Angela Hunt writes lots of books. From contemporary fiction, to biblical and medieval historical, to children’s books and nonfiction, she has her name under over one-hundred titles along with the coveted Christy Award.

 Not only that, but her novel The Note was featured as a Christmas Hallmark Movie in 2007 (and a lovely movie too, I might add). Having personally heard her present at The Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, I can also add that she’s a fabulous presenter and encouragement to aspiring writers.

She’s also given the most interesting favorite character answer so far.

1. 1.    Who is your favorite heroine & hero you’ve ever written and why?

My favorite heroine–indeed, my favorite character in over 100 books–is Sema, the lowland gorilla featured in UNSPOKEN.   She will forever live in my memory as a flesh-and-blood character. 

1. 2.    What is the ‘behind the scenes story’ for the creation of that hero & heroine? 

The “behind the scenes” story of her creation is simple.  I’d seen several TV specials on Koko, the real gorilla who lives in California and speaks sign language with her trainer, Penny.  After studying Koko quite extensively (I tried to go visit her, but Dr. Patterson never answered my letters), I created Sema and enabled her to do everything that Koko does.  Readers have accused me of making Sema too human-like, but everything she does is based on something Koko does or has done.  They really are amazing creatures.

 To read a review of Unspoken, click here: http://www.faithfulreader.com/reviews/0849944821.asp

Character Creation Tip of the Day:

A Touch of Reality – Every character you create must have enough humanness to make him/her believable. Without that reality, readers lose the ability to relate to the characters. Even Aslan from Chronicles of Narnia has a humanness, a compassion and strength, which helps the readers connect with him…even though he’s a lion.

Why do kids love movies with talking animals…or race cars? Because the characters, no matter their…er…makeup, have qualities, problems, humor, needs that the kids (and adults) can relate to, so we keep watching.

Tomorrow?

Thriller novelist, Scott Pratt, joins us to introduce his newest book and give us a hint into his favorite characters. Stop by to find out more.