of regret when I hit "send."  Mostly it was just a prayer that Rooglewood would hear the heart of the message when they read it and that maybe, if I win, they could help me bring the full potential out of my little story.  And there was also a feeling, after working on these stories for more than six months, that it felt good to close that chapter and move on to the next one. I did it.  I wrote them.  And I'm really proud of them. Last year, the act of hitting "send" on my contest entry catapulted me into an anticipatory state....
18 comments
Read more

Rooglewood Countdown: 12 days

     For the next 12 1/2 days, as we do our final countdown until March 31st, I'm going to do 4 posts asking about something you would like to see in the Snow White collection.      There are so many ways all of us, writers and readers alike, can win in this contest.  Maybe a familiar name makes it into the final five -- hurray!  Maybe a story in your favorite genre ended up in the collection this year -- woohoo!  Maybe you finally get to read a winning story about an evil king and his Snow White son -- how awesome!      So, in celebration of all the many things we can root for, I want to know some of the things that you think would be cool to find in this year's set of winners.      Without further ado, here is my question for the day: What is a point of view you would like to see in this collection?  Would you like a story written from the prince's perspective?  A story from Snow White's p...
9 comments
Read more

Wherein I Still Have My Nose and Ears

     I decided to take the plunge.  I was going to chop a plot thread out of AAM so the story would fit in the contest word length restrictions.  I saved my old version and set up a copy for me to modify.      Stories are like woven cloth.  Each plot thread is woven into the entire story.  So if I decide to cut a character or a side-theme, I have to go through the whole book, chopping out the references to it.  This leaves gaping holes and sometimes it looks like the whole story is going to unravel.  Everywhere I chop, I have to readjust the whole scene to keep the flow.  It's a rather ticklish procedure.      Over the dinner table, I mentioned that I was chopping a sub-plot.  My younger sister protested loudly (she hasn't read it, but I previously told her the general idea).  Then my mom (who also hasn't read it) offered to read it and tell me what she thought could and couldn't be chopped. ...
7 comments
Read more