The Motherly Writer's Award

Hallo - I am doing something new today, and starting my own tag. :) With my own cute picture, too.

There. Now that's a tag picture (cough cough a mediocre one cough). And the picture gives away the name of the tag - The Motherly Writer's Award. The rules are such:

• Thank the person who tagged you and link to Belle's original post
• Take the picture
• Answer the motherly writer questions (which I will put in this post)
• Tag at least three bloggers at the end

However, while nobody tagged me (as I'm the one starting this), I do have to thank two people for this tag. Kate, for making her Evil Writer's Award, which inspired my complimentary one, and then Catherine, for supporting the idea (and for being such a motherly writer herself). That being said, I'll continue with the questions. I will answer them myself, just to get things started off, but anyone who doesn't want to read my answers can skip to the bottom of the post where I'll tag some people and list the questions by themselves.

How motherly are you to your characters? What sort of a mother? Strict but attentive? Spoiling and soft? Tender but cautious? Or perhaps you are one of those writer mothers who is not so motherly?
I am a spoiling mother. And one who takes favorites, often. :P So... not a great one, but a very attentive and loving one (so long as I'm not in a certain mood, of course, in which I kill off characters). :P My ink-and-paper people keep me company throughout all the day - never a moment's rest, never a desire for one. But, so long as I'm not busy inflicting misfortunes on my characters, I am very motherly to them ("You don't have a girl yet?!" "Oh, that injury!" "How would you like to have another new friend?"). ;)

Do you fret about your characters' fates? Their dates? Whether or not they get kids of their own?
Yes. This is perhaps the thing I fret about most over my poor characters - he needs a girl, she needs a guy but doesn't fit him, why have these two been married so long and still don't have kids? - I think I'm a bit obsessed perhaps. :P Although, in my defense, when they choose their own dates it usually ends badly (think of Celeise and Lothaire!)... except in a couple remote cases. And I think I still only have one married couple (that aren't parents of a main character) that are parents at all in their story.
Are you sad when your characters are hurt? How sad on a level from one to ten are you when one of your characters in injured physically or emotionally? Spiritually? What about if they die?
Um... emotional character injuries, I get so sad that I'll sit in my room crying just after reading that one kinda sad scene that I've already read a bajillion times and wrote like months ago. So maybe a nine on that :P Spiritually, it actually kind-of satisfies me, because usually I intent conversion for them eventually (in the cases where there is no conversion, though, such as the villains, it does make me a tad bit sad). So maybe about a two. Physically, I go through an unusual process of first enjoying it and then being sad (and then really enjoying it again when my readers yell at me for getting their favorite character in the hospital). ;) I would say about a seven, though, when I'm in the thick of it. As for deaths... every time one of my characters dies I go through a complex multi-staged path of grief usually ending with easily awoken sobs. Definitely a nine. So, in short, yes, I am generally sad when something happens to my babies (even if it's caused by me)...
Are you aggressive or do you retaliate when someone insults or doesn't like your characters/book? To what extent?
Mmmm, actually not really. Unless it's one of my pet characters. Then I get mad. On the inside. Outside I just kind-of laughingly try to assess exactly why they don't like the character, and then pass their opinion off as just a silly reader (providing it's one of my pets). If it's not a pet character, oftentimes I will agree with them.

Which of your characters do you "baby" the most?
Probably either Percy from Alomina (he was one of my first babies, after all!) or Harry from The Top-Hat Gang (another one of my first babies). Although I would like to say I baby Blakely from Alagna, I must say that actually I leave him on his own a lot, unfortunately.
Which one of your characters do you let fend for themselves the most?
Probably Owain from The Second Brother. I really have very little sympathy for him due to his constant complaining, and so even when in his head, not a single sympathy expressed for his situation is me talking. I mean, I have less sympathy for Feotheire from the same book (because, unlike Owain, he's not in the right place) in the realm of being on his side, but I have more actual feelings for him because - in the wrong or not - he definitely doesn't complain as much as Owain does, and he's more likeable, even for his rudeness and rashness. :P
Do you tend to cling more to your older children and stories, or your youngest ones?
Definitely the older ones. I am soooo much less willing to let Alomina or Alagna be finished than say, The Second Brother, or my newest story. Same with the characters. I like Mina and Alagna both better than Owain or Feotheire.

