Leah is the nearly thirteen-year-old protagonist of my second middle-grade novel, The Second Cellar. She's precocious, theatrical, and angry at her father for abandoning her for the summer to the care of an aunt whom she doesn't even know. Just when she resigns herself to three months of pure boredom--with nothing better to do than to poke around in the attic and cellar of her aunt's antebellum Federal-style house, she discovers a hidden room, a second cellar that conceals many secrets. She also learns that her aunt has some secrets of her own.
The Second Cellar is a work in progress. I am resolved to have the rough draft finished by my birthday in June, as a little gift to myself. If I can push through and complete it before that, all the better.
Part of my prewriting work is to search for images that convey my characters to my satisfaction, and this girl does that. I had another picture selected until I saw this redhead. I've always known that Leah Bright had auburn hair. The hard part was finding the perfect face to go with the hair, a face that showed Leah's spunk, intelligence, and courage. Today that search ended.
she's lovely and vibrant--just like i pictured her! Very nice!
ReplyDeleteKathleen,
ReplyDeleteThank you! She fairly jumped off the page when I saw her. Earlier, I had chosen another "Leah," but I wasn't quite satisfied. This one is Leah. :-)