Character Profile #8: The Innkeeper

Meet my innkeeper character!

Hello, friends, and welcome to my eighth Character Profile, a monthly feature in which you get to learn more about one of my characters. Spoiler alert: I have a LOT of characters. If you’d like to learn more about them, you can click here to read a short story snippet I wrote a few months ago.

Each character profile will consist of three parts:

• the mood board — where you get a peek into their character as photos!

• the interview — where the character is interviewed and you get to learn more about them.

• the writing snippet featuring that character — where you get to see how I incorporate the character into a short scene!

See all of my Character Profiles here.

#1: The Mood Board

#2: The Interview

Introduce yourself!

Nice to meet you! I’m the Innkeeper, and I take care of the finest inn in Ribinskiff, a fishing town in the country where the Prince and Cousin live.

Can you also describe yourself?

Sure! I have thick red hair, blue eyes, and sandy skin. I also tend to wear an apron, since I’m often in the kitchen.

Do you like to bake?

I love to bake! One of my favorite things to make are cream puffs with raspberry filling and a dollop of whipped cream, often with my adopted goddaughter, Lettie*.

What’s your favorite color?

I think my favorite color would have to be gold! It’s such a beautiful hue of yellow.

Can you tell me more about your job?

I run the best inn in Ribinskiff…though technically it’s the only inn. I’ve found I’m really suited to being an innkeeper, although sometimes I don’t make as much money as I hoped since I tend to take in anyone who needs a place to stay – whether or not they can pay. But I love the people, and everyone’s been so welcoming in this town!

Who’s part of your family?

I have a small family; it’s just me, my goddaughter, and a small dog we adopted off the streets named Snickerdoodle. I’ve also found some great friends in Ansley, our cook, and Koker, our resident painter. I have a complicated relationship with my family: I was an only child and I don’t contact my parents anymore.

I’m sorry to hear that. Has helping people helped you reclaim another side of your family, the one you wished you had?

Yes, I definitely think so. Sometimes, if people aren’t reciprocating what you’re trying so hard to give, that just means you need to find other people. It’s not that your love isn’t wanted or that it’s your fault, it’s that you’re giving it to the wrong people.

What’s your weakness?

I’m a chronic worrier. I want to fix everything in the world, and when I can’t, I worry.

What’s your strength?

I’m good at connecting with people, no matter who they are or where they come from. This makes it really fun and easy to run an inn with lots of different people.

Anything else you’d like to add?

This was fun! Thank you, Addie!

#3: The Snippet

Luciana* had been walking around Ribinskiff for hours.

She sighed and adjusted the sleeping bundle in her arms. The baby girl tucked inside was only a few weeks old, and she couldn’t have come at a worse time. It wasn’t the baby’s fault, of course – Luciana had found her on the front stoop a week ago with a note in an unfamiliar hand.

Please take care of Lettie like she’s your own. We do not have the space to keep her.

Luciana looked down at Lettie’s face, which was now wide awake. The baby’s curious dark eyes blinked back at her.

It wasn’t Lettie’s fault that babies were a lot of work and needed constant care and support. But it was almost impossible to find a job that catered to her needs to be around Lettie constantly, she knew no one who would be willing to babysit, and one day the landlord reported that the other tenants above the shop had complained about Lettie’s crying at night. Lettie was a crying type of baby, and honestly, Luciana couldn’t blame her.

So they were evicted. They had been for a week.

“Miss, would you like to rest for a minute?” came a voice, and she looked up from the bundle to see an older man with his hands full of odd knickknacks. He stood in the shade of a large brick building. To the left of the building was a huge wooden barn with a triangular roof.

“Thank you, sir,” Luciana said gratefully, resting in the coolness of the shade.

“Not a problem,” the man said, stepping out of the shade to load his stash into an already heaping wagon. “What are you doing wandering around on a sweltering day like this?”

“Trying to find a job,” Luciana said, holding Lettie carefully. “This is a nice building you have here, sir.”

“Yes, I’ve always thought so.” The man mopped his forehead with a handkerchief. “Unfortunately, my wife and I are packing up and leaving. There’s not much business in this old inn anymore.”

“This is an inn?” Luciana said, studying the building carefully. It had an abandoned look about it. “I thought it was a factory.”

The man chuckled. “Sure looks like it, huh? But no…it was an inn.” He sighed. “We couldn’t find anyone to buy it, so it’ll just sit here until someone decides to use it for something else…or demolishes it.”

“But that’s so sad,” Luciana said, frowning. “Are you sure no one wanted it? It looks like it could have some promise.”

“Perhaps,” the man said, turning towards her. “Hey…d’ya want it?”

“Me?” Luciana almost dropped Lettie in shock. “Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly! Without paying? I don’t have a cent!”

“If you want it, it’s yours,” the man said, his face serious and his tone completely sincere. “You seem like someone who’d take care of it.”

A woman with gray hair came out of the building holding a lantern. “Well, that’s all, Elmer – who’s this?” She eyed Luciana and Lettie.

“I’m Luciana, and he just offered me the inn,” Luciana said, her voice shaking slightly.

“Elmer, you did?” The woman’s face was unrecognizable.

“‘Course I did, Ethel, no one wanted it and she seemed like the right kind of person. She’ll take care of the inn better than we’d do ourselves.”

The woman took a step closer to Luciana. “You look like a nice girl. That your baby?”

“Not exactly, ma’am,” Luciana explained. “I took her in.”

Ethel nodded, then looked back at the inn. “One more question, what are you planning on doing with the inn? How would you run it?”

“Ethel—” Elmer started, but Ethel shook her head.

“Let her answer.”

“How would I run the inn?” Luciana thought hard. Her thick red hair fell into her face as she rocked Lettie back and forth. “Well, for one, I’d add yellow curtains to the windows to give a little bit of sunshine to the building. Then I’d add a sign above the door, and make it bright and interesting. And I’d never turn away anyone, even someone who can’t pay.”

She finished in silence. Finally Ethel spoke. “You were right about this one, Elmer.”

Ethel took something out of her pocket and tossed it to Luciana, who caught it awkwardly with one hand. It was a set of keys. “Keep them. Run the inn. We were waiting for someone like you. So thank you.”

“Thank you,” Luciana gasped, feeling the weight of the keys pressing into her palm. “Thank you for this.”

Ethel and Elmer tied ropes to the top of the wagon, securing the goods, then they got into the front. Elmer tipped his big straw hat to Luciana, and the wagon went down the street and out of sight.

Luciana, carrying Lettie, hurried to the door. Her right hand closed around the doorknob of the front door.

“Are you ready to go in?” she asked Lettie, who cooed in response. Then Luciana opened the door and they stepped inside their new home.

*all names have been changed for character privacy*

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If you enjoyed this profile and would like to know more about these characters and my journey, click here! Thanks for reading, and keep on being kind! 💖

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