Character Backstories

http://writershelpingwriters.net/2015/06/3-quick-tips-to-help-readers-connect-to-your-hero/

Here is an article I found about ways to allow readers to connect to the hero(es).

There is a section called "Understand What Came Before" which is a bit funny since it states, "The character’s life did not begin on page one, so we need to spend some time thinking about their past." 

 The irony is that in the case of my book, The Face of the Pumpkin, the main POV (point of view) character's life really does begin on page one, due to the character being "born" as the result of a magic spell. A similar condition exists with literary characters such as Pinocchio, as well as a handful of characters from L.Frank Baum's Oz stories. There have been also a number of stories with robot/android protagonists who are born at the beginning of the story.

In this sense the Pumpkin is like a child in many ways but with instant intelligence "programmed" into the character and with the capability of instant learning. (One major skill is that the protagonist can understand any human language). The protagonist's condition is based on the current condition of wanting to learn about the world of humans and reflecting those differences as opposed to being a walking, talking Pumpkin who has a great deal to prove in order to save the Society of Sorcery.  Our hero feels abandoned, rejected from the witch named Annie, who was so focused on her Necromancy Spell, that she neglected her sentient creation.

This brings me to some of the other characters, Annie Airgid, who is one of the most important characters in the book, has had a huge history and much of the story deals with her previous backstory as well as how it intersects with other characters. The story is told from the neonate Pumpkin, and through this character, we learn about the setting in Salem and many of the main players such as Annie, the ghost named Gordy and the Bat named Eeltog. All of these characters have  histories that are relevant in the present and will be significant in the future.