May 2024’s newsletter: Characters’ Mood Board for “Together Against the Storm.”
Hello, friend!
You know what I really like making?
Mood boards!
There’s something satisfying about finding the right format, hunting down the perfect photos, and matching colors to bring everything together.
I’ve shared some of my novel’s mood boards with you before. (You can find them here if you want to check them out again. Yes, they’re under the old title.) This time, I’ve got a collection of character mood boards for you!
I hope you enjoy!
Let’s start with one of our two main characters. Karoku Chapman is an excitable boy who dreams of leaving his small village and going on grand adventures. He’s ready to chase the sun.
Karoku’s mood board features his village, the open road, and his mother’s wagon caravan. Thanks to all the nature pics, his color scheme ended up full of greens and browns. I also associate him with purple thanks to his connection to Nanti– (you’ll meet her later)– so I threw that in with his name.
Yes, the book, bug, and berry tokens have meaning too, but I don’t want to give away spoilers!
What’s with the two birds? Well, “Together Against the Storm” was inspired by Regina Spektor’s song “Two Birds on a Wire.” So I included the song’s logo for both Karoku’s and Julian’s mood boards.
Speaking of Julian…
Our other main character, and Karoku’s best friend. Julian Plowman is quiet and shy. Although he lives on a farm outside of Rittaun with his parents and siblings, he loves the village. There’s nothing he wants more than to spend the rest of his life there with Karoku.
Julian’s mood board highlights his connections to his loved ones. His siblings and family, the farm, and of course, holding hands with Karoku. Julian’s colors are white and pale blue. Why does he have an amulet and a straw doll? You’ll just have to wait and see!
Nanti is an enchantment wizard who passes through Rittaun on her way from an archaeological dig site. Her mood board is full of magic: wands and cards and ancient parchments from weathered spell books. And, of course, purple, like the purple traveling robes she always wears. Nanti’s mood board is the only one with evenly spaced, equal sized squares. The format reflects her ordered life style. Everything in its place.
Kana Fujino gets our final mood board of the day. Kana’s a young performer in a traveling circus– an acrobat and juggler, to be precise. Her mood board is bright and bold with lots of reds and golds to reflect the dazzling spectacle of the circus. You might have noticed that Karoku’s mood board has juggling balls too. Looks like he’ll win over Kana’s friendship, somehow!
And that’s what I’ve got for you today. I picked these 4 characters for their importance to the story and how well I could put their boards together. However, I can see myself making more if that’s something you’re interested in. Let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading!
-S. Labrecque