I can scarcely recall how I got the idea for Canaries. It is entirely possible I had recently heard the Police song, Canary in a Coal Mine. But I will be the first to admit it: I am not sure.
Background
The great battle for the Earth is over. And – spoiler alert, sorry, not sorry – we lost. So, what do we do now?
The Plot of Canaries
The first paragraph contains one of my favorite phrases to write. And yes, I have used it before. But it still works.
“… when they came.”
It is obvious there has been some sort of a disaster. And we humans types are not doing so well. Nope. Not at all.
But there is an opportunity out there. We just need to figure out how to seize it.
Characters
The characters are the narrator mainly, along with the birds she (he?) has brought along. The narrator references other people, but the reader never really “meets” them. Plus there are the birds he or she is carrying, in a cage.
But where are they?
Memorable Bits
The first night, in the big common room, their twittering kept people up. People complained, yes, but no one threatened me or the birds. After all, there are so few of us. To harm or threaten one of us is to threaten all of us.
I carried my cage wherever I went on the ship. I got to see what other people had brought along. One woman had a glass bottle of expensive perfume, wrapped in layers and layers of plastic. She told me she had been wealthy back on Earth. It was all she had from her glory days. So she understood why I had brought the birds.
Rating for Canaries
The story has a K rating.
Upshot or, Birds to the Rescue?
It was so great to hear Canaries would be published in Theme of Absence in March of 2019. So this was my second short story published by them. The first is The Interview.
So, I am also glad that the story ends with the slenderest thread of hope. There may be a way out, somehow, some way, after all.
And what would this review be without a quick musical interlude?
Canaries — because an early warning system just might save us all.
Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?
If this story resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other articles about my shorter works.
Short Stories
And finally, for a complete list of my shorter works, please be sure to check out the Hub Page—Short Stories.
The Interview came about because I conjured up a kicker of an opening line. After that, it immediately started to fall into place.
Background
Since I have been on countless job interviews, this one was rather easy to write. So, I brought forth a memory I have of an interview being conducted over lunch. It was an odd situation. Two guys met with me and neither of them ate anything. I ate a Caesar salad by myself.
Also, as I recall, they were supposed to take me to some swanky-ish place. But instead, we went to Pizzeria Uno. At that moment, I should have known damned well it was not going to go well.
Plot of The Interview
The narrator meets a woman who runs an agency which hunts demons. And then things go a little haywire from there. In particular, during their meeting, the narrator gives away how she can sense demons. So this starts out as being vital information. But not when the story ends, it isn’t any longer. Then it turns into an albatross around her neck.
As for the restaurant, it is a combination of a number of places I have been to. The parking lot, in particular, is from Jasper White’s Summer Shack in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But with the wine steward and all, the pretend restaurant in The Interview is a lot more hoity-toity.
Characters
The characters are the narrator and the head of the agency. The narrator is the interviewee.
Memorable Quotes from The Interview
“So, how long have you wanted to hunt demons?” The question hung in the air for a second.
The job interview was being conducted over lunch and I had just taken in a big forkful of Fettuccine Alfredo. I washed it down with iced tea, swallowed, wiped my mouth, and tried not to look stupid. “It’s since I was just out of school. My classmates didn’t see them. But I did.”
Rating
The Interview has a K rating. While there is some menace behind it, nothing violent happens “on screen”.
Upshot
I was so happy when The Interview was the featured story in the December 14, 2018 edition of Theme of Absence. So they even interviewed me! Canaries is another story in Theme of Absence. So I guess they like me.
Fortunately I have never had an interview quite like this. #amediting
Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?
If this story resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other articles about my shorter works.
Short Stories
And finally, for a complete list of my shorter works, please be sure to check out the Hub Page—Short Stories.
In 2021, I tried to write or at least start one short story per day. Fatima’s Minnesota Wish came from a single-word prompt: carousel. It is the third story I wrote during the first quarter of 2021.
Background for this Minnesota Wish
Fatima’s sister Aaliyah is dying of some unnamed heart or muscular disease. Their parents have brought their children to the Mayo Clinic, in the hopes that somewhere, somehow, there can be a miracle and there will be a suitable donor. But Aaliyah’s time is running out.
