By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest?

Youngest character is baby Matthew. He’s the half-brother of a main character, and he cries a lot. He’s only a few weeks old. Oldest character? That would be Mama Lee. She’s been recycled through a few WIPs, but she’s an old Southern black woman whose voice sounds like music when she talks.

How about “youngest” and “oldest” in terms of when you created them?

Now we’re digging. Going WAY back! The first book I tried to write without using “real” people (meaning–someone I knew, or a celebrity) had a character named Sydney. She was a pretty mixed girl with long curly hair and light skin and green eyes. She didn’t think she was pretty. I created her back in about 1995 or 1996 and I only used her in one WIP. The youngest character I created in terms of when I created her… I can’t even remember her name right now. Let’s call her “Jade.” Seeing as she’s very new, I don’t know a whole lot about her, except that she HATES cooking. Hates. It. She’s also the first fully black main character I’ve created. I’m looking forward to getting to know her. And I’m really digging the name Jade, so that may stick. 🙂