Telling the story of an entire colony required the creation of a large number of supporting characters. Many were just spear carriers– people who showed up because I needed someone there. Some of them had their own stories that played into the main plot. It was fun working with them and I came to love all my characters. Here are some of the minor supporting characters that appear in the book.

Eamon Shrubb: I needed another police constable to play off Saba Colbshallow, so I created Eamon. He is a typically British (or what I think of as typically British) cop. Serious about his job but a great guy under his stuffy exterior.

Dot Shrubb: Eamon needed a wife and for no reason what so ever, I decided that she was deaf. This added an interesting trait that I was able to play with later.

Evo & Femke Kane: The Kanes are an unusual couple. They are more like siblings that a married couple. This is primarily because Mrs. Kane is a lesbian and they probably have no sexual relations with each other. They are both mining engineers and like to dress alike.

Honor Hertling: She is the older sister of Hero and Hertzal (both major supporting characters) and she is patterned after those people who do so much more for others than for themselves. She is a member of the Colonial Council and is the primary voice for the poor and the repressed.

Lon Fonstan: Lon is my Otis the drunk. He shows up in the jail every so often for “drunk and disorderly” but otherwise seems like a nice guy.

Isaak Wissinger: I needed a writer and Isaak is it. I built up such a great back story for him in my mind– one that didn’t see print in the books– that I’m thinking about him as a primary character in a new book.