Shaye happens to be one of my favorite characters in Rise of the Winged Assassin, and what’s funny is, he was never meant to be. It’s kind of like Daryl on The Walking Dead. He was never in the comic book, but he’s so loved that if they kill him off, the show will take a serious hit on viewership. Ironic isn’t it?
When a character does this, you always have to be careful not to let them run away with you and take you down a road in the wrong direction. At the same time, you should go with it a little while to see what their intentions are. Shaye showed up very early in the book when Lorelei was being take away for battle training for war. I originally needed three warriors to take her away, and other than the interaction between Lorelei and her mother, the warriors were meant to be very flat and just move the plot. But he had other ideas. So I sat back and watched the show as he spoke through my fingers.
He’s very dashing with his red hair, green eyes, nice muscular build that you’d expect to find on a warrior who wields a katana, and oddly enough, a gentle demeanor. At least in this scene. As her mother Sara interacts with Shaye, Lorelei figures out that they must have known each other from somewhere, and they knew each other well if you know what I mean. Oh really? Interesting….so I continued to write.
Together, Shaye and Lorelei fly to the training grounds, and here she finds out that he fought together with her mother in the war before Lorelei was born. The plot thickens. But he doesn’t come back until later in the book where he stands in for a missing leader. I won’t tell you why this leader went missing. He shocks me a little, because even though he should turn Lorelei in, he doesn’t. Why would he do that? Those who have read it know that he reallyshould have. So I looked back through the book and noticed some hints that I should have picked up. What? Why didn’t I know this already you ask? Sometimes writers don’t know everything, even though they are writing it.
When I asked him, he told me, and I smacked my forehead in surprise. Of course! I should have known! I can’t tell you, it would ruin the surprise, but I can say that he plays a big role in the next book, and if you don’t figure out his secret through the hints in this one, then you will find out in the next book.
With all of my characters I form a vision of what they look like in my mind, and sometimes I’m fortunate enough to leaf through some magazines, or on the internet, and find someone who looks like them. With this book I can’t find characters with wings so I improvise. Sometimes I can’t find a likeness at all, and sometimes I have to take what’s close enough. I use the pictures to help when writing character introduction scenes, emotional scenes and for inspiration.
This picture of Shaye, represented by Kevin McKidd, is perfect. Now picture him with white wings wearing some leather armor and holding a katana. Is it getting hot in here?
