Prof Reames, I mean to ask this in the most respectful way possible: is Alexander form history, or at least Alexandros from Dancing with the Lion your blorbo?
I love this. But it might surprise you to learn ā¦ no, he isnāt. Hephaistion is, at least for history. But sure, Alexander would be a close second.
When it comes to fiction, though, Iāll repeat what a friend of mine said many years back when asked which of her novels (she had quite a few in print by then) was her favorite.
āThe one Iām working on next,ā she replied.
This isnāt just because you hope to sell it, so you need to talk it up. In order to write something as long as a novel, and especially a whole series, you have to be absorbed. In love with the characters, in love with the world, etc.
So my current (fictional) blorbo is Ision. Heās not the main protagonist in the series (thatās Teo), but he is the secondary protag, and I just adore him. Iām fascinated by truly GOOD people. Not perfect (perfect characters are boring), but I intend him to be one of those people who simply has a kind soul, and charisma in spades too.
Itās all the more interesting because heās also āMaster of Battlesā (DamÅn MakhÄs), which title he got by leading a battle that left 5000 enemy dead on the fieldā¦twice. So thatās the internal contradiction of the character, which has been (and remains) fascinating to explore. One of my other favorite characters (Suwatha) really struggles with that: her (adopted) brother, who she loves, is āthe bronzehead death-dealer,ā the Butcher of Veii. But the series is meant to turn the conquest narrative on its head, and the elevator pitch runs: āWhen the Master of Battles becomes the Mother of Peace, it remakes their world.ā
Iām about midway through book 5 (of a projected 6). The first nearly wrote itself in 4 months. Itās actually an old story I started way back in grad school, then gave up on as I wasnāt sure (then) what I wanted to do with it. I pulled it out again in December of 2019 (yes, right before Covid), as Dancing was finished and in print. I knew Riptide didnāt want any more of the series, so I needed something I thought might net me an agent, who could then help sell the rest of Alexander too. I revamped the whole thing, and it just flowed.
I can hardly wait to share it with the rest of you, but at the molasses-rate publishing takes these days, itās likely to be some years, even if I were to get lucky and land an agent tomorrow. (And Iām not even, yet, looking.) I want to finish it to ensure continuity.
Plus, I have this OTHER little writing projectā¦. The Hephaistion-Krateros monograph! Thatās more likely to see print before Master of Battles.
