Monday, April 1, 2013

A to Z Challenge: A is for Arlee and Aliena




Today starts the A to Z Blogging Challenge!! Most of my posts are going to be about books, reading, writing, and authors, with a few random posts scattered in between. Today to kick off the challenge, I want to first thank Arlee Bird, the guy who created the A to Z Blogging Challenge that nearly two thousand blogs are participating in around the world. Very cool, bro, thanks so much! Arlee runs the blog Tossing it Out, and if you haven't checked it out yet, get your ass over there and see what you're missing!





Next up, and also starting with the letter A, is Aliena, a character from my book series, Daughters of Night. Little is known about her past, but I'm willing to share a few tidbits with you, since you're all so awesome as to come visit me today! 

Aliena was born Aliena Serenity DesCartes in 1892. Her parents were French immigrants to America, and shortly after Aliena was born, her father died. As a single parent, Aliena's mother worked as a seamstress during the day and a prostitute at night just to keep Aliena fed. When Aliena was eleven, one of her mother's clients suggested putting Aliena in the family business, but Aliena overheard the conversation and ran away. She learned to steal, fight, and live in the woods outside the settlements, moving around frequently. She managed to survive on her own for five years before being turned into a vampire by a passing wanderer.

Frozen in time at sixteen, and with no one to guide her or educate her, she ran rampant, killing anyone for food or just for fun. She was uncontrolled but smart, having lived alone in the woods for so long. She was finally found by Quinn, former leader of Sanctuary, in 1943, and he trained her to control herself. Aliena was the second member to join Sanctuary, and despite a tragic past, she became a fierce fighting machine and a vital member of Sanctuary.

So, there's a bit about Aliena. Again, a huge thanks to Arlee for putting this challenge together-it's really awesome. Tomorrow will be brought to you by the letter B, so make sure you stop by and see us!! :)

5 comments:

  1. Hi, Stopping by from the Challenge. The first three posts I went to on other blogs were all old and had nothing to do with this. Wierd. Anyway nice to meet you and your character too!

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    1. Aw, thank you! I was late getting mine up, to be honest, so I think a lot of bloggers are running behind too. Aliena said hi and thank you as well! :)

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  2. Ashley,
    Great job thanking Arlee. He really is amazing.

    What a lot of work you have put into this site. I hope mine will have as much going for it soon.
    Good luck on your A-Z challenge.

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    1. Aw, thank you! And Arlee is amazing for putting this together (among other reasons!) so I couldn't NOT thank him. :) This blog has changed no less than ten times since last August, and I'm constantly tweaking it! <3

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  3. Haha! I wouldn't want to BE 16 forever, but I wouldn't mind LOOKING 16 forever!! Hehe, I'm a sucker for vampires anyway, and read everything I can get my hands on about them, but you're right when you say they can be overdone. Twilight paved the road for thousands of writers to jump on the bandwagon, and vampire books are everywhere now. It really makes it a bit more difficult to stand out when there is so much competition. :P

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