Dear readers, tonight with us is a man from the near future, talking about biotechnology and the multiverse.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

Before my family died in a plane crash when I was twelve, I lived in Malibu, on the beach. We also spent a lot of time in Paris, France, at one of the major Family holdings, the Hôtel Martiniere, in the 1st arrondissement. When I was ten, I was sent to Northview Military Academy in Utah, and spent school years there. After my family died, I still spent part of my time away from school in Los Angeles, only in the house of the man I thought was my uncle but was really my biofather, Philip Martiniere. Philip’s house was in Beverly Hills and a very different setting from my family’s house. Otherwise, I was in Paris with my uncle Gerard, learning more about the Martiniere Group’s financial operations.

As a child I spent a lot of time outdoors. My parents would take my sister, my cousins, and I out to Anacapa Island where we would spend the day swimming and snorkeling. I played on the beach. When I was very young, I wanted to become a cliff diver.

In Paris, I prowled the city with my cousins. Doing what kids do, but we also spent a lot of time visiting museums and attending cultural activities.

Did you have any favourite toys as a child? Any cherished memories?

Growing up Martiniere had a lot of expectations, especially since I was born into the ranks of the high-level heirs and was being nurtured and cultivated for a leadership role in the family-held conglomerate, the Martiniere Group. I didn’t have any one favorite toy because I spent a lot of time playing with my cousins, whether in Paris or Los Angeles. And memories…ah, best not to go there. My teen years were nightmarish. One of my biggest regrets was that I was horrible to my little sister Louisa and my mother Angelica the last time I saw them alive.

I did have a collection of Marvel action figures and assorted drone and robot models. Who was my favorite Marvel character? Tony Stark, of course. In many ways, I’ve been emulating him, only through development of agricultural technology.

What do you do now?

I am currently the leader of the Martiniere Family and the Martiniere Group, known as The Martiniere. Essentially, that makes me the CEO of the Martiniere Group and, well…there are private Family structures where I serve in much the same role as I do within the Group. When I can, I work on agricultural nanobiobots with my beloved Ruby. My focus is more on microbial payloads, but Ruby and I do a lot of research together on Ruby’s Double R Ranch in Northeastern Oregon.

What can you tell us about your latest adventure?

I’ve discovered that my choices as an adult have gone very differently in other universes—in one universe, my family did not die in a plane crash when I was twelve and I learned that Philip was my father when I was sixteen. In every other universe I know about, that didn’t happen. However, I am engaged in a war against digital thought clones in nearly every universe, along with my brilliant, bold, beautiful wife Ruby. Most points of divergence happen as a result of when I tell Ruby who I really am, except for that one universe I mentioned.

What did you first think when you learned that Philip Martiniere was your biological father?

Horror. In every universe but one, Philip is amoral, cruel, and vicious. A malignant narcissist. In the universe where that is an exception, Philip and his younger brother Gerard were close friends and allies. Such a simple thing but it made a huge difference in how Philip grew up.

Philip and I share a violent temper in all universes. In this one exceptional universe, we’re both working on anger management.

What was the scariest thing in your adventures?

The prospect of losing my beloved Ruby. I lost her too many times in different universes. I still find the concept frightening. Philip told me when he forced our divorce that it would rip me apart worse than the most painful death he could imagine for me.

He was right.

What is the worst thing about your role as the Martiniere?

The loss of privacy and the inability to go places on a whim. Security is a mandatory necessity in the Martiniere life.

What is the best thing about it?

Power. No question about it. Besides being richer than hell, I have the ability to command people and make things happen.

Tell us a little about your friends.

Craig Yellowhawk was my rodeo buddy and is one of Ruby’s cousins. He’s enrolled in the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla. We worked in a frozen pea processor—that’s how we met—and discovered mutual interests in rodeo. Monty Montgomery was another friend I made during my exile. Gabe Ramirez—whose identity I used when in exile, since he was indentured into a militia and sent to Brazil—was my roommate at Northview Military Academy. My sister Justine’s husband, Donald Atwood, has helped me out of some messes. And then there’s my favorite cousins—Serg Vygotsky, second-in-command of Vygotsky Security. David, son of my uncle Gerard. Kendra, a more distant cousin. And others.

Any romantic involvement?

My amazing Ruby. I met her after testifying in US vs. Martiniere Group when I was in hiding, because elements of my family wanted to kill me. Well, except for one universe, where that didn’t happen and I recruited her for the Martiniere Grant, as myself.

In the universe where Ruby and I were forced into divorce by my biofather, I later married Rachel Alvarez. But my heart still belonged to Ruby, and if Ruby would have taken me back, I would have dropped everything to go back to her, right up until I said those wedding vows to Rachel. Rachel knew this and was not bothered by it—however, she also knew that I had been manipulated by mind control programming into the actions that brought about my divorce from Ruby. Before Rachel died from complications of the G9 virus, as she was wrestling with cancer, she wanted to see me and Ruby reconcile, in part so that the three of us could participate in important events in the life of Brandon, the son Ruby and I had.

Whom (or what) do you really hate?

Generally? I hate slavers, those who exploit people in indentured servitude, and abusers. Specifically, there is a family that my family has been at war with over several centuries. The Brauns are exploiters and abusers of the worst kind.

What’s your favourite drink, colour, and relaxing pastime?

Give me a good horse, a good book, a shot of good whisky, and all’s fine. I’m also fond of bouldering, diving, and sailing, though not much of the last two happens in the mountains of Northeastern Oregon.

What does the future hold for you?

It depends on where you pop into my story. In one universe, I’ve already died but my influence lives on through my activities as a self-aware digital thought clone across multiple universes. In another (The Cost of Power trilogy coming out in mid-to-late 2024), I successfully become the Martiniere and end up with four children.

Can you share a secret with us, which you’ve never told anyone else?

Secretly? I have a minor in French literature, focusing on medieval and Renaissance works.

Joyce Reynolds-Ward has been called “the best writer I’ve never heard of” by one reviewer. Her work includes themes of high-stakes family and political conflict, digital sentience, personal agency and control, realistic strong women, and (whenever possible) horses, frequently in Pacific Northwest settings.

You can find Gabriel on the pages of The Martiniere Legacy series, The People of the Martiniere Legacy series, and The Martiniere Multiverse series.

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