For Fatima, who is in the seventh grade, school is a mystery. She is learning English on the fly, but at least she understands math, for the numbers are the same. In order to help her acclimate better (and faster), the school offers the services of its speech therapist for some individualized instruction.
Into this difficult and sometimes bewildering world comes an expression from the speech therapist, Miss Crane: Go for the brass ring.
The first part of the story is Fatima figuring out just what that is, and hoping against all hope that it will be the one thing that saves her dying baby sister.
Plot
It’s all the Hussein family can do to try to keep their younger daughter Aaliyah alive. But every day, that gets harder and harder. Fatima, their elder daughter, is just trying to navigate life in a new country, with a bewildering new language.
Fatima’s own grief and sadness are spiked with a dose of the novelty of being in the United States and learning English. And maybe talking about boys with her new friends. But then there is that brass ring, and all it symbolizes.
Characters
The characters are mainly Fatima, her parents, Ali and Maryam, and her sister, Aaliyah. At school, Fatima’s teacher is Mrs. Murphy. Her speech teacher, helping Fatima learn English, is Miss Crane. Fatima’s friends are Nicole and Debbie.
At the hospital are Mr. and Dr. DePels and their daughter, Doris, along with Dr. Rosenthal. Also, there are Shmuly Baum’s parents, Herschel and Raya.
Memorable Quotes
Months went by, and of course Mrs. Murphy was right about the Minnesota winter. But it was only my parents and me who ever saw it. Aaliyah stayed in the hospital, month after month.
In the meantime, I was making friends with some girls: Nicole and Debbie. My father went to work at an engineering firm whenever he could. He would switch off with my mother, who would work in architecture, from home. But I could see how worried she was. It was hard for her to be creative. I suppose that’s understandable.
When May rolled around, the lovely weather got us all itching to go outside. Miss Crane used a rather odd expression with me. She said I should “reach for the brass ring”.
Rather than ask her what she meant, I decided to figure it out for myself. I just asked her for a hint, and she told me to go to a local park, to the carousel. She had to show me a picture, as I had never seen one before.
The park was open that weekend, and so I, in my halting English, asked the man running the carousel what the brass ring was. So, he showed me. There are rings in the center and, as your ride goes up and down and around, you lean over and reach out to try to grab one. And he said I could get any prize if I brought him one.
Rating
The story has a K rating.
Upshot for Fatima’s Minnesota Wish
I like the idea of this story probably more than how it actually came out. In part, this may be because it does not quite end. Rather, it just sort of runs out of gas. Which can happen with stories, naturally. And it follows vis a vis how her sister’s health is declining.
Perhaps I will try to pick it up again in the future, particularly if it becomes a story to query or to self-publish.
Fatima’s Minnesota wish is truly heartfelt. And maybe one day medicine will be able to grant it. #amwriting
Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?
If this story resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other articles about my shorter works.
Short Stories
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Consider Ceilidh O’Malley, One of My Original Characters
Who is Ceilidh O’Malley?
The main character in The Real Hub of the Universe series is someone I originally thought of as “a plucky Irish scullery maid”. But then she grew and changed. And I like her better now. Readers seem to love her, too.
To get truly technical and formal, this character is Ceilidh Aisling O’Malley Barnes Radford.
Oh, and her name is pronounced Kay-Lee, and her middle name, Ashling. Dance and dream.
Where Did Ceilidh O’Malley Come From?
The name came to me first. Because the idea behind Real Hub was to marry science fiction with the Victorian Era, the perfect character to observe the goings on would be in the serving class.
With a story that goes from the serving class to the Boston Brahmins and back again, she could be there for all of it.
The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Ceilidh O’Malley
Considered an old maid in her tiny home village of Ballyvaughan, Ceilidh, her sister Maeve, and her mother are starving. The crops are unreliable, and the entire village is barely on the right side of grinding poverty.
And that even includes the most powerful family in Ballyvaughan, the Barneses.
