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The Protagonist Speaks

Interviews with the characters of your favourite books

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Gaius Petreius Ruso (of Vita Brevis by Ruth Downie)

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Dear readers, tonight with us is a combat medic, servicing in the legions assigned to one of the Roman Empire’s most notoriously dangerous provinces – Britain. He’s here to tell about his adventures, and accidental involvement in crime.

How does a Roman army medic end up solving murders?

I’m glad you asked that, because the answer is: reluctantly. I’m supposed to be in the business of making people feel better, so despite what anyone tells you, I’m not keen on stirring up trouble. I wouldn’t have gone near that business of the dead girl back in Deva if anyone else had been willing to deal with it. Oh, and if the lady who is now my wife hadn’t been quite so insistent.

(Of course as the head of the household, I’m the one in charge. Not my wife. I want to make that clear, because some of the people reading this may be Britons, who often have trouble remembering the proper order of things. I know this because my wife, Tilla, is a Briton. On the other hand, since very few of them see the point of reading and writing, this paragraph may be redundant.)

To return to the subject of murders—I certainly don’t go looking for them, but in the course of my work I stumble across suspicious injuries, and now word seems to have got round that if you’ve found an unexpected body, Ruso’s the man to deal with it. My author tells me that in the future there will be a specialist unit called the Police Force who are called in to sort out these things, while doctors can get on with seeing their patients and writing reports for the Treasury administrators. I’m sure she must have got the second half of that wrong. No-one in their right mind would pay a doctor to work as a scribe. Continue reading “Gaius Petreius Ruso (of Vita Brevis by Ruth Downie)” →

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Desu (of Watership by Jenna Whittaker)

Watership - Jenna WhittakerDear readers, tonight with us is Desu. She is a Crawler, a member of a genetically bred race of caretakers who have watched over the last remnants of humanity. She is here to talk with us about humanity’s travels across the universe in it’s Hollow Earth spaceship.

We had the chance to interview her as part of her blog tour around the Earth. You can find more info about Desu, Jenna and the rest of the tour stop in the links below.

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

I was created in the depths of the earth, Assaph, by human scientists bent on the survival of their species. I am one of a horde of creatures, genetically modified to best suit the underground environment of the humans’ sanctuary.

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

I had no childhood, no cherished memories…and I wish I did. It is something that brings me great sadness; that the humans have these things, and take them for granted. I would give anything to be one of them. They have families and happy memories–all I know is awakening in the darkness, fully grown, and ready to protect the humans with the rest of my kind.

What do you do now?

I protect the humans! For…I don’t know how long, I lived underground inside the hollow earth with them, watching over them, making sure they stayed in the city limits and stayed safe. But when the watership awoke and told us–all of my kind, the Crawlers–to take the humans and put them inside the ship, ready for departure, everything changed. Now I watch over the humans in a far more volatile environment–inside the watership, in space. Continue reading “Desu (of Watership by Jenna Whittaker)” →

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Jackie Moretti (of Love’s Illusions by Jolene Cazzola)

Jolene Cazzola - Love's IllusionsDear readers, relationships have always been complicated. Tonight on the guest couch with me is a young woman, trying to navigate the complexities of relationships in the age of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll.

 

 

 

Tell us about where you grew up. Did you have a favourite toy or memory?

I grew up in a middle class suburb of Boston, Weymouth, Massachusetts. Since I was born in 1951, it was pretty much like you saw on Ozzie & Harriet, in other words, dull, boring; the kind of place where all the neighbors would stop to make their purchase whenever one of the kids on the street set up a Lemonade Stand. My parents also had a hunting and fishing lodge in northern New England that was pretty cool. You can read more about it in The BackStory. It’s FREE at www.jolenecazzola.com.

I didn’t really have a favorite toy – I played with my animals, mostly cats, a German Shepard named Satchamo, a couple rabbits and some baby chickens I hatched for a school project. Eventually my parents talked me into letting a local farmer take the rabbits and chickens so they would have more room to roam around. He promised he wouldn’t eat them! And I grew worms to sell to the fishermen – do they count as pets? Continue reading “Jackie Moretti (of Love’s Illusions by Jolene Cazzola)” →

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Ted Applegate (of Vengeance of the Werewolf by Mercedes Fox)

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Dear readers, tonight with us on the interview couch is a brave man who fought several werewolves – and has the scars to prove it.

Tell us about where you grew up. Did you have a favorite toy, a favorite memory?

Crystal and I moved to Wolfcreek right after I graduated the police academy. I don’t call anywhere home because we moved around a lot. My favorite memory was graduation. For Crystal and I it meant the beginning of a whole new life—a life we controlled. So we packed up and took off and ended up in Wolfcreek.

How does one become a werewolf? What are the popular culture myths that are just not true?

I didn’t even believe in these things until the murders in Wolfcreek started. We were only finding parts of people at times. If we did find a body it looked like an animal feasted on it. The bodies were torn open and much of the entrails were missing.

Since my attack I’ve learned quite a bit about werewolves. For one, they don’t need the full moon to turn. Only a newborn pup (or newly bitten, like myself) need the moon’s pull for the first change. Werewolves are not mindless monsters either. I control my wolfish side. The wolf is part of me now and I can call it out anytime I want. Continue reading “Ted Applegate (of Vengeance of the Werewolf by Mercedes Fox)” →

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Sapphyre (of Sapphyre by Jason Komito)

Jason Komito - SapphyreDear readers, tonight with me is a young woman, who recently found out that she has latent magical abilities. Accompanied by a mysterious gentlemen and following an ancient prophecy, Sapphyre goes out to face the world.

