LeeLee and Malachite Grene

LeeLee and Malchite Grene  Character Post 61

Malachite "Mal" Grene was born to Peter and Gentian Grene in around 1966/67. Peter is fairly laid-back (for a pixie) and Gentian is an apothecary/herbalist and a notable cook, so Mal had a comfortable childhood. He was born over there in the fay homeland, but since childhood he was brought over here to the human realm quite often enough to give him a human identity. As a small child, he often played, squabbled and laughed with Leilana "LeeLee" Peckerdale, a distant cousin, youngest child of Peter and Pia Peckerdale. The families were good friends and eventually went into business together. LeeLee was a beautiful child with black hair and green eyes and an affectionate nature. Her elder brothers often minded Mal as well as their sister. Mal was dark haired with hazel eyes. They weren't really alike, but shared volatile tempers being quick to laugh or to yell.

As the two reached their upper teens, both families expected they would become less close as Mal branched out to court pixie misses while LeeLee was courted by other pixie men. Instead, they became more devoted to one another. Mal was forever on tenterhooks lest one of LeeLee's suitors won her over, but eventually he accepted that she loved him best. 

Their transition from surrogate family to a couple was more difficult for their relatives than them. They married as soon as they could, and took over the management of the family B&B. In the first few weeks they had problems being parted and LeeLee's niece, Ryl, refused to travel in a car with either of them. Even a year after their wedding they were still as passionately in love as ever, although they had learned to control it better.

In his early twenties, Mal considered himself well qualified to advise Ryl's betrothed on how to behave as a married man. He also knew enough to keep on the right side of LeeLee's cat.

In 1989 LeeLee gave birth to their first child, Peckerdale Peter Grene. Peck was an intense child like his father, and he spent much of his time "living human" because of his fascination with motors. Mal and LeeLee moved to Peckerdale Grene Community Tower at some point, and there their daughter Promise was born in 1994. Prom was a wild card, reserved and given to wandering. 

When Peck left school, Mal and LeeLee were pleased to have him move into a bachelor apartment in the tower. His desire to "fix" things was getting in the way of their volatile relationship. Now in their fifties, they are still in love, still squabbling and making up, and still loving life. Mal boxes to keep fit. LeeLee presides over Wednesday tea and cake gatherings for the ladies of the tower. According to Chloe, Peck's fiancee, LeeLee owns a pair of green fuzzy handcuffs which she presumably uses on Mal. Peck doesn't even want to think of that. He loves his parents but sometimes feels he is older than they are.

Mal and LeeLee don't see as much of Promise as they'd like, as she's still a bit of a gypsy. They are fond of Chloe and look forward to grandchildren in time. They do love their children dearly, but it must be said the most important thing to them is one another. They hope and expect to live, love, squabble and dance on for many years to come.

Mal and LeeLee appear in The Kissing Ring, and Sam and the Sylvan and Calico Calypso as well as other stories. The couple in the picture aren't quite right (LeeLee has cropped hair and Mal is brown-haired) but the "feel" is right.

ABOUT THE BLOG

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, anthologist and reader. She runs  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! Since April 22nd I'm adding in places!