Ceilidh has stayed away from the men in her village. She is a cousin of some degree to near all of them. But it is more than that. She is just plain not interested in any of them.
A part of this is because she (and one of the Barnes sons) is the best student in the one-room, multi-year schoolhouse. The teacher? Her father. But by the time she is in her teens, her father has died of what was likely food poisoning. Things are not looking good.
And so, even though Maeve likes him, it is Ceilidh who ends up being married off to the middle Barnes son, Johnny. When Johnny attacks her, she flees the country and the story begins, as does the Real Hub of the Universe series.
Description
Extremely pale, yet with the map of Ireland on her face, Ceilidh is semi-unique looking. But not so much that she should seem out of place. What I did not want was a stereotypical redheaded, freckle-faced Irish Colleen.
I decided Ceilidh would resemble Naomi Watts, an actress I like a great deal, particularly because she does not seem to be afraid of looking her age.
Purpose/Theme/Mo
This is Naomi Watts (as Gertrude in Ophelia) – looking a bit like Ceilidh O’Malley but probably too well-dressed and not as young as I’d like
Motivation
Ceilidh’s original motivator is getting away/lying. When she leaves Ballyvaughan, it is essentially under false pretenses. But there is no way that she can stay.
Her struggle to not only survive, but to turn her life around, is at the heart of the series.
Quotes (Ceilidh is talking to Dr. Devon Grace, who speaks first)
“And so you left?”
“Yes. I packed and my cousin was still in the village but he was leaving. So I went with him. He took me to Kinvara and I got passage on the Atlas because Captain Underwood took pity on me. We stopped in Cornwall and I met his wife and befriended her. She agreed to be the go-between for me and my mother and sister. Helen has kindly forwarded letters and even money to them for a few years now. She has exceeded my expectations a thousandfold.”
“And your mother and sister know nothing of your whereabouts?”
“That’s correct. They don’t even know I’m in America.”
Relationships
Ceilidh, like many characters, is well-defined by her relationships in life. Friend, family member, and employee—and eventually employer—she does it all.
Friendships
A true, understanding friend, Ceilidh feels it is important to help her friends whenever she can.
Frances Miller Ashford
Ceilidh’s first friend in the states is fellow scullery maid, Frances Miller. In fact, Frances makes it easier for Ceilidh to pass a test to be able to work at the Edwards House.
To return the favor, Ceilidh works to bring Frances’s admirer, plumber’s assistant Gregory Ashford, to the house more often so the two can get to know one another. The two women are so close that they are in each other’s weddings.
Shannon Duffy
Shannon is a strange creation of mine, essentially a colony of tiny cells which, together, make up a form of collective intelligence. The colony chooses her by vote, as they choose virtually everything else. When they meet, it is almost by random.
Shannon, at the time called Levi Altschuler, is being chased by a number of bullies in the Boston Public Garden. Running from them, Shannon runs directly into Ceilidh and knocks her down.
But when the bullies catch up, Ceilidh rises to defend Shannon, even though they have never seen each other before.
Shannon helps her in several different ways (trying to avoid too many spoilers here!), including helping Dr. Grace to save her life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
This very real figure from history is initially snobbish and somewhat mean to a mere serving girl. But they grow on each other, and he takes the place of her father in some ways.
As he ages, he slows down and suffers what we would recognize as a form of senile dementia, possibly Alzheimer’s disease. She cares for him whenever they are in the same room together and mourns him when he dies.
Dr. Devon Grace
Devon is Ceilidh’s originally stern and mysterious employer. He likes her discretion and company, and she, initially, enjoys bouncing ideas off him. In that way, he is also something of a father surrogate to her.
She accepts his faults, smooths out at least some of his rough edges, keeps his secrets, and they both make each other better.
Devon’s greatest gift to her is given in Ireland.
Ellen Remy Grace
As Ellen lives in somewhat genteel poverty, Ceilidh can relate. And when Ellen’s employment prospects are nearly zero due to her having an illegitimate child, it is Ceilidh who gives the semi-starving woman a sandwich.
