Thanks to Mark Bordner, creator of The Mighty First scifi series, I was invited to participate in a blog tour for authors to highlight one of their characters.  Mark was one of my tags for a previous blog tour, so if you missed it check out Tag I’m It – Meet Some Indie Scifi Authors.

Naturally, in this round I’ll be talking about my main character in the This Corner of the Universe series, Garrett Heskan.  On to the Q&A!

1. The name of your main character that you wish to highlight. Describe how you came up with their idea…

Garrett Heskan starts Book 1 with his first “official” command as captain of a small Brevic Fast Ship, BRS Anelace. The remaining four books in the series (I’m working on Book 4 right now) follow his personal story through single ship actions, fleet battles, invasions and treachery. Heskan himself is an amalgamation of many people, fictional and real, that I’ve encountered while reading and while I served in the Air Force. I wanted to create someone easy to relate to, someone who doesn’t always have the right answers and who functions despite his self-doubts. I wanted readers to actually believe that such a person could exist (and in fact most often does). I’ve read a lot of science fiction where the main character has only minor flaws and you always know that no matter how many people disagree with the character, the main character is correct. That’s not the case with Heskan. He makes mistakes and the “real” story of his series is how he moves past them… starting with one mistake in particular on his previous ship, BRS Derringer.

2. When and where is the setting of their story…

The setting for Heskan’s series is a pretty fleshed out universe where humans have colonized a large area of space (check out the Stellar Maps). The time is far enough into the future that humans formed a vast Federation of star systems that eventually splintered into smaller governments. The original Solarian Federation still exists, but after the Secession Wars two new large governments were formed: the Brevic Republic and the Hollaran Commonwealth. (The “BRS” in BRS Anelace is “Brevic Republic Ship.”) There are also various smaller “corporate systems” governed by private enterprises. The characteristics of these political factions and the relationships among them are a pretty strong influence on Heskan’s story.

3. Tell what things you want people to know about them. Strengths, weaknesses, etc…

Heskan is an honorable, practical man but I would say he’s at a disadvantage in political and command experience at the start of Book 1. He maintains a healthy internal dialogue in the books, questioning his decisions, weighing his options as events unfold. Throughout the series he has to learn to deal with the burdens of command, the choices in his past, and his choices for his future. I think you’ll like the story and also the characters surrounding Heskan, starting with the original crew of Anelace. The plot of the series is an unusual one; I never wanted to write the “usual” science fiction storylines and I try to take the paths less written about to keep things fresh. Each novel reveals more and more about Heskan’s past and about his hopes and those of his crew. As the series progresses, events in the larger universe come in and out of Heskan’s story arc, and not all of them are resolved if they don’t remain in Heskan’s sphere of influence or timeline. I think those events will make excellent fodder for future stories.

4.Their main conflict, and how they develop from dealing with it…

In the first book, Heskan’s main conflict is dealing with a realistic policing problem in a “frontier” environment where “the law” isn’t around every corner. The conflicts in subsequent books get more complicated and larger scale, including wars, politics, and personal enemies. In the series as a whole, Heskan’s conflicts are more internal, making choices about the man he wants to be and dealing with the consequences of each choice he makes.

5.Title of your work, and links to purchase it…

Since you are reading this on my blog, just click on over to the book notes pages to find links to This Corner of the Universe (Book 1), No Way to Start a War (Book 2) and The Wrong Side of Space (Book 3). The books are available on Kindle, Nook and in print. You’ll also find some links giving readers extra insight into each book, like military history inspirations, where ship names came from, and other extras.

6. Or, if not yet released, when it is expected to be available, and where…

Book 4 is Loyalty to the Cause and I’m pushing for a late November 2014 release. In fact, I’m on target to finish the first draft this week!

The title of this blog post is It Takes All Kinds, and there are many interesting characters out there.  Here are three authors who will tell you about theirs next week!

David Bruns, author of The Dream Guild Chronicles series, will post next week, but you should click over to his website ASAP because he’s giving away the first book free on his website at the time of this post!

Scott Moon, author of both the Chronicles of Kin Roland series and the Dragon Badge series, has you covered whether you are looking for a scifi adventure or urban fantasy.  His latest book is Die Like a Man, parallel to the Dragon Badge series and an urban fantasy/horror mix, and last I checked just $0.99 on Kindle.

Scott Baughman, author of the Balance of Power scifi series, tagged me for the previous blog tour, so I’m happy to return the favor.  When I checked yesterday, his Book 1 was free on Amazon and Smashwords as well.