Category Archives: Characters

Reading and Planning

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Steel DragonI’ve been reading Senta and the Steel Dragon, which comes in a single hard-bound volume.  It contains all seven books so far in print.  Book 0 is a fun little story, filled with foreshadowing and background mostly.  A few people get killed, but no one too important, and the story gets set up for everyone else.  Book 1 is my favorite.  So much happens.  So much is going on– magic, political intrigue, murder, child molesting.  Book 2 is the most fun book, with rampaging dinosaurs in the snow.  Book 3 is more of a coming of age story than the others.  Book 4 is the most magical book, with a lot of spells being thrown around.  The same with book 5, but it is also the culminating events of the entire series as war breaks out.  Book 6 is more personal, more fallout for our favorite characters.  I really enjoy all the books and the characters.  I suppose this paragraph makes me sound egotistical, but I really wrote these books for myself.

I’ve been going over the outline for book 7.  I don’t know when I’ll get to write it, but it should be a good story– momentous, world-changing, like book 5.

You can buy the all in one hard-bound Senta and the Steel Dragon for $39.99 plus shipping.  Just follow this link and become the fourth person in the world to own one.

His Robot Girlfriend: Charity (Notes)

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HRG CharityLike most writers, I put some of myself in just about every character.  You can’t help it really, can you?  In the original His Robot Girlfriend, the character of Mike really was me– about five years older than me, when I wrote it.  Now I’m several years older than him.  We’re both middle school teachers, both pretty snarky, and like him, I have a grown up daughter and son.  The big difference is that he gets into shape, and I continue to get more out of shape– but then, I don’t have a Daffodil.

In the new robot book, His Robot Girlfriend: Charity, I wanted a character who was very different.  So, the main character, Dakota Hawk, is young, blond, and athletic– all things which I am not.  He runs marathons– something I never did, even when I had two good knees.  He has very different relationships with other people than I have ever had, with one exception.  Part of his back story is a mother suffering from Alzheimer’s.  That is something we share.

Unlike his mother, mine is alive and physically healthy.  She currently lives in a memory care facility.  If you’ve ever had a family member or friend suffering from this terrible disease, I don’t need to tell you how difficult it can be for you or them.  If you haven’t, then you can’t understand.

In the story, Dakota’s relationship with his mother plays a small but ultimately pivotal part.  But this is something that I never would have included in any story, if I hadn’t experienced it myself.  I simply wouldn’t have understood.

Astrid Maxxim – The Person

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Astrid Maxxim and her Hypersonic Space PlaneNow that I’ve finished four Astrid Maxxim books, I’ve been musing a lot on the girl and her personality.  Astrid started as my homage to Tom Swift Jr.  I really loved that series of books when I was a kid and really wanted to recreate the feeling I had when I read them.  Now, even with the books being as short as they are– 30,000 words (just like the Tom Swift Jr. books) I’ve had a chance to make her a bit more three dimensional.

Astrid is still one part Tom Swift, but she’s also one part Walt Disney and one part Steve Jobs.  Okay, she may be two parts Steve Jobs.  Maxxim Industries really does kind of mirror Apple as far as their computer technology, though Maxxim is even more into aeronautics than electronics.  Still in Astrid Maxxim and the Antarctic Expedition, Astrid gets to take part in what is essentially a keynote speech to developers.  She also dabbles in high finance and hostile take-overs.

In Astrid Maxxim and her Hypersonic Space Plane, she’s become a bit of a hard CEO, firing off memos to the company when something bothers her and in one instance firing an employee who doesn’t present the proper Maxxim image.  Of course, she’s still a fifteen year old girl and has to deal with all those things that are important to fifteen year old girls.

Astrid Maxxim: Roger and Kate Maxxim

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Astrid Maxxim and her Undersea DomeAstrid Maxxim and her parents, Roger and Kate Maxxim, are characters in the book series Astrid Maxxim – Girl Inventor.  The series is written for adolescents, but I hope anyone can enjoy it.  Both Roger and Kate are named for good friends of mine– unrelated and unknown to each other, but whom both helped me with my writing.

