So far, this young lady is as close as I’ve come to finding someone who embodies what I imagine Paz to be. In the picture, the young lady appears to be much more confident and happy than we find Paz early on, but her features are otherwise close to the way Paz would look.

Paz Kirkegaard is the 19-year-old central protagonist of the first three books in the Age of Restoration series.

Let me share with you what I had in mind when I began developing her character, and some of the traits I wanted her to have from the outset.

First off, I wanted Paz to be the type of young woman her parents could be proud of. The kind of daughter I would want to have. As I experience more in life, the quality of the individual, the decisions they make and how they go about making them, becomes more and more key. Looks, talent, intelligence, fame and fortune are all secondary, and rather worthless, if one is not grounded in what truly matters.

That said, that doesn’t mean Paz is aware of the kind of person she is. In this day and age, it’s hard not to be influenced by peers, society, media, etc. The kind of person portrayed on television, the movies, even in books, can seem glamorous and exciting, but really, it’s the associations with family and friends, and looking out for one another, which help make life worth living. True happiness is found in loyalty and fidelity to others, while loving and serving them.

So, I wanted Paz to be somewhat sheltered, but aware of those things she was “missing out on.” I wanted her to be a little older than most YA female protagonists—out of her teens and away from the social stress of high school, but not yet independent and on her own. So, instead of taking off right away to the big university, she’s attending community college and living at home, and in that limbo area between dependence and independence.

I wanted her to be unaware of the real impressions she leaves on others. She’s not drop dead gorgeous, but she is far from homely or unattractive. She doesn’t have the height or body of a model, but she’s certainly not obese or a stick.

To avoid her falling into the average and boring category, I decided to give her the same heritage mixture my sons enjoy. A lineage that prominently includes Danish, from her father, and Mexican, from her mother. As such, she doesn’t really identify with her European heritage, or her Latin side, since she’s a combination of the two. She was born and raised in the U.S., and so that’s the lifestyle and culture she knows.

Then, I decided to take her out of her element, give her a taste of what she thinks she wants. She laments that the only way she stands out is in how unremarkable she is. So, she gets some physical changes, and some gifts or abilities manifest. They become a part of the ongoing test of her will and resiliency, along with all of the extraordinary things going on around her, and because of her. She soon wishes for her former life of anonymity.

By then, though, it’s too late to go back. She’s not the young woman she once was, in reality or by her own perception. Like it or not, she is already on the path to realizing her true potential.

In addition to traits I wanted Paz to have, I wanted to avoid her having others. While human, I didn’t want her to be overtly rebellious or wild. There are plenty of characters like that. I wanted her to be surrounded by family who loves her and cares for her, and who are there for her as much as is possible. And I wanted her responding to that. She does take it for granted, but that’s only so she can learn to appreciate it all later on.

And so, in a nutshell, that’s Paz.