That’s right, I killed off an independent author yesterday when I finished Book 3 from my Eclipse series, The Eclipse of Power. Yesterday TS Paul used my name in his new book for a cannibalistic pirate who loves to BBQ (I assume he is killing her off). So several of us started joking around about who to kill off in our books, or who could be a “red shirt”. Several authors volunteered, and one son of a beta reader did as well. It was a fun time discussing how we would kill each other off!
My first author to kill off was Craig Martelle. Martelle is the name of the ripper (bad vampire) I created at the end of the book. He was in a big battle with B’Lana and Ash. Martelle died a bloody, gruesome death and in the end he lost more than just his head.
Xandrie Kovak is the other author who volunteered. Well, she volunteered for Craig and I asked her if I could use her name for a female fae warrior that I was writing. Doesn’t Xandrie just sound fae? Xandrie, my character, is still alive but I am not sure how much longer she will live. I really like her character and she seems to have developed her own voice in the story and is not ready to die yet. Be sure to look out for her in Book 3 and Book 4!
Rueben is the third character I created yesterday. He is actually the son of a beta reader in my group. In Book 3, Rueben seems like a good guy. He is a fae warrior who is charged with protecting B’Lana and her group. But B’Lana senses something dark about him so he is left behind. At the end of Book 3 Rueben is still alive, but I know something is going to happen in book 4 that will cause him to lose his life. And it won’t be a heroe’s death he receives. Mwaa ha ha
“Red shirts” are characters who come in for a short time and die. They started off in Star Trek. Each episode we would see a new character wearing a red shirt and by the end of that episode they would die. It has now become a standard character in a lot of TV shows as well as in books.
If you want to know more about Craig or Xandrie, check out their websites:
Craig Martelle: www.craigmartelle.com/apps/blog/
Xandrie Kovak: www.xkovak.com