Roger Maxxim is a brilliant scientist and inventor with a definite bit of the mad scientist in him.  Kate Maxxim is a hard-nosed CEO, who is nevertheless dedicated to running Maxxim Industries the way her father-in-law envisioned.

Astrid is the main character in the stories, and along with her friends, occupies most of the plot, but it was important for me that she have a loving family (as do all the kids in the story).  On the other hand, Astrid’s parents are a bit of a role reversal, as her father is the more nurturing of the two and her mother is more of the disciplinarian.

Astrid Maxxim: Denise Brown

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Astrid Maxxim and her Undersea DomeDenise Brown is one of Astrid Maxxim’s best friends. Denise is one of the few kids in the story that isn’t an only child. )I realized after I had finished Astrid Maxxim 1, that I had made many of them only children.)  Denise has a brother named Dennis. Members of my writers group pointed out that with the names being so similar, the readers might get confused. On the other hand, that’s just what people tend to do– name their kids in groups or with similar names.  In any case, by that time, I was married to the names.

Denise and Dennis live with their two dads. I made a conscious decision that I would have a gay couple in the books to reflect the reality of our culture.  On the other hand, having essentially a completely non-sexual (and kind of a 50s naiveté) thing going, I wasn’t going to spend a lot of time fleshing out the details.  Their dads have different last names, so either they live in a state where gay marriage is not legal or they just decided to keep their own names.  The kids are both named Brown, while their other dad is named Richards.

Being a teacher, I have a real thing about people (gay or straight) giving their kids hyphenated names.  It never fits in the computer correctly.  It always messes up class lists.  And the kinds always pick one or the other name and go by it anyway.  I actually had a mother call me one time and tell me not to accept her child’s assignments if she didn’t use her full hyphenated name!  I told her “Get a grip, lady.  What she calls herself is between you and her, and what papers I accept is between her and me.”

Astrid Maxxim: Valerie Diaz

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Astrid Maxxim CoverWhen I was planning out the Astrid Maxxim series, I knew I was going to set it in the American southwest.  I therefore needed and wanted one of the main characters to be hispanic.  Valerie Diaz therefore became one of Astrid’s two good friends.  Valerie is one of the two Valeries in the series, and therefore supplies one of the running gags– that everybody has to differentiate which Valerie they are talking to. Valerie is a shy, pretty girl who has strict parents. Her father Sergio is head of Maxxim Industries Security and her mother is one of the few women in the story who are housewives.  Valerie’s mother is one of the few people in the series who doesn’t think that Astrid is perfect.  I think a lot of young readers will identify with Valerie.  She’s the kid that doesn’t always get noticed.

Astrid Maxxim: Toby Bundersmith

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Astrid Maxxim and the Antarctic ExpeditionIn the Tom Swift books I read as a kid, my favorite character was Tom’s best friend Bud Barclay. Bud was totally reliable and faithful, completely unwavering in his friendship and belief in Tom. I patterned Toby Bundersmith after Bud in that respect.  To maintain that same 50s nostalgic innocence, there can’t be any real conflict with Astrid.

Toby’s relationship has to be different in one way– he’s not just Astrid’s best friend– he’s her boyfriend. In fact, she often daydreams of one day being Dr. Astrid Bundersmith, so he has to not only be great, but dreamy as well. Toby is my perfect boy. He never wavers, he’s always supportive, he’s always reliable, and always responsible. He can’t save the day, because Astrid is the hero of the story, but he’s always there to back her up. If someone has to come to Astrid’s aid, it will be Toby. In truth, he’s pretty boring. Fortunately, there are enough other characters who can cause chaos, doubt, and trouble for our girl inventor.

Astrid Maxxim: Astrid Maxxim

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Astrid Maxxim 2Astrid is the big star of the series.  If the fact that she is the title character wasn’t enough to tell you that, there is the fact that her name literally means “big star”.  Astrid is a 14 year-old girl inventor, from a long line of inventors.  She is extremely intelligent, but she is also intuitive and empathetic. She is kind and friendly, but shy and unassuming. She loves science and technology and is easily frustrated by superstition and silliness. She is supremely confident about herself, but not so confident in her interactions with others. This along with a certain rigidness regarding change, I associate with her being an only child.

