Valiant Hearts MBTI with Dina Sleiman [Guest Post]

MBTI chart of Dina Sleiman's heroines (as 2015) by The Artist Librarian: http://theartistlibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/09/valiant-hearts-mbti-with-dina-sleiman.html
MBTI - Heroines of Dina Sleiman's novels
[The Artist Librarian: I love the MBTI, or Meyers Briggs Type Indicator.  I don't religiously hold to it, but in my experience, it does seem to be a pretty accurate personality measure. I enjoy seeing MBTI charts from my favorite fandoms --like this amazing Lord of the Rings chart-- so I'm super excited that the subject of my guest blogger, author Dina Sleiman, is Meyers Briggs types! Take it away, Dina.]

Often readers confuse an author with the characters they create. I imagine the truth is that each character we write has a hint of us inside of them. But it is also true that professional novelists go to great lengths to create unique and separate characters with distinctive personalities. So today I’m going to share with you how I am both similar to and different from some of my female heroines.

Let’s start with the general idea of these tough Valiant Hearts heroines. I’ve always been strong, healthy, and athletic, but not quite a tough sporty girl. During my school years I did play some sports, mostly because I went to small Christian schools and everyone needed to be involved. I was pretty good at basketball, but always preferred dance, gymnastics, and cheerleading. As an adult, I like quiet physical activities like walking, biking, hiking, and canoeing. I still dance from time to time as part of my church’s worship dance team. But…I believe in female empowerment and that women should follow whatever path God lays on their hearts. I don’t like to see arbitrary limits put on what girls can and can’t do, and that was very important to me as I wrote this Valiant Hearts series. My Meyer’s Briggs personality type is INFJ, which in addition to being creative, is also very individualistic and idealistic.

[The Artist Librarian: I'll be commenting in the brackets. Yay, introverts!  =P  I've always tested ISTJ, though my siblings would swear I'm ISTP because they think I'm always doing my own thing and not responsible enough to be ISTJ, LOL.]

Merry Ellison - ENTJ: The Leader from Dina Sleiman's Dauntless http://theartistlibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/09/valiant-hearts-mbti-with-dina-sleiman.html
My Robin Hood-esque Merry Ellison from Dauntless and I actually have very little in common. On the Meyers Briggs scale, Merry was my opposite on three out of four indicators. She is more extroverted, sensory, and thinking. This made Merry the most challenging character I’ve ever written, yet I loved and admired her. Her ENTJ personality was the same as my middle child, my outdoor enthusiast and adrenaline junky. It’s a great leadership personality. I often thought of tough sporty girls I’ve been friends with over the years while writing Merry. Merry and I have a few things in common like a love of children and a love of acrobatics, but even her motivations and inner thoughts were often different than mine. I do have a tomboy side, but it does not go as far as weaponry and hunting. In addition to all of that, tiny, dark haired, exotic Merry is pretty much my physical opposite in every way too.

[For more on Dauntless, feel free to check out my review!  I loved that Merry was a strong, athletic character but she also vulnerable and wasn't averse to being pretty and feminine either.]

Gwendolyn Barnes - INFP/ISFP: The Artist Dreamer from Dina Sleiman's Chivalrous: @ArtistLibraryan http://theartistlibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/09/valiant-hearts-mbti-with-dina-sleiman.html
Chivalrous with my female knight  was just released, and I certainly have more in common with Gwendolyn Barnes than with Merry. I was picturing Gwendolyn as a INFP/ISFP hybrid. Gwendolyn hates mingling at a big party, much like me, and she loves music, dance, and sunshine, again like me. Her biggest flaw is that she tends to fade into a fantasy world rather than deal with reality, which is something I have been guilty of from time to time, but not to the same degree as Gwendolyn. She has more of a temper than I do, although I share her abhorrence of injustice and can get pretty riled up when faced with it. And again, she is tougher than me, although I think if I had been raised with her hang ups, I might have turned out even more like her. Finally, Gwendolyn’s tall, blonde, and curvy physical description is pretty darn close to mine at that age. At 5’10” I’m used to looking men in the eye and feeling like I can do anything they can.

[The Artist Librarian: I never thought of combining MBTIs!  INFP = The Artist & ISFP = The Dreamer makes a pretty title also *wink*]

Rosalind - ENFJ: The Giver from Dina Sleiman's Courageous: @ArtistLibraryan http://theartistlibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/09/valiant-hearts-mbti-with-dina-sleiman.html
Next on the horizon is Courageous with my crusader heroine. It won’t release until July 2016, but you will be introduced to its main character heroine in Chivalrous. Rosalind of Ipsworth is Gwendolyn’s lady’s maid, best friend, and partner in crime. Of the three Valiant Hearts heroines so far, I definitely have the most in common with Rosalind. With her ENFJ personality, she is more of a typical emotional, romantic girl, although she is tough enough to rise to whatever occasion is thrown at her. She’s more outgoing than me, and she makes some unfortunate choices that my upbringing protected me from. But her thoughts, speech, and motivations are pretty similar to what I imagine mine being in those circumstances. And Rosalind is a passionate woman, which is also a trait I share.

