The Heart of the Dawnshield Order

When people ask me who the main character of The Dawnshield Order is, the answer seems obvious.

It’s Evander Drake.

He’s the heart of my story.

When I first created him, he wasn’t meant to become a novel character at all. He was simply a D&D paladin for a summer campaign in Devon. I chose a human, Paladin class because I fancied trying a frontline fighter (my first character was a Druid) and found a name that immediately felt right.

Evander Drake.

At first he was little more than a character sheet; then I generated one image.

What struck me wasn’t the armour or the sword. It was his smile. He looked… kind.

Like someone who genuinely cared about the people around him.

I found myself asking a question I hadn’t expected.

Who is this man?

That question changed everything.

A Hero Built From People I Love

I wondered whether Evander is based on me.The answer is yes. And no.

No single person inspired him.

He’s a beautiful tapestry made from all the people who’ve shaped my own life.

There’s a little of me in him. Like me, he assumes the best in people until they’re determined to prove otherwise. He tidies when he’s anxious. He finds comfort in order when the world feels chaotic.

There’s a great deal of my husband in him too. Evander likes things done efficiently and has an endlessly practical mind, but he’s also the sort of man who gets distracted by a wildflower beside the road, crouches to greet a friendly dog, or becomes completely absorbed by a child asking an unexpected question.

His steadiness comes from my dad. The quiet confidence that makes other people instinctively feel safe. The ability to remain calm when life refuses to cooperate. His love of reading whenever life allows him the time.

Part of his courage belongs to my grandad.

As a boy, my grandad helped support his family and looked after his younger siblings. Responsibility arrived early, but so did resilience. Even now, living with constant pain, he’ll often use humour to make everyone else feel comfortable before ever mentioning what he’s carrying himself.

My other grandad gave Evander something different: humility.

He was unfailingly polite, generous with his time and never saw the need to make himself the centre of attention. He taught me that strength doesn’t have to be loud.

Even Evander’s voice comes from my own family. My mum’s side are Yorkshire born and bred, and that warmth found its way into both Evander’s and Elowen’s accents.

Looking back, I don’t think I set out to create the perfect fantasy hero.

I think I accidentally wrote a love letter to the people who taught me what goodness looks like.

The Hero I Wanted to Write

Fantasy has no shortage of extraordinary heroes.

Some are powerful or brilliant tacticians.

Some are destined to save the world.

I’ve always admired those characters, but I found myself wanting to write someone different; those ordinary heroes we meet every day.

Someone who notices frightened people before dangerous people.

That person who remembers names, birthdays and to be there for you through ups and downs.

Someone who believes protecting people is just as important as defeating enemies.

Someone who doesn’t measure strength by how much damage they can inflict, but by how much hope they can preserve.

Evander isn’t fearless, he’s simply the sort of person who believes other people’s safety matters more than his own comfort.

That doesn’t make him perfect. In fact, much of his journey comes from carrying responsibility far beyond what any one person should.

He doubts himself.

He overthinks.

He blames himself for things that were never his fault.

He carries burdens long after everyone else has forgotten them.

Yet every morning he gets up and chooses kindness again.

To me, that’s courage.

Why He Smiles

Fantasy heroes often look stern, battle-worn, angry and ready to draw a sword.

Evander certainly can fight. He has to.

But that doesn’t define who he truly is.

His smile matters because it reminds me that beneath the captain, the warrior and the responsibility is simply a good man.

A man who loves books, who finds beauty in wildflowers, a man who would happily spend an evening talking beside a campfire.

Who’d rather rebuild a village than conquer one.

Who believes children deserve to grow up in a safer world than the one he inherited.

The Heart of the Story

Over the last year, whenever I become unsure about a scene, a decision or the direction of the story, I ask myself these questions:

What would Evander do? Why does he think that way? What’s his history?

The answers are usually the kinder path.

It almost always reminds me what kind of story I’m trying to tell.

People often say writers leave pieces of themselves in their characters.

I think that’s true.

But I also think we leave pieces of the people we love.

Evander may have started life as a D&D character.

Today, he’s the heart of The Dawnshield Order.

And if readers finish the trilogy believing that kindness can be every bit as heroic as strength, then I’ll know I’ve written exactly the hero I hoped to create.