And it is Ceilidh who treats Ellen like a friend and not a pariah. In her own way, Ceilidh also realizes Ellen is in mourning and has lost a great deal more than just her reputation.
Judge John Lowell and the Other Members of SPHERE
SPHERE, the secret society at the heart of the story, is the source of several relationships for Ceilidh.
Apart from Winthrop Edwards, all the members of SPHERE are real historical figures. Lowell is Ceilidh’s second employer. He treats her well and gives her responsibilities she would normally never have gotten. He and his wife treat her fairly.
Henry Adams is mainly aloof, but in the third book, he confides that he and a woman he corresponds with are involved in what we would nowadays call an emotional affair.
George Weld had been a yachtsman, but by the time Ceilidh knows him, he is becoming disabled (possibly due to a stroke). Much like with Emerson in his later years, Ceilidh fetches him tea, helps him up and down stairs, and otherwise treats him with special care.
Alexander Graham Bell joins later, and he is initially suspicious that a woman could possibly be a good confidante. She wins him over, in a way—but lets Mrs. Lowell speak up when Bell argues at a party that women should never be working.
When Emerson dies, Ceilidh turns to SPHERE member Bronson Alcott to take his place as the father figure in her life. Delighted, Alcott makes her promise to keep in close touch.
Finally, Winthrop Edwards is Ceilidh’s first employer in the US. Snobbish and very private, we get to know him better in the second and third books than we ever do in the first.
Family
Ceilidh’s family relationships are complex, mainly due to the tininess of her home village (so she is related to pretty much everyone) and her immediate family’s grinding poverty.
Her beloved father dies when she is young, and so her mother, she, and her sister are forced to fend for themselves. And it does not go well at all.
Mam (Mary O’Malley)
When the first book starts, Mary has been backed into a financial corner. She and her family are members of the cottier class, a kind of tenant farmer.
But when the crops fail too many times in a row, Mary knows that Maeve in particular probably will not survive for too much longer.
As a result, Mary surveys her valuables and essentially “sells” one of them—Ceilidh—for more food for all of them.
For the time, Mary’s actions are justifiable and even kind. Giving up Ceilidh to the Barnes family means her elder daughter will never starve. And it also means that the meager rations she, Maeve, and Ceilidh have been living on can instead be split between two people.
Furthermore, a connection to the Barnes family means occasional meals or at least allowances to be late with the rent. Jack Barnes is already Mary’s cousin. But handing over Ceilidh strengthens that.
When we finally meet her in Book Two, Mary is a doting grandmother but still starving, giving her share to her grandsons even if that means it could eventually kill her.
Maeve O’Malley Barnes
With Maeve, things are complicated. But that is understandable. Much like in the Old Testament story of Rachel and Leah, it is Maeve who is originally pledged to Johnny. But things go south when the family goes through yet another bad winter.
And Johnny does not want to wait for what at the time was called ‘wifely duties’.
Mary is cognizant enough of Maeve’s ill health to offer up Ceilidh instead. Ceilidh is about twenty, an old maid pretty much anywhere. Maeve is fifteen, and technically old enough to wed.
After Ceilidh flees Ballyvaughan, Johnny and Maeve take up anyway. And when Ceilidh, Jake, Shannon, and Devon go to Ballyvaughan in the third book, Ceilidh discovers Maeve is living in her cottage. Ceilidh’s cottage, that is.
Yep, like they say on Facebook, “it’s complicated”.
People Ceilidh Doesn’t Like
While technically Johnny Barnes should be here, he belongs in the next section. These people are not necessarily enemies, per se. But they are not pals with Ceilidh all the same.
Margery Cabot Edwards
Like in many wealthy American households of the time, it is the lady of the house who is in charge of the servants. Mrs. Lowell is fair and smart, running her house like a business.
Margery Cabot Edwards, on the other hand, is a snobby, spoiled rich girl, more than happy to treat all of her household help like dirt. But her maltreatment is a catalyst to get Ceilidh to find work elsewhere, with the Lowells.
