Hello there, everyone! My name is Alaina Johnson, and I’m a (rather disorganized 🤭) writer of mainly sci-fi, fantasy, and retellings, though I dabble in a ton of others. 🙂 I reside in the (currently) frigidly cold and white state of North Dakota and love art, reading, movies, and cookies, among other things. 😁 (And writing, but that’s a tad obvious. 😜)
I have completed only one full book, which is co-written with my wonderful friend, (who also happens to be the person interviewing me here 😇): Whispers of Power.
I’ve also never been interviewed before, so this is a bit of new experience for me. 😆 Onward!!
Introduce your character to me—who is she and what story is she from?
*drags Farren over to the stage, ignoring her glare*
Ahem.
Farren is a thirteen-year-old half sea/half wood elf from Whispers of Power, the aforementioned co-written story Lucy and I wrote/are working on (we’re currently finished with the second draft and beginning book 2). She is one of the two main protagonists in the book and has a mysterious early past.
Oh, and she also doesn’t appreciate being the center of attention.*clears throat* (Don’t give me that look. You agreed to this!)
Yep. She has a tendency to sigh and cross her arms often, as well. 😇
Give a synopsis of her past.
Farren’s life as a very young child is a shadow that constantly looms over her, one that even she doesn’t remember or understand. She’s lived in the town of Riverwood for as long as she can remember, but had lived in the city of Trestingheights before until her parents died when she was a toddler.
She doesn’t recall anything about her biological parents, and she’s only heard the story of how they died from her foster parents. Nightmares of things she doesn’t understand haunt her constantly, and vague images of her past taunt her. Firly and Calon, her foster parents, abandoned her at age 6, and after looking for them–or anyone who would help her–she was left alone to live in the woods. All of this is, she knows, because of the mark on her hand. She doesn’t know how or why she has it, but eventually, terrifying clues are revealed.
What gave you inspiration for her?
Well… hm. *studies her contemplatively* This is kind of a difficult one to answer because I started to come up with her character over two years ago… I remember wanting a character named Farren and having the name in my head for a while before that, although I thought the name would belong to a different sort of character. But as we (Lucy and I) began to figure out a little more of what she was like, I decided to give her that name. I’d also started forming a vague idea of an elf with bow-and-arrows and white-blonde hair. 😉 And, hey, it worked out well!
So, I guess her name was kind of the original inspiration!
I feel like that’s kind of an unconventional answer 😆, but there wasn’t one specific thing that made me think, “Oh! Farren!”
Sometimes she sat perched on her favorite rock by the ocean for hours at a time, flicking pebbles into the turquoise water and thinking deeply about the past. She didn’t remember much about her early years, which bothered her.
Of course, she knew almost every child hardly remembered anything about when they were young, but… there was something there. Something that she couldn’t quite grasp. She only remembered tall trees, a soothing female voice, and a smudge of silver.
How has her past shaped what she is now? What is that personality?
Her foster parents’ abandonment left a gaping wound in her heart that only deepened when nobody stepped forward to take her under their wing. Because of this, Farren has a deep loneliness and pain locked inside her, and she is afraid of anyone hurting her again. So she tends to be distant and secretive.
As much as she longed for a friend—someone who would understand her—she shied away from everyone, afraid of what they might think. However, when she meets Finnly, the other protagonist of the story, she begins to open up in a way she never has for anyone else.
The only thing she really knows how to do well is surviving on her own, so she is very independent and unwilling to ask for help. She also tends to be… erm… unsentimental and blunt, and– (Hey, what? It’s true!)–a bit sarcastic. She can also be kind of… *glances at her* pushy sometimes. Which often annoys Finnly. 😅 Under the surface, though, she is much more sensitive and caring than she seems. And after knowing Finnly for a little while, Farren is protective of her and does what she can to help.
Give a few examples of how she needs to/will grow throughout the story. (Without spoilers 😜)
Without spoilers, hm… well… she will need to grow in trust and her understanding of other people. And… well, sometimes basic manners/conversation. 😆
Finnly turned away and was about to stand up when Farren held out a hand.
“Wait!”
Finnly glanced back.
Farren winced. Why did I do that? Why didn’t I let her just leave? “Um…”
Finnly turned away again and grabbed her backpack, pulling it over her shoulders.
Farren was tempted to just let her go this time.
Finnly stood up slowly, bracing herself against the tree beside her. She took a step.
“My name’s Farren.”
No matter how much she tried to smother it, to erase it from her memories… it was always there. Glaring at her like spilled ink on a fresh page.
What is her greatest struggle or fear?
Farren’s greatest struggles are trust and loneliness.
Since everyone in her past life–even the ones who were supposed to protect her–left her, Farren is afraid to trust anyone. Even though she may hide it, Farren is very observant and wary of everyone she meets and wonders if they will leave her, too.
She has always felt like an outcast, and she longs for a place to finally belong. But her fear that she will never belong anywhere leaves her feeling unwanted and alone.
The mark is the source of her greatest fear, and the unknown, shadowed mystery behind it makes her more afraid than anything.
And… she may or may not be afraid of heights. 😇
What is she most afraid of losing?
She’s afraid of losing the friends she has made and whatever trust she has established with them.
And there was the mark.
The glaring, black symbol stood out from her fair skin, easy to catch anyone’s attention. Everyone was scared of it. Even Farren herself.
As they stared at her, she stared at her gloved hand. Farren had gotten so many stares from the townspeople directed towards her hand over the years that she just decided to wear gloves and alleviate some of the unnerving glances. It didn’t seem to completely work. They kept staring. She couldn’t make it go away.
Character Appearance:
Hair: Her long, often half-braided white-blonde hair is wavy and perpetually messy.
Eyes: She has wide, sparkling ice blue eyes that are always described as having a light in them.
Height: Farren is tall for her age. (As for how tall exactly… um… well, these elf heights are different. As in, taller than average humans. I think. So we’re not talking Christmas Elf. 😉)
Other: She is very slender and has fair skin, though it has been tanned somewhat by her almost constant life in the outdoors. Throughout most of the story, she wears a worn forest green tunic, a belt, tall brown boots, light pants, arm braces, and a bow and quiver over her shoulder.
The permanent, inky black mark twisting across her right hand is an indescribable shape, and it is concealed by her light brown leather gloves.
It felt as if she’d never belong anywhere.
Nothing could be more awful than that.
Tears streamed down her face and pooled in front of her eyes, obscuring her vision.
But through them, a spark still shone in her eyes. A spark of hope. A spark that said nobody could snuff it out.
She wouldn’t let anybody snuff it out.
Thank you so much for having Farren and me, Lucy!! I – we 😉– really enjoyed it! 😄
Lulu’s Library 
One response to “Library of Characters: Alaina Johnson”
We need more elves as protagonists😂
I loved reading about her! I hope she finds out what happened to her foster family.
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