Meet The Wycherleys by Annaliese Avery

Meet The Wycherleys.

Annaliese Avery

I consider myself to be a very lucky writer when it comes to my characters. Thanks to my writing process – which is quite fluid and open, I often find that my characters appear in my imagination in the same way that a stranger does in real life. I am always amazed by how well rounded and formed they are, all I have to do is ask them a question, or place them in a situation, and I can hear their voice and see their response as if I am watching a play.

When Aurelia Wycherley walked onto the page, I knew that this was her story. Aurelia, like all witches, had stood under the full moon after her seventeenth birthday and received her magic but unlike her fellow witches she had also received something else, her family curse, a curse that had changed the life she was sure she was going to have into one of uncertainty.

Witches only get to keep their magic if they can find another witch to tether it to, without this their magic slowly fades away and, unfortunately for Aurelia, her curse makes any witch who performs magic with her sick. No witch wants to tether their magic to her, especially not Sebastian Crenshaw, Aurelia’s next-door neighbour and the witch that she had planned on tethering her magic and heart too.

As anyone would be after such a huge change in their life, Aurelia is trying to process her new reality, she is grieving the life she will never have, and she is finding out who she is now. When I first started writing Aurelia I could see all of her melancholy and frustration, but she soon showed me something else, her determination – because although Aurelia is cursed she is resolved not to let it control her life or take her magic, she is going to find a way to break her curse, no matter how unlikely that seems.

I had known from the beginning that Aurelia had an older brother and that the two of them had been distant for a while, due to the sadness surrounding them both after losing their father a few years before. In light of Aurelia’s curse and that she would soon be losing her magic I also knew that Vaughn was trying to breech the gap between them.

While Aurelia is keenly aware of her feelings and her attempts to process them, Vaughn is less able to do so, though he is trying to gain emotional intelligence. He is resolved to assist his sister in enjoying what magic she has for as long as she has it.

Sibling relationships are some of the most important that we can have, and seeing my own children support each other, even if they argue along the way was something that I knew Aurelia and Vaughn shared. As an older sibling Vaughn wants to lead the way for Aurelia but ultimately this is uncharted territory for him and that brings moments of fear and growth.

From an older sibling to a younger one, Aurelia’s best friend Constance lept on to the page as she came out of her carriage at the beginning of chapter two. I know that as a writer you probably shouldn’t have favourite characters, but Constance is definitely one of mine. With six older sisters Constance has grown up with the confidence and comfort that she is loved and protected. Sharp witted, curious and bold, she is the most loyal and encouraging friend. Aurelia would be lost without Constance, and the two of them make a fabulous friendship pair.

I love writing Constance, she is feisty and self-assured and ready to step out of her comfort zone for Aurelia, or anyone she loves, at a moments notice. She wears her heart on her sleeve and whenever she was in a scene I found that she filled it. One of the things that I loved while writing, was all of the little things Constance dropped in to conversation about her older sisters, we don’t see them in the book, but we get to know them through Constance. I’d love to spend more time with the Prior sisters.

Every good story needs characters that create conflict and Jules Nightly did that from the moment he stormed into the story. I knew straight away that he was going to be the best kind of trouble for Aurelia.

The Wycherleys and the Nightlys have been feuding ever since Heston Nightly curse his tether Mathilde Wycherley, thus beginning the generational curse that Aurelia now has.

First impressions of Jules, with his aloofness and haughty edge, do nothing to endear him to Aurelia and when she finds out that he might have information on how she can keep her magic an unlikely alliance is formed from bribery and extortion.

Jules was more of a closed book than the other characters, it took him a while to reveal why he was closed off and cold. Discovering that he had a troubled family life, with a controlling and cruel mother, an absent father, and an older sister on the brink of losing her magic and being removed form magical society, made me realise that Jules was mostly in protection mode.

It was interesting exploring Jules Nightly’s family dynamics alongside those of the other characters, and understanding how each of them had been shaped by the people around them. Jules is intelligent and passionate, he cares deeply; although his personality might initially contradict that. He is fighting to keep his sisters magic and his family together.

Watching Aurelia and Jules get to know one another and develop their relationship from rivals to friends then beyond was so compelling. I loved writing this story because I just needed to know how it was going to end for all of these amazing characters.

 

Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Federation.