Gerald Price
The lesser of the two louts working for the Lowell House, Gerald is a sexist, but that was par for the course at the time. This stable hand is a bit too nosy for his own good, but otherwise he and Ceilidh mainly stay out of each other’s way.
Ceilidh’s semi-revenge is to hire Gerald in Book Three.
Gerald has his name because I have been in more than one working situation where a guy named Jerry was just the biggest jerk.
My apologies to those who love people named Jerry (and hey, how about Jerry O’Connell?)! But I will often name a jerk in my writing Jerry, and that is the case in the Time Addicts trilogy as well.
Donald Smith
This character got his name due to the election of the 45th/47th president, a person who has never impressed me.
In the books, Donald is the gardener to not only the Edwards and Lowell Houses, but really to all or most of the Boston Brahmins. Talented and hard-working, he turns that on its head and uses his good qualities to get away with a lot.
As a result, he has a girlfriend in nearly every house he works in, and most if not all of those relationships are sexual in nature.
With Ceilidh, he is rough and nasty. Jealous of her education and her position with Devon, he is also sexually attracted to her. He calls her Duchess, and he is not trying to be flattering.
Donald’s comeuppance happens in Book Three (if you’ve only read the first two, trust me, it is coming), and I spent a lot of time trying to come up with what would punish him the most. Did I succeed? You tell me.
Romantic Relationships
Johnny Barnes
The first time we see Johnny, he is attacking Ceilidh for having the audacity to try to bring him home after he has been on a multi-day bender. Most women of the time would have accepted his treatment, although a lot of Irish villages and towns would have held a shivaree.
While Johnny’s behavior is far from defensible, some of it stems from marrying the wrong sister. In some small way, he loves Maeve, but he does not treat her much better than he does Ceilidh.
But at least with Maeve, he ostensibly provides care for her and their sons. Well, kinda.
Jacob Radford
Their meeting is far from auspicious, as they first see each other at the Charles Street Jail, on the opposite sides of the bars. But there is something about Jake. Originally, he is just her handsome, pleasant, polite suitor.
And when he learns the truth of her marital status (covered in her quote, above), he is all set to do the honorable thing and bow out. But when he learns why she is in America, he takes up her cause and is a large part of proving her case in the annulment hearing.
When they wed, he reveals real heat under his manners and Southern charm, and their sex life is certainly more active and consensual than it was for a lot of women at the time.
But the time they truly grow close is when he reveals his secrets to her about his service in the Civil War.
And when both of them see a possible future for themselves, he includes her in decision-making, treating her far more like an equal than most husbands did in the 1870s and 1880s.
Conflict and Turning Point for Ceilidh O’Malley
Ceilidh experiences several turning points within the series, and the first one happens in the first scene.
When the series starts, it is 1876. In this time period, most women would have accepted abuse as their lot in life.
But not Ceilidh. She is not going to continue pretending everything is fine.
In the second book, I tackle more of her marriage to Johnny. The abuse is just the cherry on a nasty sundae.
Without giving away too many spoilers, Ceilidh changes with major upheavals in her life. This is whether they’re from the start or end of relationships, or from external factors like trouble with the law. And, of course, the main change in her life is by aliens.
I do not necessarily have a lot of plans for Ceilidh, because I have already finished the trilogy.
But people love her, and I suspect her early life or her future could be of interest to readers.
So, I may not have seen the last of her.
Ceilidh O’Malley: Takeaways
For a character whose first appearance is a beating, Ceilidh O’Malley grows to become somewhat middle class. She grows to become a certainly respectable member of Boston society.
And she ends up with powerful friends, a great love, and a promising future. Her happy ending is the kind any of us would wish for.
Ceilidh O’Malley — a character who turns around completely.
Want More of Ceilidh O’Malley?
If Ceilidh resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about Ceilidh, Johnny, Devon, Frances, Shannon and everyone else as they work in order to prevent a temporally jacked-up genocide.
It is the kind of story I tossed off rather quickly and then it just sort of took on a life of its own. Which was very cool but also rather unexpected.
