My Favorite Character

Chocolate Chip ice cream, photo by deflam, used with attrib under cc license

For the record, I loathe questions about favorites. They feel like too much pressure. If I commit to a favorite (ice cream flavor, musician, book, vacation spot) will I be stuck with that answer for all time? My answers might change depending on the day the question is asked, or what is happening in my life. Then again, there are certain favorites that have remained since childhood. (Chocolate chip, with Moose Tracks a close second.)

If you'd asked me who my favorite character was when I was 4 or 5, I would have said Speed Racer. Don't ask me why, but my family tells me I was convinced that Speed Racer and Elvis Presley were the same person.

A little later in childhood and I latched onto Steve Austin, the 'Six Million Dollar Man' as my favorite character. I was a huge fan of the tv show and watched it week in and week out. I then transferred my loyalty to Jaimie Sommers, The Bionic Woman.  I always thought she got cheated, with a much smaller series run.

Around the same time--early 1970s, I stumbled onto a strange British TV serial about a man in blue phone box who traveled through space and time with a variety of side kicks. That's when I discovered Sarah Jane Smith. She and Doctor Who became staples of my childhood and early adulthood and whenever I could, I would try to catch old re-runs to see my heroine again.

As much as I loved Jon Pertwee's and later Tom Baker's Doctors, it was Sarah Jane I admired. She was plucky, self-sufficient, adventurous, defiant, and funny. For a long time, I wanted to grow up and be just like her.

Sadly, the TARDIS never landed in my backyard, so I never had the chance to run amok through time and space, but my love of Sarah Jane and Doctor Who was likely a driving force for my imagination and the reason I write speculative fiction today.

I think there may be a little of Sarah Jane somewhere in many of my main characters. As for which of my own characters is my favorite? I plead the fifth and will say that I love them all, even the antagonists.

Today’s post was inspired by the topic “Your favorite character”– June’s topic in the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site.