Senta and the Steel Dragon – Characters

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I’ve covered the characters in Blood Trade, Women of Power, Astrid Maxxim, His Robot Girlfriend, and His Robot Wife.  Now it’s time to look at the Senta and the Steel Dragon series.  This will be fun, because there are literally hundreds of characters in the six books.  I’ll give a full entry to the main characters and group minor characters into a single post, but I’m going to present them in the order they appear in each of the books. 

I’m looking forward to this because I get to read the books again.  I really feel like Senta and the Steel Dragon is my best writing, my best story, and my best characters.  Stay tuned tomorrow as we start with Book 0: Brechalon.

His Robot Girlfriend — Politics

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People accuse me of having all kinds of hidden agendas in the robot books, both political and otherwise.  Some have suggested that I’m a radical environmentalist because of the prominance of the Green Party in the story.  I do care about the environment, but the reason that the Green Party plays a part is that I thought it would be more fun to have three parties vying for the presidency than two. 

Others have said the story is a thinly veiled treatis on same-sex marriage.  There is a reference to the fact that same-sex marriage is more common in the future of the story.  That is not an endorsement by me.  I don’t have really strong feelings about it one way or the other.  I do think the institution of marriage is being damaged less by same sex couples than by people (either gay or straight) who practice serial monogamy– getting married and divorced over and over again.  I’ve been married to the same woman for 26 years. 

One area that few people get is the parallel of Apple Computers.  I tried to parody and reference Apple in a number of ways.  I find Apple and Apple fandom both interesting and humorous.  On the other hand, though I wasn’t part of it when I wrote the books, I wouldn’t give up either my iPad or my iPhone 4S for anything now.

Harriet Smith

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Harriet Smith is a character in His Robot Girlfriend and His Robot Wife.  She is the daughter of the main character– Mike Smith.  Harriet is very loosely based on my own daughter, but as my daughter has happily pointed out, she would never put up with such a jerk of a husband as Harriet has, and quite honestly, unlike Mike, if my daughter did, I’d put him in the ground myself.

There are a few little inside stories that are taken from my own life with my daughter, such as her ability to talk a subject to death until my eyes glaze over, and the remembrance that they have of the time that Mike threatened to kill a kid who was bullying Harriet and almost lost his job because of it.

On the other hand, Harriet is a dental hygienist, and is fascinated with teeth, something my daughter has never shown any interest in.

Lucas Smith

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Lucas Smith is a character in His Robot Girlfriend.  He is the son of Mike Smith and his deceased wife.  While I was writing His Robot Girlfriend, my son was participating in Jr. ROTC at his high school.  Because of this, I made Lucas a soldier.  Other than that, he bares no real resemblance to my son at all.  In fact, Lucas has a relatively small part to play in the story, so his character isn’t really all that fleshed out.  He doesn’t appear in His Robot Wife at all.

I’m Over the Cloud

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I am over cloud computing.  This was supposed to be the wave of the future, helping us keep organized.  Now I have media spread out over at least seven different clouds and I can’t find anything I want to find.  I’m also done with the vaguaries of having something I’m supposed to own, in the hands of someone else who can cancel my access any time they want, and only let me know this somewhere in their 500 page user agreement.  I’m done with it.  Having it available for download is fine, but from now on, if I can’t back it up on my own hardware and play it on at least two different players, I’m not spending my money on it.

Update: The Young Sorceress

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I got the following message on the blog, but I can’t seem to find it now.  “Is either the Young Sorceress or The Two Dragons part of the Senta and the Steel Dragon series, perhaps?”

Yes.  The Young Sorceress is part 4 and The Two Dragons is part 5 (the conclusion) of Senta and the Steel Dragon.

Chapter 7 of The Young Sorceress is now done and it’s on to chapter 8.  I expect 15-16 chapters total.  I’ll keep you up to date. In the meantime, I’ve been thinking of the blurb for the book back.  It might go along something like this.

The young sorceress Senta Bly can get into all kinds of trouble.  Imagine the trouble when there are four of her, one extremely secretive and cunning, one giddily happy, one paranoid and frightened, and one apparently intent on murdering her boyfriend Graham and the new girl he’s been seen around town with.  Which if any, is the real Senta?

Astrid Maxxim is Coming to Paperback

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I’ve been vascilating over which if any of my books should go to paperback.  I don’t really sell any, though I do give some away.  On the other hand, my ebooks are starting to sell.  Still, I thought of all my books, Astrid Maxxim deserved a paper treatment, as it is aimed at young readers, who might not have access to an ereading device.  I chose an unusual format– 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 98 pages.  I did this for a couple of reasons- 1) it just works better with the cover illustration, and 2) I wanted it to be different than my other books, since this one is aimed at children.  As I write this, the proofs have already shipped and I should have them by the time you read this.

A Place to do my Writing

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I’ve been hard at work converting my daughter’s bedroom back into the den it once was, now that she’s moved on to her own place.  I’m really looking forward to having a quiet place to work.  As you can see, it’s a work in progress.

Get Astrid Maxxim and her Amazing Hoverbike on your Nook!

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You can now pick up Astrid Maxxim and her Amazing Hoverbike for your Nook by following the link below.  Just as at Amazon, Kobo, and iBooks, it is just 99 cents.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1107759360?ean=2940032863465&itm=1&usri=astrid+maxxim

Astrid Maxxim and her Amazing Hoverbike now at Kobo Books

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Astrid Maxxim and her Amazing Hoverbike is now availabe at Kobo books for 99 cents.  Follow this link right to it: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Astrid-Maxxim-her-Amazing-Hoverbike/book-dHww_7RCZ0eAeEurAyXCNg/page1.html