What is Bonnie?

If you’ve read Fury or another Fae Awakening story, you probably have questions about the different characters.

What is Bonnie?

Why are the names for the Fae very human?

What is the relationship between Henry and Hunter?

These are some of the questions I’ve been asked. I’ll tackle these issues in various blog posts explaining the universe of the Fae Awakening. To that goal, I’ll do my best not to include spoilers to the stories. There may be a minor one here or there, but nothing that ruins any major plot points. That also means I won’t answer the third question about Henry and Hunter… yet… as the story explaining this is currently in the works.

What is Bonnie?

Bonnie is the brain child of my needs for a highly intelligent character and a chaos generator.

I’m a fan of Fae mythology, and there is a special place in my heart for brownies.

A brownie is a creature that takes up residence in a home and helps “sweep, clean, wash up and remake the fire, look after the sheep, guard the hens, and even give good advice as needed.”*

They are extremely friendly beings that can become good friends and bring a great energy to your home. That is, until they become angry.

If you don’t acknowledge their help, offer them honey and crackers, or even just a simple thank you, a brownie can turn into a boggart, “their kindness turning to malice and their helpfulness to hindrance.”*

The best example in modern storytelling is likely from The Spiderwick Chronicles movie. Thimbletack is a brownie, who becomes enraged, turning into a boggart. An offering of crackers turns him back to his brownie form, making him a pleasant creature once more.

I wanted the assistant to be a volatile being, easily set off by the slightest unappreciated action. It’s not uncommon for me to hold a door open for people to walk through, only to receive dirty looks or nasty remarks in return.

Seriously, it happens all the time. A simple action of kindness is met with the opposite.

Like a brownie, this irritates me to a great extent.

A brownie fit the bill, meeting my character’s needs. The name Bonnie, just seemed to fit the character I was creating. Bonnie sounds similar to Brownie, and although I don’t mention that Bonnie is a Brownie in Fury, those familiar with the creature would be able to figure it out.

So, Bonnie appeared in the world of the Fae Awakening, helping Hunter, but how do I make her more interesting?

I had no idea.

As I wrote the story, my only plan was to have Bonnie help Hunter, assisting him with old languages, building things, and of course, cleaning. She would provide a nice dose of conflict with the other characters when things needed some spice.

That was my plan.

In writing the scene where Bonnie lights a match, she told me her entire back story. I’m not going into detail here, because it would mean releasing some major spoilers, but let’s just say, it’s very interesting.

And… yes, she told me.

I didn’t come up with it. Bonnie literally said, “This is my story…” I’ll talk more about this in a writing journey post, since it’s not necessarily relevant to readers.

In Revenge, book two of the Fae Awakening story, you’ll find out a little more about Bonnie. I think she’ll surprise everyone.

If you have any questions about the story, feel free to contact me and I’ll write a post answering it.

Coming up next… Why are the names for the Fae very human?

– Will

Recommended Reading

* Quotes from Faeryland The Secret World of the Hidden Ones by John Matthews

The following are a few of the books I’ve used for research. I highly recommend all three if you are interested in learning more about the magical world of Fae beings.