Astrid attends Rachel Carson High School, where she is a freshman (the school year ends at the end of book 2).  Astrid’s two great inventions are: Astricite, a superconductive material, and Astridium, a lightweight but extremely strong material.  They let her create all of her other inventions, like the hoverbike and her undersea dome.  That brings us to the hardest part of writing a book like this– imagining what inventions Astrid could create.  It’s a lot harder than I really imagined at first.  But Astrid is a fun character to write and hopefully I can think up enough for her to do for a few more books at least.

The Sorceress and her Lovers – Minor Characters Part III

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The Sorceress and her LoversHere are a few more minor characters from Senta and the Steel Dragon Book 6: The Sorceress and her Lovers.

Kenda: Another of Hsrandtuss’s wives, Kendra at one time lived in Port Dechantagne and worked as a guide for hunters, as seen in The Dark and Forbidding Land.

Kayden: The lizzie majordomo of the Dechantagne-Staff household.

Benny and Hero Markham: Senta’s childhood friend has grown up into a married woman with several children, including her daughter named Senta.

Walter and Warden Charmley: The twins, who have appeared numerous times in the earlier books, notably as small boys in The Drache Girl, have grown up and started their own dinosaur ranch.

Talli Archer and Questa Hardt: Talli and Questa are two members of Sherree Glieberman’s clique.  Questa’s father is Birmisian and her mother is from Mirsanna.

Little Senta: There are many children in Port Dechantagne named Senta– not surprising after Senta’s defeat of the dragon Hissussisthiss.  This one is special though because she is the daughter of the sorceress herself.

Sirris: Still another of Hsrandtuss’s wives ( I think I’ve covered them all now).  She comes originally from the village of Tserich.

Risty: The lizzie butler in the Colbshallow home, Risty is always ready to drop a cold Billingbow’s Soda Water into his master’s hand.

Gabrielle Bassett and Dutty Morris: Two young women of the Birmisian upper crust, have been mentioned in several books and were seen at the Accord Day party in The Two Dragons.  They became friends with Hero and Senta in their early twenties.

Chutturonoth: There are several notable warriors among Hsrandtuss’s tribe, but Chutturonoth is right there in the heat of the action on several occasions.

Bessemer the Steel Dragon: I wouldn’t call Bessemer as minor character.  He is one of the two title characters of the series, after all.  Even in The Two Dragons where he plays a huge part, he is seldom “on scene.”  The same is true here, though he has at least one scene with each of the other important characters.

The Sorceress and her Lovers – Minor Characters Part II

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Here are a few more minor characters from The Sorceress and her Lovers.

Peter Sallow: Last seen in The Dark and Forbidding Land as an apprentice of the great wizard Bassington, Peter has grown up quite a bit since then.

Dovie Likliter: A new arrival to Birmisia, along with her mother and brothers, Dovie become friends with Iolana Staff.

Wenda Lanier: An arrival to Birmisia as a preteen in The Drache Girl, Wenda has grown up to become what many consider to be the most beautiful woman in the colony.

Sherree Glieberman, arriving on the same ship as Wenda Lanier, Sherree was last seen at the Accord Day party in The Two Dragons.  She is now the leader of the colony’s mean girls, and Iolana’s nemesis.

Zeah and Egeria Korlann: The Korlann’s are now happily married, having finally ended their seemingly interminable courtship in The Two Dragons.

Augie and Terra Dechantagne: Still both young children, Augie and his sister Terra appear more in this book than any of the previous volumes.

Wizard Cameron and Wizard Winton: Two more police wizards, both have been in Port Dechantagne for a few years as the story begins.  That doesn’t mean they’re trusted.

The Coral Dragon: The little dragon that Senta got as an egg in The Young Sorceress and hatched in The Two Dragons travels the world with her mistress.  She doesn’t get along well with all her fellow travelers.

Pantagria: Back with a vengeance– literally.

Szakhandu: Another of Hsrandtuss’s wives with some peculiar ideas about how lizzies should be living.