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The Protagonist Speaks

Interviews with the characters of your favourite books

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Asa Ragnvaldardottir (of The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper by Colin Brodd)

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Dear readers, tonight with me is a young viking woman, the rightful heir to her father’s kindgom.

Her rival Haraldur seeks to slay her to secure his right to the throne. She is here to tell us about her life as an outlaw, and of the Viking-Fantasy world of Midhgardhur.

 

 

 

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

 When I was very little, I lived in the Kingdom of Vestfold with my father, a jarl under King Halfdanur the Black. I lived in a long hall overlooking the Great Bay where the longships sailed. My memories of childhood in Vestfold are mostly happy ones, but hazy. When I was just five years old, King Halfdanur died, and my father was elected to be the new king. The day of the konungstekja, the coronation, was the day my world ended – Halfdanur’s son Haraldur attacked without warning, killed my father, and took the crown for himself. I was smuggled to safety across the narrow sea by my father’s loyal retainers, and raised in exile at Ketilsstadhir on the island of Jutey. I guess I really grew up there. I was bitter, and wanted revenge upon King Haraldur for killing my father.

Did you have any cherished memories from childhood?

My favorite memory from childhood is probably my combat training with Hjalti, my father’s most trusted retainer, the one watching over me the day of Haraldur’s attack. The one who took me to safety. Hjalti taught me the ways of the sword; he taught me to be a shieldmaiden. I loved training with him. He trained me out of loyalty to my father, and love for me – he wanted me to be able to protect myself. He did not go easy on me. He raised me to be a good fighter. I loved the exercise, loved to feel my body grow strong as I grew up. And it made me feel like someday I would do something about the wrongs done to me and my people. Continue reading “Asa Ragnvaldardottir (of The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper by Colin Brodd)” →

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Sir Blandford Candy (of The Last Roundhead series by Jemahl Evans)

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Dear readers, tonight with us is an irascible old drunk with a hatred of poets and a love of hats, straight out of the 17th century English Civil War.

He is here to tell us of his adventures, from battlefield to bedroom, unmasking Cavalier plots, earning the enmity of the King’s agents and uncovering an attempt to steal thousand.

 

 

 

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

I was born on the Ides of March 1624 – prophetic, no? My father was a rich cloth merchant who had an estate in Hilperton, near the town of Trowbridge in Wiltshire. Papa gave me the name Blandford after the town where he had just bought a new tannery. ’Twas not the best of starts perhaps, but then my father was ever a drunken old sot. He was likely too soused to think of a proper name.

My mother died when I was but a child from smallpox, and my eldest sister Elizabeth did her best to raise me, and my siblings. I had four: two brothers and two sisters, all dead now, of course. I was the fourth of five, with my little sister Anne the youngest – and most witless; truly she had less intellect than your average sheep. I am the last of the Hilperton Candys, excepting my idiot great nephew. He has just married; he is charmingly naïve.

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

I used to love to play with a whip and top that Mr Figgis carved for me, but my brother James took it, broke the whip over his knee, and threw the bobbin into the River Avon. I had my vengeance: I hid some dead gudgeon under his floorboards until the stink drove him out of his chambers. My eldest brother Henry was a hairy giant – more monkey than man – and another bully, but ’twas ever James that was most cruel. I remember little of my mother – soft white hands and a smile, nought else of worth. ’Tis a tragedy for a son not to remember his mother’s love. Do you see? I am not averse to playing for sympathy if it be to my benefit. Continue reading “Sir Blandford Candy (of The Last Roundhead series by Jemahl Evans)” →

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Ella Fantz (of The Path Keeper by NJ Simmonds)

the-path-keeper-nj-simmondsDear readers, tonight with me on the interview couch is a young woman, struggling to acclimatise in London after growing up in sunny south of Spain.

She is also about to discover a hidden meaning behind life’s little coincidences and apparent little miracles.

She is here to tell us of her life, and of the man she loves.

 

 

 

What was it like growing up in Spain and why did you move to London?

I loved growing up on the Costa del Sol. No, it’s not as nasty as people thing it is. I used to hang out at the beach with my mates, back when I actually had proper friends, and I could see the sea from my bedroom. When I was sixteen my mum married one of the richest hoteliers in the world and here we are, bloody London. Everyone makes out like the capital is this fucking amazing glitzy glamorous place, but it’s not. It’s cold and grey and lonely. I don’t care that my life looks amazing to other people, if they could be me for a few days they’d want to jump off the nearest tall building too.

Do you have any particular cherished memories of your childhood?