[Oh, what a long time to wait!  I'm enjoying Rosalind so far in Chivalrous ... In past interviews, Dina mentioned she pictured Katie McGrath from BBC's Merlin series as Rosalind.  Though Katie was often dressed in finery portraying the King's well-to-do ward in the series, I found an image of her in more serviceable, yet still pretty gown that I imagine would also work for Rosalind.]

Dandelion Dering - ENFJ: The Giver from Dina Sleiman's Dance of the Dandelion: @ArtistLibraryan http://theartistlibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/09/valiant-hearts-mbti-with-dina-sleiman.htmlConstance Cavendish - ENFJ: The Giver from Dina Sleiman's Love in Three-Quarter Time: @ArtistLibraryan http://theartistlibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/09/valiant-hearts-mbti-with-dina-sleiman.htmlPassion is a characteristic that is often avoided in Christian heroines, and yet a characteristic I think God highly values when channeled in the right direction. In fact, I’ve used the ENFJ personality for two other heroines in the past. Both Dandelion in Dance of the Dandelion and Constance in Love in Three-Quarter Time are feisty, passionate heroines as well. Each makes mistakes, like Rosalind, but each learns to channel that passion toward an intimate relationship with God. My daughter has an ENFJ personality, and I have loved watching her grow in her passion toward God.

Allie Carmichael - INFJ: The Counselor from Dina Sleiman's Dance from Deep Within: @ArtistLibraryan http://theartistlibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/09/valiant-hearts-mbti-with-dina-sleiman.html
Maybe you’re wondering if I’ve ever written myself into a book. I would say the closest I’ve come is with Allie, my Christian ballerina in Dance from Deep Within. She shares my INFJ personality, my love of dance and reading, my blonde coloring, and many of my experiences. Her thoughts, tastes, opinions, fashion sensibilities, and beliefs certainly mirror mine, especially when I was her age. But of course her life is different than mine in some ways too, and her experiences are more extreme, including a trauma I didn’t share. Still, I would say if you want to know what I’m all about, Allie would provide the best clues.

So that’s me and my heroines. I hope you’ve enjoyed this quick foray into our personalities.

[Thanks so much, Dina!  A 19th century historical in the vein of Deeanne Gist, another medieval historical, and a contemporary featuring diverse college students? I just put all your other novels on my TBR list!]

Which of Dina's heroines do you think you would relate with the most? What is your personality like?  You can find out your MBTI personality here. If you have a favorite fandom MBTI chart, feel free to share it in the comments below as well!

Author Dina Sleiman - INFJ: the Protector @ArtistLibraryan http://theartistlibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/09/valiant-hearts-mbti-with-dina-sleiman.html
About the Author:
Dina Sleiman writes stories of passion and grace. Most of the time you will find this Virginia Beach resident reading, biking, dancing, or hanging out with her husband and three children, preferably at the oceanfront. Check out her novels Dance from Deep Within, Dance of the Dandelion, and Love in Three-Quarter Time. Also look for her Valiant Hearts adventure/romance books, Dauntless and Chivalrous, with Bethany House Publishers. For more info visit her at http://dinasleiman.com/


*Original photos/book cover art belong to their respective publishers and owners. Image of Katie McGrath from BBC's Merlin used for Rosalind.  Images edited as fanart by The Artist Librarian --feel free to share and use with credit & link back to my blog!

4 comments

  1. Dina SleimanSeptember 19, 2015 at 11:03 AM

    Oh fun! I love what you did with the graphics :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Artist LibrarianSeptember 19, 2015 at 11:37 AM

      Thanks, Dina! I wanted to do something that sort of resembles the fandom MBTI charts I love. Maybe after the series is finished, someone can make a complete MBTI chart for Valiant Hearts! =)

      Delete
    2. Dina SleimanSeptember 20, 2015 at 9:27 AM

      LOL. That would be so cool.

      Delete
  2. Cactus Patch StoriesOctober 1, 2015 at 8:38 AM

    What a fun post! I'm ISTJ and also love looking at personality types for different fandoms.

    I have Mary's hair, but otherwise I don't think I have a lot in common with Dina's heroines. I loved Dauntless and plan to start reading Chivalrous this weekend. I'm excited about it!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts! Comments are always welcomed and appreciated.

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