Background
I got the idea for this story because I had recently stayed at my childhood home and noticed something odd in the front yard. And the truth is, it was nearly nothing. However, I sometimes have an overactive imagination, and so I took this idea and I ran with it.
What did I notice? It was only a few ruts near a flower bed. They were nothing, really, and were most likely made by a hoe or a rake. However, in my mind, I decided they would be tire tracks. And then the fun started.
The Plot of Revved Up
A holier than thou narrator starts telling a story to an unnamed police officer. The plot circles around the narrator’s elderly parents’ next-door neighbors. Pretty soon, the narrator starts referring to them as the POJ Family. That is, the “Pair of Jerks”.
As the story progresses, our narrator gets more and more self-righteous as the POJ Family continues to perform more and more outrageous acts in her parents’ sleepy, leafy Northern New Jersey suburban street.
Note: my folks lived on Long Island at the time, and my family does not own the inspiration house any more. I have no idea who lives there now.
Sharp-eyed readers should be able to follow along, at least in part. The narrator keeps a lot of information close to the vest, so it pays, actually, to read the book again. And no, I am not trying to inflate read counts.
Characters
I never actually name anyone in the story. The main character is the narrator, who is telling the story to an officer of the law. The other characters are her elderly parents, her son and daughter, various neighbors, and her next-door nemeses, the so-called POJ family.
The narrator is a divorced middle-aged woman and that is all a reader learns about her. Her children are teenagers; her parents, elderly and coming to the time in their lives when they are just about ready to move into assisted living.
As for the POJ family, they have a decidedly more earthy philosophy than our heroine. And so she takes matters into her own hands.
Memorable Quotes
I returned to my parents’ home and the three of us began washing the many plates – eighteen in all. My mother declared that perchance these city people did not understand our ways and so she carefully hand-lettered a number of delicately-worded thank you notes to everyone in the neighborhood. We knew who had provided the apple pie, the cherry cobbler and even the New York-style cheesecake.
Story Postings
The story’s sole posting is on Wattpad, where it became a Featured Story a few years ago. I hope you will get a chance to check out Revved Up on Wattpad
Rating for Revved Up
The story has a K rating.
Upshot for Revved Up
This story has had better traction than nearly anything I have ever written. With (as of the time of the updating of this blog post) over 59,500 reads and over 500 comments (many of which referenced the surprise ending), Revved Up remains an unqualified success.
Of course having had Featured Story status for several months helped a great deal.
Could I sell it? I have toyed with that idea, but the story is so odd and it is really too short for a novel. Plus it does not really lend itself to a sequel or even a prequel. While sequels are far from necessary, it can help if that’s an option. But I am totally fine without one.
Revved Up — because villains don’t have to look evil on the outside….
So, the first thing you should know is that the Enigman Cave has some of its roots in fan fiction. But I have changed a ton of it and I am more than confident that there is just no way any copyright could be asserted in this work that is not my own.
Background
So a few years ago, I had created a wholly original species called Witannen. They had flowers growing out of their scalps instead of hair, and the pure Witannen would sport little vestigial wings which could not be used for much of anything. But the flowers, the chavecoi, would have a symbiotic relationship with a Witannen and could photosynthesize and prevent starvation.
At times, the flowers would even make almost a statement, where the character might be saying one thing, but the chavecoi were turning some odd color or pointing is some direction in direct contradiction. Hence, Witannen could not play poker successfully.
The Enigmans, however, were something else. Also, I wanted them to be a lot more primitive. However it was not until I decided to make them similar to Australopithecines that they sprang into sharp focus.
Plot
Marnie and her crew on the Valentina Tereshkova have one job: to find multi-cellular life. They have already found tons of primordial soup and unicellular life. The galaxy seems to abound with it. Hence the opening line: Life is common.
I think it is one of the better opening lines I have ever written.
Back at home, there is a world government. But they seem to have forgotten the Val and the other wedge ships (another 20+ are also looking for life but have gone in other directions). And no wonder, as the government is collapsing. When the Val finds the Enigmans, the new despotic government sees an opportunity to play at being Cortez 2.0.
