Welcome to the January 11th stop on the Meet My Character Blog Hop!

Thanks to Harry Manners for hosting the previous stop on the Blog Hop. Visit his website at www.harrymanners.net to read all about his ultra-cool novel Ruin. The book gives me a Canticle for Leibowitz vibe, and Harry has told me that Canticle is one of his favorites. Top top it all off, Harry’s studying physics at university right now – and I happen to have finished up my own physics degree, and worked in a couple of national labs, quite a few years ago. May the dp/dt be with you, Harry!

Meet My Character!

1) What is the name of your character? Is he or she fictional or a historic person?

I’m going to cheat (I prefer to call it re-engineering the Kobayashi-Maru) and talk about two characters because they’re dual protagonists in my first novel, The Sword of the Magi.

The characters are Silas Brace and his adopted daughter Feather.

2) When and where is the story set?

The story is set in the current day, largely on India’s Malabar Coast but also in fantastic locations such as Mount Athos in Greece, the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, and Washington, DC.

3) What should we know about him or her?

Silas and Feather have been surviving on the run from the US government – and others – for the past seven years.

Silas met Feather when she was the object of his US special forces mission to infiltrate a North Korean genetics lab. Rather than turn her over to the authorities, Silas adopted Feather, then age eleven. Feather is the only known success of several North Korean-Venezuelan genetics experiments, and she has intelligence, quickness, speed, and accuracy matched by only a handful of others on the planet.

Feather’s tortured past has left her emotionally stunted, even now at age eighteen. Silas has been driven to the breaking point trying to help his daughter heal.

4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his or her life?

Feather was born and trained to be an operative, but Silas has long resisted that. Without any other options to help Feather heal, he finally takes a job smuggling archeological artifacts down India’s Malabar Coast and agrees to let Feather be his partner.

During the job, Feather is separated from her father, and they are attacked by Islamic militants. They soon realize that they’ve uncovered a map to an artifact that could change the course of human history, and they are in a race against the militants, and their own governments, to find it.

5) What is the personal goal of the character?

Silas’s personal goal is to help Feather heal and, if possible, become happy. At first, Feather’s only goal is animalistic survival, but as she grows through the book, her goal evolves into “be as close to normal as possible.”

6) What is the title of the book, and where can find out more?

The book is called The Sword of the Magi. You can buy it here.

7) When was the book published?

Jan 1, 2015.

I hope you enjoyed reading a little about my characters!

Next week’s host is CN Crawford. CN Crawford is actually two people who work together crafting novels. Their book, The Witching Elm, came out this Christmas season and has racked up some very impressive reviews. Check it out!