So, Why Thor?

(Two days til release! Aaaaaahhhhhh ::arm flail::)

(Also, my post on using Bible mythology is up over at Paranormal Unbound.)

I admit I still have the Avengers on the brain a little, plus I’m finally going to get to see Thor 2 tomorrow, but people sometimes ask me why, when most of the characters in Shards are from Bible mythology, did I decide to include the God of Thunder as well? And why him, out of all the polytheistic pantheons out there?

The answer is a little silly, honestly. A few months before I started working on the first draft of Shards, I was at work, and that employer insisted on everyone wearing security badges. The badge had your picture on it, your preferred first name in large letters (so mine said “Kit”), and then your full name underneath it in smaller letters. I was on my way back from the cafeteria, and I passed this huge guy coming out of the gate around my building. He towered over me by a good four inches, and I’m over six feet myself, and I tend to take note when people are taller than me. But it got even better. I glanced at his badge as we passed each other, and it said “Thor” in giant letters.

Between his appearance and his name, I was charmed. I made a mental note to stick him in a story somewhere. (This was before the Marvel movies, back in 2008.)

So, when I was writing Shards and needed a non-Biblical character to throw in, I remembered Thor-from-work and made my decision based off of that. It helps that the way I structured the world-building makes Thor and my male main character Michael fairly similar in personality and talents.

The rest, as they say, is history.

(My apologies for this post being so late. Both the mashed potatoes and the brazen commercialism derailed my productivity attempts yesterday.)

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ThorLove Blog Hop–Everyone’s Favorite Norse God

You know, I didn’t even think about it when I decided to post about this today, but then someone on Twitter said, “Put the Thor back in Thursday.” So hoorah for good timing and all that.

For the next week or so there’s going to be a lot of Thor and Amalia Dillin as the second book of her Fate of the Gods trilogy, Fate Forgotten, was just released on Tuesday. If you’re not partial to Norse or Biblical mythology, well, first of all, I’m not why you’re following my blog, but you may want to take a break. Come back next Thursday.

First of all, let’s just talk about Thor–the mythological Thor–and why, to this day he seems to be everyone’s favorite Norse god. (I realize, of course, that some people probably like Loki the best, no doubt helped by Tom Hiddleston’s portrayal, but let’s ignore that for the time being.) Part of it may be because his name is easy to pronounce. (Seriously, have you looked at the spelling for some of the other Norse gods? I have no idea what to do with some of those letters.)

But I think what makes Thor so appealing to the masses is that he’s easy to identify with. As far as godly portrayals go, he’s pretty versatile. Sometimes he’s a hero, sometimes he makes mistakes. He’s both a lover and a fighter. He doesn’t get pigeon-holed into a stereotype like you find with some other pantheons (like the Greeks).

Plus, you know, thunder and lightning and giant hammers.

You guys already know that I like Thor–I posted a few months back about his role in Shards. Thor’s the only non-Biblical mythology person who’s physically present in the book (others–Athena, Brigid, Osiris–are just mentioned), so that probably says something.

I am biased toward my own Thor, of course, but my next favorite Thor is definitely the Chris Hemsworth version. And I’m not just saying that because the movies are really pretty. (And so is he.) I admittedly have never read the comic books, so I don’t know how accurate the movies are re: the comic books, nor how accurate the comic books are re: the mythology. I just…I don’t know. I think the casting for the movies is amazing.

How about you, Squiders? Does the God of Thunder tickle your fancy? (Or do you prefer some other flavor of Norse deity?) What’s your favorite Thor? And, be honest, how excited are you to see (or have seen, if you live in a country where the movie is already out) Thor 2?

Dealing with Side Characters

You know, Squiders, main characters are bad enough. They don’t do what you want them to do, or they forget the plot in a moment of passion, or you turn your back for a moment and they’ve decided being a bad guy sounds like a pretty good gig. But at least you know they’re important. When a scene goes the wrong way, at least they’re still in the center of it.

Side characters, however, are tougher. They walk a fine line between being important and being in the background. These are your sidekicks, your lackey bad guys, your friends and relations. They’re important to the characters somehow. They contribute to the plot…somehow. But they can’t do too much, or they become main characters. And they can’t do too little, or your reader wonders why they’re there.

It’s a hard line to tread. Each story, each plot, has different character needs. And very few novels can get away with no side characters at all. People, unfortunately, do not exist in a vacuum. And each side character provides their own issues. It might be your character’s mother, whom they obsess about constantly, but, in the end, provides little of use to either plot or characterization. It might be your character’s best friend, who is always around, providing witty banter, but isn’t there when your character needs her most so your reader wonders why you bothered to build her up so much. It might be the professor your character fights with the whole first half of the novel, only to disappear for the second half.

Unfortunately, there’s only one thing to do. You look at a side character, decide what they need to contribute to the plot, and then you either build them up so they fit their goal, or you dial them back (or, sometimes, get rid of them completely).

I’m having to do this right now. I’ve got a side character named Thor (yes, that Thor) that at the moment, sits on the cusp. I’m not quite sure which way he’s going to have to go to fit the story.

(Hopefully I will by the end of the day, though.)

Anything you’ve found helps with side characters, Squiders? Any you’re having issues with at the moment?