That’s Elijah Thackeray. Hero (of sorts, some might say anti-hero) of my upcoming novel Runners. Awww, come on, you didn’t think I was going to go through all this A-Z challenge without squeezing in one or two posts about my own books, did you?

This is a little known fact (and one I’ll probably regret divulging) but the muse for the character of Elijah is actually his Hollywood namesake, Elijah Wood. I wrote Runners in 2007 and at the time was in the throes of a Lord of the Rings obsession. Before you run off screaming ‘fan fiction’, just wait! I say muse, not reproduction. I liked the way he looked, the name seemed perfect for my character and it was easy to visualise him when writing him. This makes me a thieving, tricksy little hobbit, right? But I’m fairly certain that the Hollywood Elijah is nowhere near as big a pain in the ass as my Elijah is! Elijah Thackeray is someone you find yourself wanting to slap at the start of Runners. Probably for a good way through the book too. Will he grow into the kind of person who saves the world? Maybe.

I told my friend and editor all this, and now she says she can’t read it without seeing a teen Elijah Wood in her head. I’m not entirely sure if this is a good thing. But I don’t mind if you’d want to indulge in a little Elijah love. He is rather awesome. Here, knock yourself out!