Marnie feels her only hope of protecting the people of the Enigman Cave is to prove their intelligence. But how?
Also, the other upper level characters include her first officer, Patricia LaRue, who she calls Trixie, which makes her sound like a dance hall girl. Trixie is from London, Kentucky, with an accent right out of the holler.
The chief medical officer is Dr. Jazminder Parikh. At the start of the book, she and her girlfriend, Ginny Carey, have recently ended their relationship.
Then there is Marnie’s ex-husband, Ben Chase. Ben is the chief botanist aboard and he and his fiancée, nurse Kristen Watson, are about to be married. He also cheated on Marnie with Kristen.
Among other women on board.
So, things are uncomfortable. But when Marnie meets the nighttime veterinarian, Lex Feldman, sparks fly. Nighttime vet, you ask? There are two vets, because the ship’s food stores are alive: goats, chickens, cod, and salmon. There is even a form of farming.
In space.
Day shift vet Tom Ciorciari is on the Bridge, because the Scientific Officer (I tried so hard to keep it from just copying Star Trek), Art Yarrow, is on paternity leave. Yes, it is a ship with children, and even a mid-level officer in charge of them.
Plus the lawyers of the JAG Court are also important characters. The head of that unit is Hunter Garcia. The others are Terry Lynn Shull, Steve Roberts, Mike Medeiros, and Nick Minecci.
Also, lots of characters in The Enigman Cave are named after people I know.
The scenes take place either on board the Val or on the surface of Kepler 423-B, which they name Enigma.
Fun Fact About The Enigman Cave
I originally wanted to call this piece The Enigma Cave. And then I learned that title was already taken.
Ewps.
Memorable Quotes from The Enigman Cave
“Yes, Dr. Chase? The captain needs you here on the Bridge.”
And then in the background, there was Ben’s voice, whining and complaining, “I’m in the middle of an experiment.”
“Benjamin Chase!” Marnie yelled, her sudden increase in volume scaring everyone and breaking Tom out of his trance. “Get your ass over here. Now! Or I get somebody else to run Botany.”
“All right. But I blame you if this experiment goes to hell.” He cut the connection.
Tom looked back over his shoulder at Marnie. “What did we just find?”
“Wait for confirmation. Just, just wait for it. Astrid, send Ben the picture you took of the green stuff. Send it to his tablet.”
“Will do.”
A few minutes later, Chase stomped in. “You know I’m not on the Bridge crew,” he began, glaring at his ex-wife. “And who the hell sent me a picture of a bunch of chlorophyll?”
“Chlorophyll?” asked Ray. The others just stared.
“Yes! Goddamned chlorophyll. I don’t have the time for these shenanigans,” Chase huffed.
“Ben,” Marnie looked him in the eye, “are you absolutely certain that stuff is chlorophyll?”
“I know chlorophyll when I see it. Every botanist does.”
“And the chemical formula, Tom, what do you have on your screen?”
“C55H72O5N4Mg.”
More Quotes from The Enigman Cave (same scene)
“That, C-whatever, that stuff,” Marnie said. “Is that chlorophyll?”
“Yes.” Chase was even more peeved. “Everybody past Biochemistry 101 knows that.”
“They never found it off Earth though, eh?” Marnie asked, playing her trump card.
“What?”
“Here,” Astrid punched up another picture. “This is the atmosphere of the world we’re orbiting.”
Ben leaned over and then looked through the scope at the Scientific station. “Well, I’ll be damned.” He, too, was slack-jawed. “We, we found it.”
“Are you sure?” asked Marnie.
“Yes,” Chase was threatening to become as shell-shocked as Marnie and Tom had been. “Algae can have chlorophyll. They’re technically unicellular. But they, they live communally. I, I would say they, they count as, as multi-cellular.”
“Remember where you were, remember what you were thinking and, and how you felt,” Marnie said to them. “Because this is goddamned history.”
Rating
So if I had to rate The Enigman Cave, I would put it at about T for Teen. Because there are three sex scenes (one alien). Plus there is one incidence of violence but it is only on screen for a brief moment.