Cherished memories? You know ‘cherished’ is a crap word, right? No one uses that any more. Okay, well my best memories are probably of my mum and how she was before she married Richard Fantz (have you noticed how I have his surname now and how I’m a laughing stock? Seriously, who calls their kid Ella Fantz?). Anyway, back then my mum was all cut off jean shorts and sand in her hair, we’d have late nights on the beach watching shooting stars and eating chocolate while she told me stories about princesses and how love could change the world. Now she’s a manicured mannequin that won’t even look at sugar. She makes me sick. Continue reading “Ella Fantz (of The Path Keeper by NJ Simmonds)” →

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Jessica Sweet (of Sweet Vengeance by Aliya DalRae)

sweet-vengeance-aliya-dalraeDear readers, tonight with us is an orphan, who had some disturbing visions.

At 26, the term may not truly apply, but having been abandoned by her birth parents at an early age, the death of her adoptive parents is like déjà vu all over again. Now she finds herself alone, facing a future that should be unsure; however, the visions she’s been plagued with since childhood are about to descend upon her, pulling her into a supernatural world where her deepest fantasies and most harrowing nightmares will soon come true.

She is here to tell us of the supernatural things she has seen.

 

What was it like growing up in Fallen Cross, Ohio?

First of all, Hey everybody!

So, Fallen Cross is your typical farming community, a tight knit town where everybody knows everybody’s business. How I was ever able to keep my visions a secret is beyond me, and we won’t even talk about the BIG secret lurking around our little burg. Fallen Cross is just outside of Dayton, which is where I was actually born. But circumstances being what they were, what with my real dad taking off and my mom going batpoop crazy, I ended up being adopted by the Sweets and my life was great. Well, until both of them up and died, that is. Dad was killed in a freak crop dusting accident, and Mom followed within the year. I think she died of a broken heart, but you know how that goes. In spite of everything, Fallen Cross is a town that looks out for its own, and I feel really lucky to be a part of it.

Wow, that’s quite a lot of loss for one so young. But surely you had some nice memories from your childhood. A favorite moment or a toy you enjoyed?

I was about six when the Sweets brought me home, so it took some time to adjust after being in the system awhile, never sure if they were going to give me back. But it didn’t take long to get over that.

Some of my favorite memories are of my parents working in the garden and orchard. My dad had a super green thumb and was famous for his produce. People would come from four counties over just to get a bushel of his red delicious apples, or a basket of heirloom tomatoes. Mom helped out when he needed it, but she was happier when they were in her shop, Almost New Again, refinishing antiques and furniture. Whatever they did, though, they did it together, and they did it with love. Nothing was a chore to the two of them, the hardest jobs just another fun challenge that they faced together. I admired them a lot and hope that I will have a forever love like they did.

As far as a favorite toy? Maybe the riding lawnmower? That probably sounds crazy, but we have a lot of acreage here, including the landing strip Dad used for his crop dusting plane, so there was a lot of grass to mow. Being out there on my own, driving around in all that grass? It was peaceful, and I don’t remember ever having a vision while I was mowing. Continue reading “Jessica Sweet (of Sweet Vengeance by Aliya DalRae)” →

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Hannah (of : Booting Up – Virtual Wars Series prequel by Brian Basham)

booting-up-virtual-wars-series-brian-bashamDear readers, you would have heard of the Virtual wars, that arrangement that was supposed to end wars as we know it. When diplomatic relations fail,  the armies of New Pangea fight it out in a virtual reality simulation. The winner gets the spoils, but no one is supposed to die.

Tonight with us is a young girl with a different story. A survivor of the virtual wars, she is here to tell us of her adevntures and narrow escape.

 

 

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

I was in and out of orphanages as a child. Half of them are in buildings nearing collapse. There’s no reason for that. There are plenty of abandoned buildings that aren’t falling apart although much of it is located in areas where plant life have taken over. The Enforcers tried to keep me caged at these dilapidated prisons for children, but no one can cage this ninja!

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

My PEL, I guess. Everyone has one, so it’s not anything special. I did learn a lot from hackers on the dark net, but they’ve all since been arrested. They taught me how to hack my PEL device to disable tracking. It’s hard to escape when all the Enforcers have to do is track your PEL. I had to learn that the hard way.

What do you do now?

I’m currently in school studying whatever I feel like would be the most useful of skills to be a spy. That’s what I really want to be. Continue reading “Hannah (of : Booting Up – Virtual Wars Series prequel by Brian Basham)” →

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Adam Carpenter (of Eden’s Serum by Angelique S. Anderson)

eden-serumDear readers, tonight with me on the interview couch is the Founder and CEO of one of America’s hottest technology start-ups. His development of the Identicoin, revolutionized the identification process, and now makes it so that all of our personal, medical, banking and criminal history is on one easy little disk.

Recently, however, he came across something unheard of, that enticed him beyond words. Immortality. But is the secret of Eden’s Serum all that it’s advertised to be?

