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Character Casting
Funny thing is, I used character models for many of these people, and a lot of them were friends and family. (Calvin and Godfrey were based on my wife's two brothers, Patrick and Joe.) If they were to be cast for a film or something, I think I'd like some unknowns for those roles. I will say that I think Jonathan Frakes should play Commodore McCracken, and Marina Sirtis should be his wife Edith, for nerdy reasons. And I would demand a side role for myself, I'm just that vain. I think I'd like to be John Penn, the man who recruits Calvin to join the cause. That would be pretty meta.
Snippets
Book 1
Here's a scene from REBEL HEART. It's not the Boston Tea Party, but, well, the similarities are there.
Calvin recalled the trip he’d taken with his father. They’d left Baltimore and led a horse-drawn wagon all the way up to Massachusetts, where Father knew of a captain who would deliver their wool to a wholesaler in Nouveau France, for a small commission. Their meager stock from that season had filled only a small part of the deck on the captain’s ship; the rest of it was dried tea leaves in strong crates secured with a special kind of iron.
“Frosted iron,” the captain whispered to Father. “So as it can’t be magicked away by the mages, you see. It’s a special product from Ohio. Your load’s safe on this ship, Mr. Adler.”
Father was impressed. “And all this tea?”
The captain told how he and a handful of his friends had planted the valuable crop many years prior, tended to it themselves, harvested the leaves and dried them with painstaking care. It would catch a king’s ransom on the open market, compared to what the crew normally sold on their voyages.
Father and the captain shook hands and parted ways. Yet it would seem that not all of the captain’s commercial associates had been so discreet that year. After Calvin and Father had gotten off the ship, a trio of mages showed up, wands in hand, and matching sneers on their faces.
At the time, Calvin hadn’t understood what was happening. The mages demanded to know the captain’s intent for the tea. He and his crew bristled at the question. Some of them quietly grabbed nearby instruments off the deck, but they weren’t holding them the way they held tools. The captain stated his business, that they meant to sell their haul, and the mage casually said he’d have to confiscate the load.
“It just wouldn’t be fair to the other colonists, who don’t have any tea to sell,” the mage had said, signaling for his companions to seize every crate of product. Calvin scratched his head at this; if the captain and his men had done all the work, why shouldn’t they sell it?
Apparently the captain agreed with this sentiment. What happened next was burned into Calvin’s memory sure as a branding iron marked livestock.
Some of the crewmen were still loading crates of tea leaves onto the deck of the boat. Half a dozen crates sat on a platform mounted to the dock, all rigged up with ropes and pulleys so it could swing out over the water. While the platform hung between the dock and the boat, the captain uttered a word in what sounded like an Indian language. One of the crewmembers, a bronze-skinned man with pitch-black hair shaved in an extreme pattern, drew a tomahawk from behind his belt, spun around and hurled it with stunning accuracy at the rigging. The tomahawk’s blade bit into the ropes, sliced them clean through, and unlaced the complicated weave that allowed the platform to move. Six crates plunged into the salty water below, instantly ruined. To save the falling crates, the mages uttered summoning spells in the Old Saxon tongue, but the anti-magical iron did its job.
Calvin was pretty sure a fight had broken out after that, but he didn’t get to see it. Father clapped a hand over Calvin’s eyes and quickly whisked him away, telling him they were to return to Baltimore immediately.
Even now, Father refused to let Calvin speak of that day, and all of his questions since then had been met with a sharp command to put it out of his mind. Calvin had never forgotten it, though. After years of seeing Fitz and Birty squeeze coins out of the Baltimore residents, Calvin eventually understood why the captain had destroyed his load.
Book 2
Here's a scene from SUICIDE RUN, introducing Sophronia Brimble, one of my favorite side characters.
A young lady emerged from the back room, her figure trim and muscular, covered primarily in form-fitting leathers and thin cotton fabric. She wore a leather vest and a black canvas skirt over skintight leggings tucked inside gatorskin boots that accentuated the curves of her calves. She also wore long daggers strapped to either leg. Unlike most faunamancers Godfrey had known, she let her hair grow long, though she braided it in a stiff tail that reached almost to her waist. A bandana covered her forehead and most of her hair, giving her a working-girl image that invited no nonsense.
