Author and illustrator Ian Gibson recently hosted a Character Creation Workshop at the Benque Viejo Public Library for the library’s book club, whose members had been reading The Land of the Night Sun.
During the workshop, participants were invited to create their own original characters for the world of the book and write a short scene showing how their character meets the protagonist, Itzel. The students’ imaginations were on full display, with characters ranging from wandering ghosts and shapeshifters to super-powered adventurers with animal sidekicks. After designing and writing about their characters, participants took turns sitting in the “Character Hot Seat”, where the others asked questions about their character’s personality, backstory, and role in the story.
It was a fun afternoon that encouraged participants to let their creativity run wild, and the results were delightfully impressive.
The author offers these workshops to schools and libraries reading books from The Jade Necklace series. The second book, The Lord of the Underworld, is due out this summer.