He is here to tell us about his adventures and his life.

 

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

Nothing too spectacular, not like the apartment I had before I moved to Bakersfield. My father was a hardworking man, we lived menially and he did try to give us everything. I just never felt like I connected with him on a personal level. He wasn’t happy when I told him that I wanted to major in Nanotechnology, which was made further evident when I told him about my promotion at Identitech. Actually, I hadn’t talked to him for quite a while. Not until this whole thing happened with Identitech.

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

Hmmm, well I guess as a kid my favorite toys were my hot wheels. I like to race them, it felt like the only thing that made sense. I didn’t really like being outside. When I was gifted an older tablet for my birthday, the first thing I did was take it apart to look at the inside… ha, ha. I forgot all about my cars, I must have had over a hundred of them. They were inexpensive, so my father didn’t mind getting them for me for Christmas’s and birthdays.

Boy was he mad when he discovered I had taken apart the first tablet I ever got. That is essentially what really sparked my love for all things technical. When I saw what it could do with the swipe of a finger, I had to know more. I still keep that torn apart tablet, in a lock box at home. It holds tremendous sentimental value for me. Probably the only thing I have ever been sentimental over, until Evelyn. Continue reading “Adam Carpenter (of Eden’s Serum by Angelique S. Anderson)” →

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Mary Granger and the angel Gabriel (of Catch the Moon, Mary by Wendy Waters)

catch-the-moon-mary-wendy-watersDear readers, tonight is another special double interview. With us on the interviews is the archangel Gabriel, as well as the mortal woman he fell in love with, Mary Granger.

They are here to talk about love, light, and music – and how all three are connected.

 

 

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

[Gabriel] I’d like to answer this one if you don’t mind, Mary. My name is Gabriel. I’m an angel and have always “been”. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t conscious of myself in relation to all that is and ever will be so I’ve never “grown up” as it were. I don’t remember why I was called Gabriel or who called me that. Eons ago my Father recognised my singular creative genius and 2IC’d me into helping Him create worlds upon worlds, one of which humanity calls the Universe but there are many more. If I had a mother I can’t recall her. There’s only ever been me and my Father orchestrating life. Now, of course, my Father no longer speaks to me and I depend on Mary for…well, everything.

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

[Gabriel] Why don’t you answer this one, Mary?

[Mary] Very well, I became who I am the day I heard the music. It came to me winged, unbidden and fully-orchestrated. I was six. My home life was unmanageable and it was driving me mad because I depend on order to keep control of events and the people around me. And yet, this music took me to places where I had no control…under the sea, distant galaxies, foreign cities, fairyland. It showed me life without constraint or restraint and I learned to trust it completely. It was the only thing I ever trusted. The only person, too.

[Gabriel] You trust me, don’t you?

[Mary] No, Gabriel, I do not. Continue reading “Mary Granger and the angel Gabriel (of Catch the Moon, Mary by Wendy Waters)” →

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Friedrich Nietzsche (of Operation Cosmic Teapot by Dylan Callens)

operation-cosmic-teapot-dylan-callensDear readers, tonight with us is one of history’s most famous philosophers – if the not the most famous of them all. He was a philosopher, cultural critic, poet, philologist, Latin, and Greek scholar whose work has exerted a profound influence on Western philosophy and modern intellectual history.

He’s here to tell us about his seminal work about religion and god – and what happened to him after death.

 

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

I grew up in a small German Village named Rocken with my family.  It was pleasant.  My Dad was kind of a hero in the village, being the pastor.  Then he suddenly died when I was six.  Six months after that, my little brother died.  I couldn’t understand what was happening to my family at the time, but it did seem to be a glimpse into the chaos that was life.

After that, we had to leave Rocken because the house was paid for by the church.  So, my mom took my sister and I to Naumberg.  We lived with two of my aunts and Grandma.  That is, until I was sent to boarding school.

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

Toys?  Hahaha, who has time for toys?  My favorite items as a child were pens and paper.  I always knew that I would be an intellectual of some kind.

As for cherished memories, I suppose there is one that I would call ironic and amusing.  My baptismal prayer included a line from Luke 1 and asked the question, “What child is this?”  Of course, the answer that many people now know, is that I am the one who will question the validity of religion.  Later in my own writing you will see that I called myself the Antichrist.  But probably not in the way that you would normally think of antichrists.

What do you do now?

Currently I am the CEO for Heaven Inc.  I know, it’s an ironic job to hold, given my feelings on religion.  But my life really is filled with irony.  My job is to make sure that Heaven’s call center runs smoothly.  It hasn’t, though.  Continue reading “Friedrich Nietzsche (of Operation Cosmic Teapot by Dylan Callens)” →

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