Em-nat asked Sarah Ash:

Of all the characters you've created, who is your favorite? Who was the most fun to write vs Who did you love for their personality?

Sarah Ash (Ah, Em-nat, I see what you’ve done there – that’s three questions! (^_~) But all of them good ones...)

The truth is (this is not a cop-out, honest!) that I find it very hard to pick out one favorite above all the others (just like a mother with many children, or a teacher with a class of thirty-five to look after.) It also depends which novel I’m working on, because at the time those people shout the loudest for attention.

The Character(s) the Most Fun to Write - The Artamon Series
Lilias Arbelian – adventuress and unscrupulous social climber. Lilias has used her looks and (twisted) personality to become the mistress of the ruler of Azhkendir, Lord Volkh. She’s even convinced him that the child she is carrying is his – when the real father is someone who bears him a terrible grudge. Lilias’s self-serving machinations and her indomitable will to survive make her a joy to write. It’s impossible not to feel a certain admiration for her – but her increasingly outrageous behavior (and seeming lack of maternal feelings) never cease to astonish and perplex. Will she ever get her just deserts? (She hopes she will, of course, in terms of money and status...)

The Character Loved for Their Personality - The Artamon Series
Prince Eugene of Tielen – and would-be emperor – has an insatiable zest for life. A campaigning soldier at heart, he also has a genuine desire to bring the benefits of enlightenment and education to the countries he invades. He is eager to use the latest advances in scientific weaponry to boost his ambitions but is not averse to using the alchymical skills of his chief Ingenieur, Magus Kaspar Linnaius. Having lost his wife in childbirth, he cherishes his young disabled daughter Karila – but on the field of battle, he is a ruthless and skilled strategist, determined to restore the ancient empire of Artamon.

More will follow at a later date...

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