Don't Miss Out On Exciting News!
Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free copy of Andromeda's Tear!
Last one! And my favorite, of course! (from The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions)
Name: Ro Bernard
Role: The Leader
Country of Origin: Palavia
Known associates/affiliations: Former member of The Midnight Scorpions
Greatest accomplishment: Winning a training tournament with other new recruits at the time of her initiation, despite being younger and smaller than most of the competitors
Biggest fear: Never doing anything significant with her life
Additional information: Her full name is Rohalia, but only two people ever called her that. She thinks it's too frilly.
Trivia: After all this time, I still think Ro's my favorite character that I've ever written. I almost feel bad for everything I've put her through, but I know she'll keep getting back up no matter how many times I knock her down.
Anyway, on to real trivia. When writing the original Disintegration, she came very close to being named Rosie (partially due to the song "Cracklin' Rosie"; what can I say, I'm a closeted Neil Diamond fan), and I don't even remember why I changed it at this point. However, it does resurface as a nickname in this book.
Due to my affinity for her, I guess, I've been asked before if Ro is supposed to be me, or an extension of myself, or a projection of how I'd like to be. The answer to that is a big no. Sure, we have some similarities (I assume that's the case with most of the characters I write since, well, I'm writing them), but I assure you, she is not intended to be a self-insert character. We're both a bit snarky and we both hate to cuddle, but that's about it.
And so we come to the end of the "Meet the Team" series. I hope you had as much fun as I did, and don't forget to check out the rest of Boobulon's artwork and show him some love!
(from The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions)
Name: Reggie Quinn
Role: The Muscle
Country of Origin: Charytar
Known associates/affiliations: Occasional patient of Dr. Cassels; cousin to Ted Quinn
Greatest accomplishment: Leaving home and becoming completely self-sufficient at age 15
Biggest fear: Dying alone
Additional information: There are a number of allusions (some made by Reggie himself) to how not all of the jobs and tasks he's performed in the past were completely legal, but he chooses not to reveal specifics. He also mentions some siblings, but they're not close. How and why Ted is the only member of his family he regularly contacts isn't stated, but in some ways, they both need each other.
Trivia: To continue on with how completing Mass Effect was on my mind when I started writing, I'll admit I was thinking of James Vega when creating Reggie. Though if I had to pick a real-life person to model him after, I vote for Channing Tatum. ;)
Without giving away too many details or spoilers, I'll say that I loved writing Reggie's interactions with Ro. "Opposites attract" plots are all well and good, but one of the reasons I love them together is their similarities. There's plenty of witty comments and snark to go around, and that made writing just plain fun.
(from The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions)
Name: Zara Thorne
Role: The Comm. Specialist
Country of Origin: TektanKnown associates/affiliations: Graduate of Coral City University
Greatest accomplishment: Building devices and pioneering technology that (most of) her friends can't even understand
Biggest fear: Humiliation
Additional information: It's not specified in the book exactly what sort of skin condition Zara has; probably something along the lines of eczema or psoriasis. But, as Mielle says, we're not supposed to know about that (and Zara herself never directly acknowledges it).
Trivia: I guess I sort of set up a Betty and Veronica dynamic with Zara and Mielle without intending to. Oops. But just as every team needs some sex appeal, it also needs the shy, nerdy girl, too. Right? ;)
I don't always have people in mind when I create characters (either people I know or actors/actresses), but when writing Zara, and later helping with this artwork, I thought of actress Ariel Winter (from Modern Family) for some reason.
(from The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions)
Name: Mielle Markham
Role: The Explosives Expert
Country of Origin: Tektan
Known associates/affiliations: Previously served with the Tektani military
Greatest accomplishment: Received a perfect score on all her final exams during her military-based education
Biggest fear: Boredom
Additional information: Mielle and Zara (up next!) have been best friends since childhood. Though Mielle's tough and doesn't take any bullshit from anybody, Zara is her one soft spot.
Trivia: Mielle was fun to write, as she's conventionally beautiful and knows it, but it's not a big deal to her. Aside from a few brief comments from others as to whether or not the male teammates are attracted to her, she's one of the few characters with no romantic entanglements whatsoever. She's got better things to focus on, after all.
I also enjoyed writing her as not afraid or ashamed to be "girly" - she likes pink and sometimes wears dresses, etc. (It's never explicitly stated, but I'd imagine she blows out and styles her hair every morning.) I guess it's easy not to worry about liking what you like when you can blow things up with the push of a button!
From The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions:
Name: Ted Quinn
Role: The Hacker
Country of Origin: Charytar
Known associates/affiliations: Cousin to Reggie Quinn
Greatest accomplishment: Hacking into one of the Charytaran military's networks without getting caught, just to see if he could
Biggest fear: Rejection
Additional information: Ted feels much more comfortable dealing with computers and other electronics than he does with people. Aside from Reggie, his face-to-face interactions with others are very limited. While not necessarily happy, he's content with spending his time on little more than movies and games. Whether it's never occurred to him to aspire to do more with his life, or if he's afraid of trying and failing is anybody's guess.
Trivia: Aspects of Ted are very loosely based on one of my closest friends. I think that ultimately helped with making him a more sympathetic character than he appears on the surface.
While never explicitly stated, the handheld game Ted plays in several scenes is Tetris. I did not have any particular film in mind for the porn that is playing on his TV when Ro and Reggie first arrive at his house. :D
Ready for some fun? My good buddy Boobulon has made me some nifty book-related artwork again to celebrate The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions. Now that the book is finally out, I'm ready to present them in profiles of the six main characters. I'll include some backstory that didn't make it into the final book, share some trivia, and otherwise introduce you to this kickass team that's taking on a mercenary cyborg army!