Do your characters have any habits or styles that you disapprove of?
Yes. For instance, Owain complains too much (as I've complained of in a very Owain-like manner...). :P And Leta (of In Greater Hands) is a worry-wart. And frankly Jerry's (of The Top-Hat Gang) habit of irritating people on purpose for fun is just annoying (no pun intended). And obviously I don't approve of most of my villains' actions, of course.
Which of your characters are you most proud of?
Hmmm. Blakely, I think. He's such a man, and fiction needs real men (that aren't just macho braggarts). He grows so through the story, it's enough to make a mother proud. :')
How many of your main characters have actual mothers?
*shamefaced silent moment* Not many. All of my non-medieval people do, though, except a couple from In Greater Hands. However, not many of my medieval people do... In fact, I think just Blakely, Felicia and Alexander (from Alagna), and Selina (from my newest story) out of all my maim medieval people have shown mothers. :P
How many of your main characters are mothers?
Just one, if you only count ones who are actually mothers in the story. That one would be Felicia from Alagna - sorry about the spoilers - though you don't know it at first. She enters the story a mother, and it is revealed later. As for ones that may be mothers after the last page, that is entirely uncountable...

Have you ever had pressure to kill off a character? Have you ever downright refused?
No - in fact, I'm often pressured not to. However, I have refused to kill a character I was urging myself to kill many a time. My reluctance to kill off my babies is the main reason so many of my "dead" characters come back all the time. :P
How many of your characters are children?
Just a handful, really. Ariff II and Orlania from The Pain of a Memory, and then one or two of Freddie's sisters in The Top-Hat Gang. I think that's it. I don't have many children in my stories (unless you count my one Youth Fiction novel that is intended for children).
Are you loath to kill characters? How much so?
Yes. To the point of making them dance with death several times and still come back. :P
Are you biased for your own characters?
Yes, a bit. I like other people's characters better sometimes, but often I stick with my own ink-and-paper people to be safe. ;)
How well do you care for your characters?
Uh... let's just say, sometimes not so well. :P

And do you intend to be more motherly, or less motherly with your characters in the future?
I think the same or less so - I mean, if I have this much trouble killing off a character (and I do it all the time!), then I just should cool down a bit perhaps.
Anyways, that wraps up the questions. To get the ball rolling, I will tag not three but six motherly writers with blogs. They are as follows:

• Lucy Agnes
• Catherine Hawthorn
• Hope
• Anna Robichaud
• Kate
• Blue
• Anyone else who feels like doing it

 And hopefully that's enough motherly writers to start things up. :) Here are the questions:

1. How motherly are you to your characters? What sort of a mother? Strict but attentive? Spoiling and soft? Tender but cautious? Or perhaps you are one of those writer mothers who is not so motherly?
2. Do you fret about your characters' fates? Their dates? Whether or not they get kids of their own?
3. Are you sad when your characters are hurt? How sad on a level from one to ten are you when one of your characters in injured physically or emotionally? Spiritually? What about if they die?
4. Are you aggressive or do you retaliate when someone insults or doesn't like your characters/book? To what extent?
5. Which of your characters do you "baby" the most?
6. Which one of your characters do you let fend for themselves the most?
7. Do you tend to cling more to your older children and stories, or your youngest ones?
8. Do your characters have any habits or styles that you disapprove of?
9. Which of your characters are you most proud of?
10. How many of your main characters have actual mothers?
11. How many of your main characters are mothers?
12. Have you ever had pressure to kill off a character? Have you ever downright refused?
13. How many of your characters are children?
14. Are you loath to kill characters? How much so?
15. Are you biased for your own characters?
16. How well do you care for your characters?
17. And do you intend to be more motherly, or less motherly with your characters in the future?

That's all for now, folks! What'd you think? Will you pick up the tag? Did you like the questions? Chat with me! :D