Cleverly, she convinces a reserved schoolmate that she has a wonderful mental-magical power that will take her, and selected friends, to a land where she can fulfil her destiny. Her method of choosing her courtiers is simple; she examines the names of her fellow students for clues to their suitability. Her own name, as she explains to quiet Rosanna, is a clear clue to her superiority. Her first name, Sari, is a form of Sara or Sarah, meaning Princess. Her surname, Roberts, is made up of the elements fame and bright. Thus her real name, her true name, is clearly Princess Fame-Bright. Sari manipulates Rosanna into supporting her as she works the mental magic to translate them, and three other chosen ones, to the world of Celadon. She conceals her true power from Rosanna and the others. She does have one, but it isn't what she pretends. Her true power lies in harnessing the talents of others.
Once in the land of Celadon, described by Sari but realised by Rosanna, Sari is delighted to find herself truly a princess; an older, more beautiful fantasy version of her everyday self. Her chosen companions are similarly changed in form, especially Rosanna, who has become a dun mare. This seems appropriate to Sari, since Rosanna's name translates to horse.
The only disappointment is that the world of Celadon seems empty of the admiring subjects she expected. With her usual determination, Sari sets off with her entourage for the capital city of Cerulean, dreaming of power and adulation. Unfortunately for Sari, she finds Cerulean deserted and destroyed, and every time she tries to recapture her goals they seem to recede. She blames Rosanna, but getting the dun mare to attend to her tirades is difficult and getting things to realign with her desires seems impossible. Her game-playing comes to a head when she pits the two young men of the party against one another, making them fight for her favour. Things can only get worse as her lust for power and manipulation grows. Having gone too far to retreat, Sari comes to a bad end, and her fate is entirely down to her behaviour. She is an amoral sociopath. She understands very well what makes people tick, but with such a huge ego there isn't any room for empathy.
Sari Roberts is one of only a few thoroughly bad characters I have ever created. She doesn't rejoice in being evil, and from her point of view she is merely getting what she believes she is owed. She's motivated by her sense of entitlement and her fate is probably one of the most appropriate I've ever dealt out. Not sure what that says about MY personality!
ABOUT THE BLOG
Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)
The goal for 2017 was to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. 2017 is now behind us, but I ran out of year before running out of books. As of February 18th 2018 I STILL haven't run out of books, but many of those still to come are MIA by which I mean I don't have copies and remember little about them. There are more new books to come, and I'll certainly showcase those, but in between times, I'm profiling some of my characters, just for a change. Thank you so much to everyone who's come along on this journey so far!
Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)
The goal for 2017 was to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. 2017 is now behind us, but I ran out of year before running out of books. As of February 18th 2018 I STILL haven't run out of books, but many of those still to come are MIA by which I mean I don't have copies and remember little about them. There are more new books to come, and I'll certainly showcase those, but in between times, I'm profiling some of my characters, just for a change. Thank you so much to everyone who's come along on this journey so far!
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