Who would you like to know more about?

A reader of the Bringer of Justice wrote in an email, “I would like to know more about Ashling…” The email went on to say she worked as a nurse and always enjoyed characters who were in the healing professions. If you have not read the novel, Ashling is the healer in the novel. I am already working on the second novel in the series, but it is at this stage where it would be possible to add a subplot or two. I am considering various ways to bring Ashling more fully alive for this reader. Is there a character in the Bringer of Justice you would like to learn more about in the next novel?

How characters are named

I received a note asking how I had decided on the names for the characters in Bringer of Justice. I steal the bit from Dickens and often will name characters after an important characteristic they have or role they play in the novel. Our protagonist, Vir, name suggests virile. I think anyone who is read the novel will agree that he is a “manly man.” I should say that is without any of the negative connotations drawn today. The other name and Vir’s love interest is Kee. Her name is pronounced “key.” I think the readers of the novel will understand why she was given a name. I will leave it up to you to decipher what the names of other main characters suggest or mean. Have fun and let me know what your ideas are about them.

Today is a Deer Fly day

Today is a Deer Fly day.  Deer Flies are annoying biting insects that descend on you when you are outdoors. They make it impossible to do simple things such as weeding in a garden or going for a pleasant walk because they are constantly buzzing around you and trying to bite. Today is a day full of too many ideas and too much to do to be able to successfully write. They are the Deer Flies of the day.

Using previews of coming attractions

As you know, the Bringer of Justice is part of a series. The design of the series is such that people and things will reappear in later books. Ske will reappear as a key element in the second book – no, I have no working title for the second book but it is in progress. Back to Ske. She will play a tiny but key role as the story progresses. Items such as the book that Ailis found, but she could not open because it was meant only for men is another item. I think it is important when you start a series to have an outline of where this story is going in general terms. An event may surprise a reader, but it was carefully foreshadowed if they stop and think about earlier events. I sometimes worry when I include a character like Ske and she only appears fleetingly. It may seem to the reader that I have forgotten her, but that is not the case. There are many clues in the Bringer of Justice about future events. I hope when you read the next novel you can look back and say, “That is why Ske was included or that is why the Corebeen book was mentioned but never used.” Now, I must get back to working on book two.

Comment on Bringer of Justice

The following was a comment on the review I shared about the Bringer of Justice. “I hate you too ;)” I think it is good – grin.

A great review

 I received a very nice email yesterday a woman who had just finished reading Bringer of Justice. I asked if I could use her comments. She said I could if she could remain anonymous. Below are her comments.

“I loved your novel but I hate you because you made me cry. Kee and Vir were so real to me. Ailis was so real to me that I could not hate her. She could be so loving as well as vengeful. Oona made me laugh when she teased Vir. A hero who would blush…”

She went on to explain that she had read it on her Kindle, and the battery ran out just before the end of the novel so she had to wait overnight before she could finish it. I should orient you about the characters she mentioned. Vir is the hero and Kee is his love interest. Ailis is one of the villains of the novel. Oona is a female character who constantly teases Vir with innuendo making him blush.

With the lack of success so far in the crowdfunding area, her comments restored my faith in my ability to write fiction. It seems to prove that I have no marketing skill – grin!