By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about “youngest” and “oldest” in terms of when you created them?

Oldest by age, Geoffrey, my sadly neglected character. He’s immortal and has been around for a very long time. The official age is “older than dirt.” I like writing him. He’s seen the world, but just wants to be a normal guy. As normal as he can be. Plus it gives me an excuse to use the historical information I’ve found out through my life. He’s hung around with the Levites, the Romans, the Celts…great fun.

Youngest by age, I think is Beatrice, who makes her first appearance as a toddler. She’s the daughter of another character. The story she’s in now, she’s about six or seven. She’s boisterous, sweet, kind of adorable (if I do say so myself).

The character I’ve been writing the longest is Geoffrey. I created him in seventh grade, and I’ve been writing him ever since. Alas, he never gets a story of his own, poor guy. Mostly just short scenes that want to be part of a larger work.

The character I’ve been writing for the shortest period of time is a guy named Simon Drake. He’s got a fun history, and he’s got a lot of potential. But, like Geoff, he’s got a case of ‘good character sans plot’.