 

What can you tell us of the streets you grew up on?

Thorenn has not changed much in the past 17 winters, I don’t believe. Oh, yes, please pardon me. I forget that most of the people who are reading this have never been to Arstevia. The capital lays on the east coast of the continent and is the largest city in the land. It is also the largest port on the eastern seaboard and it is a few weeks ride south of the Myth Mountains on the finest of steeds.

Even though I spent my first few winters living on the streets of the city and begging and stealing to get my fill, I do have some good memories of my childhood. I never knew my parents and the first time I ever felt any feeling of family was when I met Kat and joined the Pugs.

I’m sorry I get a little choked up when talking about Katrivus. He is my dearest friend and we are still trying to figure out a way to rescue him.

But I digress. We were speaking of my youth. Continue reading “Sapphyre (of Sapphyre by Jason Komito)” →

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Lydia Bell (of One Fling to Rule Them All by Deanna Dee)

One Fling To Rule Them All - Deanna DeeDear reader, tonight on the interview couch with us in a young woman, an avid role-playing gamer who found love in the most unexpected and unusual of circumstances.

 

 

What was your childhood like? Any favourite toys or memories?

It was pretty awesome, actually. I had a decent spread of toys, but I mostly enjoyed taking my mom’s electronics apart and putting them back together. She wasn’t too thrilled when I’d do this, but it’s evolved into a computer science major. So there’s that, at least.

Does Craig share your love of Tolkien? Does Scott?

Craig has a general geeky respect for Tolkien. Scott, on the other hand, is as in love with it as I am. It makes for some awesome moments. Continue reading “Lydia Bell (of One Fling to Rule Them All by Deanna Dee)” →

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Midshipman Colyer (of Daedalus and the Deep by Matthew Willis)

Daesalus and The Deep - Matthew WillisDear readers, tonight with us is a cadet officer from Her Majesty’s Ship The Daedalus. He will tell us of his adventures on the seven seas, and in particular about encountering a mysterious sea serpent.

 

Tell us where you grew up. Did you always want to join the navy?

I grew up in Harwich. It’s a Navy town – the Navy’s never far away. From the cottage where I grew up you could see the ships coming and going, and when you went down into the town the forest of masts above the roofs didn’t let you forget either. I suppose I did always want to join. My brother went to the naval college as soon as he could – Father had been a surgeon in the old Conqueror, so his sons were entitled to go – and I always wished I could have gone with him. You wouldn’t have thought there was any chance at all of me going too, but… well, I never actually thought it would happen, but it did.

What are you duties on board, as a midshipman?

My duties? Ha! To get under the feet of the petty officers, to annoy the officers and amuse the hands, or so you’d think. Really, a Mid is there to learn how to be an officer, to make sure we’ve salt enough in the blood, sea legs and know a sheetbend from a sheer-hulk. Half the time we’re used as skivvies and messengers and the other half we’re being sent up the masthead as punishment for something or other.

Continue reading “Midshipman Colyer (of Daedalus and the Deep by Matthew Willis)” →

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Katla Sieltjes and Bram Merleyn (of the Amsterdam Assassin Series by Martyn V. Halm)

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Dear readers, It’s quite an honour to receive the protagonists of the Amsterdam Assassin Series for an interview, since both are known to be notoriously reticent to talk about themselves. For this interview we have left the usual couch behind, and meet them at Katla Sieltjes’s new office in the Kavallerie Kazerne near Artis, the Amsterdam Zoo. Katla’s boyfriend, Bram Merleyn, is already there, cleaning his tenor saxophone. His distinctive looks, especially the scarring on his face caused by the shrapnel that blinded him, make Katla look especially nondescript in her appearance. Katla often remarked how her bland appearance was an asset in her occupation, so I asked about that first.

Katla Sieltjes: Unlike most of my girlfriends, I didn’t really want to stand out with my appearance. I often dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and I wasn’t curvy, so some people even confused me with being a boy.

Assaph Mehr: Why didn’t you want to stand out?

Katla Sieltjes: Fits best with my nature, I think. I tend to be an observer more than a participant. I guess you could call me an Einzelgänger. Continue reading “Katla Sieltjes and Bram Merleyn (of the Amsterdam Assassin Series by Martyn V. Halm)” →

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Erik Hart (of Chain Reaction by KP Merriweather)

Chain Reaction - KP MerriweatherDear readers, tonight with us is a young man hiding a terrible past – and suffering debilitating headaches because of it.

 

 

What was it like when you were forced to face your own denial of your past?

I freaked out and to deal with it, started using Silver Snow, a synthetic drug made to mimic Neuralgine. It’s a real nasty downer – you feel no pain on it though, but then you start seeing things that really mess your head up. Originally it’s made to help you forget traumatic experiences… There’s plenty I’d rather not recall. It gives me enough freaky dreams as it is.

What IS the Divinity Project?

The Divinity Project is a new version of the old CENTRA program, or the Cybernetically Enhanced Neurotechnological Replicant Application. It’s a government program used to replace soldiers in war. They’re Combat Androids. Continue reading “Erik Hart (of Chain Reaction by KP Merriweather)” →

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