On Mondays I post background essays on my fantasy series in preparation, the Shine Cycle, thus far largely character profiles like this one. The previous profile was of Catherine.
Jeannie – Bard, in the Queen’s service in the Imperial Service. She makes her music her primary vocation, with Imperial Service duties a hobby, and is well-known in academic circles for her mastery of piano, harpsichord, clavichord, organ, and lute, and her dedication to them even in the presence of Power-enhanced instruments. She served the Countess of Calahur for a decade and remains her close confidant.
A somewhat short woman with thick dark brown hair extending to her waist. She is usually seen in loose, comfortable but fashionable semi-formal dark-colored robes, often a particular lush shade of dark red.
Soon after she arrived, she took an aptitude test to place her in the Imperial Service. When the results arrived they noted a high probability of bardic talent, but as this was after the beginning of the term at the Bardic College and the school already had too many students due to the unexpected arrival of the Chosen, she instead entered the Service and was given an entry-level position as a ladies’ maid. Within the year she was offered a position by the Countess of Calahur, which she accepted. She remained at that post until the Countess was given a castle in the extended Castle Line in 122, when she was released.
When the 123 term began she entered the Bardic College, where she became the first student in the half decade since the invention of the Power-enhanced keyboard to name the piano as her primary instrument. Because she insisted on also mastering harpsichord, clavichord, and, more to the point, organ and lute, it took her a full fifteen years to be named journeyman. On the other hand, because of all that preparation she was named Master by the end of the decade. She then entered the Imperial Service again and was within two years summoned to the Queen’s service.
The next profile is of Flavia.
Shine Cycle Online 
Don’t have time to look just now, but are any characters in this cycle male at all? It’s pretty awesome.
This Jeannie sounds very independent-minded, to the point of being a crank if she survives whatever epic conflagration your cycle is going to climax with. (Which is also awesome.)
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I think two or three of the character profiles I’ve posted have been of men. Of the characters I have names for (I largely base characters on people I know, and assign names without a conception of where I might use the character in the series yet) there are nearly twice as many women as men. The greater imbalance in my posts so far is because of how few characters I have histories written for. (For background on that point, see this post last November.)
If you’d like to read more, I have a single page linking to the two stories I’ve posted and many of the background essays and character profiles. (I’ve been remiss in adding recent links for a while.) And a similar page for poetry.
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