#TheFourFriday – Luke as Whitewolf

Every Friday, I’m posting something about how the real life “The Four” overlap with the fictional four Kota Warriors.
As some of you know, The Kota Series is based on what “The Four” (myself, my brother, and our childhood best friends Kaly and Luke) played as kids.  Each of us is represented by one of the four Kota Warriors (Bullseye, Rave, Tigris, Whitewolf).  So, I’ll be sharing personal quirks that carried over into fiction, fun/weird stories we played as kids, our childhood drawings, pictures related to The Four and The Kota, etc.
Should be fun, and it’ll give you an idea of how weird or little minds were as we created this story that, years later, turned into my book series.  🙂

This week, Luke as Whitewolf.
Obviously as kids we all have ideas about who we’re going to be when we’re adults – what we’re going to look like, what our jobs will be, how successful we’ll be, etc.   One thing I love about how Whitewolf turned out (via fiction) is that he really basically is Luke.  Bullseye is a lot more of a burdened mess than I am.  Rave is a lot more action-driven and crazy than Christian.  Tigris is a lot more anxious and bossy than Kaly.  But Whitewolf and Luke both turned out to be pretty…normal, in the best possible way.

Also, there’s the not-insignificant detail that Luke LOOKS the most like his alter-ego.  Maybe not quite as tall or quite as muscular, but he’s certainly closer than any of the rest of us.  And certainly closer than I could’ve guessed from the chubby little toddler I could hardly lift.

While developing his character for the original Book 1, I’m not sure if I was conscious of the similarities or not.  But, thinking of real-life Luke when writing Whitewolf later helped me keep him “real” and relatable.  Of all 4 Warriors, I picture Luke the most when I’m writing his fictional replicant.  And I definitely hear his voice when Whitewolf talks, especially when he calls Tigris, “Sis.”