“Yeah?” she demanded, half-interested.
“Eh, the owner . . .” Godfrey trailed off.
“You’re looking at her.” She had a lilting colonial accent. Fitz’s badge indicated to Godfrey that this was not the same owner Fitz had known.
“Um, hello,” Godfrey said.
“Something I can do for you, bobby?” She asked it in such a way as to imply that she wasn’t in the mood to waste her time.
“I was under the impression that Iphigenia Brimble was the manager?”
“Aunt Iffie kicked the bucket two years back, din’t she? Ain’t no warm fuzzy neither, thanks for bringing it up.”
“My apologies, I—”
“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I’m Sophronia Brimble, this is my gig. You got coin or what?” She fixed him with a hard stare.
Godfrey didn’t like that; he’d meant to come from a position of power. He’d have to come at her tough, really play the hard mage if he was to get her services. He curled his lip and tried not to straighten up too abruptly.
“Name’s Fitznottingham, Deputy of His Majesty’s Continental Bureau of Intelligence.” He flashed the badge like he’d seen Fitz do it a dozen times. “I require the services of three fast airborne animals, post-haste. Official business.”
“You’re a kid.”
At this, Godfrey glared. “And a bloody accomplished one. Age matters less than skill, Miss Brimble.”
“Oh bollocks, you ain’t commandeering my flock, are ye?” Sophronia demanded. Godfrey steeled himself, doubling down on the act.
“In the name of the Crown, yes. You will be generously compensated for answering the call to aid the kingdom in this time of crisis.”
“I’d better,” she growled, and mumbled something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like wanker. “I’ve only got one other flyer on duty. Can you handle a wyvern?”
Book 3
1) Calvin is trapped in a burning house, surrounded by mages.
Think, think, think!
Sweat. Cloth. Layers. Damn it all, the jacket wouldn’t cover him forever. Water! Was there any water in the kitchen?
The wash basin! Mother kept a barrel full of water in the kitchen and emptied it once a week. It would be dirty. But it would also be water.
Wool would soak up water like a sponge, if he could remove his coat. It clung to him, having absorbed his sweat. Maybe he could tip the barrel over himself? Too heavy, he might waste it.
Think! Come ON!
The tablecloth! It was heavier, thicker than his coat, and likewise made of wool. It was the one family heirloom that his parents had brought from Europa before getting married in Meryka. Calvin grabbed a handful of the cloth, balled it up and dunked it in the barrel.
Hotter. Smokier. Harder to breathe...
When he could stand it no longer, he tugged the heavy cloth out and draped it over himself. The steam and smoke smothered what little air there was left. Now or never, do or die.
Gritting his teeth, he raised himself to a crouch and aimed at what he hoped was the remains of the back wall; it was impossible to see or make sense of his surroundings. He looked straight ahead and ran for it, and when he sensed that he was going to hit something, he shifted and put his shoulder into it, bracing for the worst.
2) The “honeymoon phase” of Calvin and Amelia’s relationship is over. They have a massive disagreement about something, and, well…
Calvin bit his lip and descended the ramp. His feet had just touched the tarmac when the ramp retracted and the lifter fans kicked back into gear. The downwash knocked several people aside, and he found himself sprawled on his back, shielding his eyes from the intense rush of air.
There were shouts of alarm and orders from Yahola to cease, but the wyvern went on, heedless. Calvin could only watch helplessly as Amelia spun it around and pointed it at the open hangar doors.
*
She took one last look at Calvin’s face. That face that she had come to love in such a short time. The life she had left everything to save...oh, how it killed her to do this, to know that she had to do this.
There could be no more delays. No more side trips. The Culper box had to get to Harrisburg, and now, with the machine a thousand pounds lighter, she could probably make it with her current fuel level. She had to finish Dad’s work.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. Before she could change her mind, she hit the throttle and took off, settling in for another long flight.
Scarlett Wells has been a voracious reader since she was a toddler sitting in the laundry basket she used to move her library from place to place. Her love of reading has been a constant in her life and ultimately led to her sharing her own stories.