Name: Dr. Karin Cassels
Role: The Healer
Country of Origin: Palavia
Known associates/affiliations: Mother of Vlad Cassels, member of the Midnight Scorpions (though they have not spoken in years)
Greatest accomplishment: Single-handedly maintaining a clinic near the Palavia-Charytar border and offering medical care to those in need
Biggest fear: Never hearing from Vlad again
Additional information: Every now and then she volunteers as a medic with the Palavian military close to the combat zone at the juncture of the three warring countries. It was probably during one of these trips that she learned how to shoot a gun (and pretty damn well!), but the rest of the team never finds out for sure.
Trivia: When I was first plotting out the book, originally Dr. Cassels was going to be male, but Boobulon persuaded me to make Vlad's parent a mother, not a father. Dr. Cassels's role probably wouldn't have changed too much either way, but making her a woman skewed the male-female ratio of the team to 2-4 (rather than the initially planned 3-3). Obviously I don't have a problem with this, and I think I might even like it better this way.
Also, when I started writing, I had recently finished playing Mass Effect 3, and I won't even try to deny that the game influenced me. Once I decided that Dr. Cassels would be a woman, I couldn't help but envision Dr. Chakwas every time I wrote for her. I figured I might as well go all the way and borrow her first name!
If this is your first time clicking through in a while (which it probably is since I've been lazy when it comes to new posts), you've likely noticed that things look a little different around here. The new banner is an updated version of the artwork Boobulon did for me when I ordered some magnets a while back; in preparation for some upcoming events, I ordered some more promotional materials with the new image, and I figured I might as well tie everything together.
In my promotional plannings, I decided I needed a [new] tagline. The old one was sort of done as a quick joke when I first started this blog/site, but now it's time for SERIOUS BUSINESS. (Or as serious as I get, anyway...which regular readers will know isn't that serious at all.) Boobulon and I brainstormed for a long time one recent night, trying to come up with something creative and punchy that would let readers know exactly what they're in for if they picked up something I've written. And then after all that brainstorming and polling a couple other friends...I wound up going with what I pulled out of my butt to use as placeholder text when designing the new materials.
I really shouldn't have been surprised. I mean, how often does that happen while writing? You slave over a certain sentence/paragraph/scene/chapter making sure everything is exactly perfectly right and then stuff you whip out at the speed of light without thinking about it later turns out to be brilliant. Is this the greatest tagline there ever was and ever will be? No, but it gets the job done and I have other things to spend my brainpower on (like getting that sentence/paragraph/scene/chapter exactly perfectly right).
So hopefully things look a little more updated and polished around here. I seriously doubt these minor tweaks to the hub of my online presence will suddenly turn me into a best-selling author, but it was time for a change and I like consistency. And when playing around with colors, I realized I also like and have a special fondness for the dark purple script, so assume that's staying around FOREVER.
Boobulon has done it again! I had an idea* for some artwork featuring the starring trio from the Skies series, and he accepted the commission. This is awesome and amazing and wonderful and I love it hard!
 |
| Click for embiggening! |
If you've been following along on the DtS book tour (and if not, SHAME), this is one of the prizes. You know you want this badass scene adorning your mantle, don't even try to deny it. If you're impatient, the prints are available through deviantArt.
*I believe I said something along the lines of "How cool would it be to have Geneva and Marcus in the same pose as the 'Army of Darkness' poster, but with the genders reversed?" This is the answer, and the answer is really fucking cool.
I treated myself to some more commissioned artwork at deviantArt, and I am thrilled with the results! Here's Callum and Ro at the beginning of their first intimate scene:
 |
| Artwork by Agregor. You absolutely want to check out the rest of his gallery (though be warned, there is plenty of nudity!) |
Let's have an accompanying excerpt!
Her eyebrow flicked up in response to his snide tone. "Don't sell
yourself short. I admit to being curious as to the various ways
your…condition makes you different. But I liked what I saw in our
initial training sessions. It's been a while since anyone's actually
impressed me." The trademark smirk made its appearance again. "And don't
forget, we've already been on top of each other."
Callum didn't
know what to make of her candid statements. Nor could he ignore the
memory that flashed through him for a moment of her legs wrapped around
his body. "Do you treat everything so casually?" he asked.
"You
ask too many questions." She sighed and shook her head, further mussing
the brown spikes of her hair. "It's just sex, Callum. It doesn't have to
be that complicated. I've made it known that I'm attracted to you, and
you can do whatever you want with that information. Fucking me doesn't
mean we're in love, or that I'll expect anything from you the next day."
Silence
ensued. Ro stood up. "Well, I didn't mean to take up so much of your
time. Enjoy the extra hour or so of sleep. If you need me for
anything…." Her sentence went unfinished as she walked towards the door
and opened it.
Callum stood up as well, and turned away from her.
He remembered her fingers on his skin, and how it had made him feel
whole again. The fleeting thrill conflicted with thoughts of how Meyta
used to touch him, and sorrow stabbed at him once more. He struggled
with the opposing emotions. The desire to cling to what he had left won
out. "Ro…wait."
Her bare feet stopped moving across the floor.
Without facing her, he spoke again. "Since waking up here, I haven't
given a lot of thought to…certain things. I don't even know the extent
to which my injuries or the resulting modifications to my body
affected…."
The door clicked shut. "Is that all you're worried about?" she asked.
"It's high on the list. Don't you think it's rather important?" He risked a glance at her.
She
was leaning against the closed door, hands tucked behind her back. Her
lips curled into a coy smile, and she peered at him through her messy
hair. "Only one way to find out," she said.