The inciting incident is a pair of deaths but the story starts after that, so I do not show them.
Also, as I have continued to rewrite and edit the piece, I have ended up realizing that the sex scenes were a bit too explicit. So, they are getting more toned down these days.
Upshot
So, at the time, it was the best book I had ever written. But now? I can’t say. I can still see some parts where it could stand to be trimmed. So, now I strongly suspect it will need an overhaul before I can even think about querying it. Or maybe self-publishing it.
As for Marnie and her pals, there is also a prequel. And even a little side story that is a very tiny sequel.
The Enigman universe has room for some sequels. What do you think?
Want More of The Enigman Cave?
If The Enigman Cave resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about how our society handles first contact with a species that may be as primitive as Australopithecus.
In order to get across the continual dissolution of one timeline into the next, I had to have someone who was constant—but not always.
Where Did Peter Ray Come From?
So, I wanted a character who would be essentially the kind of bad guy who many people would not think of as a bad guy at all. Because he is handsome, gentlemanly, and polished, this character can fool just about anyone.
But despite his polished, courtly exterior, he is ruthlessly ambitious.
The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Peter Ray
So, in the original timeline, he is the kind of guy who takes way too many shortcuts. But he gets caught, and in the original timeline, he does have to pay the piper.
Character Kurt Wilmont describes him best:
“Peter Ray was recruited in a rather different manner from y’all. He was called in directly by the Chief Governor. Yep, Xiang pulled him in herself. He was attractive as a candidate for the OIA for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was winning the Decker Prize for Engineering back in twenty-one. She saw potential in him.” …
He looked at his audience with a hangdog expression. “We’re not here to talk about her, or to spread rumors and gossip. So, here are the facts, in all their naked glory. Peter Ray was caught taking bribes to look the other way in various investigations. Those included drunk skimmer flying charges against an Orb Rep’s wayward son, and a bunch of miscreants on Vesta stockpiling thermal weapons, hoping to whack a few Obolonks on their way to martyrdom. As a result of Ray’s misdeeds, we are painfully aware that the agency isn’t as trusted as it once was. For this, I blame Ray directly. His greed and carelessness cost us a helluva lot. My husband and I were damned lucky we kept our jobs. A lot of people didn’t—it was a ton of housecleaning after Ray’s trial and conviction last year.”
Description
The only person I can even conceive of in this role is an older Richard Gere. Peter is handsome, distinguished, and charming. But he is also quite the gladhander. He is definitely like a politician in that you might want to count your fingers after you shake hands with him.
You know, just to make sure he hasn’t taken any.
Richard Gere, who I see as Peter Ray. Image is for reference purposes only.
Purpose/Theme/Motivation
Josie’s first inkling that things are not the way they seem is when Ray is suddenly in charge of the Orb Intelligence Agency.
This is despite the information I am listing above.
So, her biggest issue is that she is unsure of what she can recall. In addition, she does not have a lot of people who she can look to for any sort of confirmation.
But it does lay out the purpose, theme, and motivation for Peter Ray. He wants power. And the more, the better.
Quotes {Josie and Tad are looking to make some arrests}
“This is all fascinating and everything, but beyond the current love, er, rhombus, there’s a more pressing matter at hand. We know you’re killers. It’s time to pay the piper.”
“Not in this timeline. You got nothing,” said Cassie.
Vel, Daisy, and Marty Quinlan are all dead in this timeline. Even if Marty still killed Daisy in this line, the chances that he did it with your knowledge, consent, and blessing are high. Under your orders, I bet. “Sure, sure, keep telling yourselves that.”
Tad pulled out a small hot gun. “You did know it would come down to this, now, didn’t you, Robin?”
“Are you going to shoot us, Mr. Lewis?” asked Young. “Or arrest us? For I fear you have no jurisdiction here.”
“The people we’ve got backing us up do,” said Josie. Bobby, you can hear what’s going on. If you haven’t had Cyndi call the Charonian cops by now, then I gotta wonder why the hell we even keep you on the payroll.
Peter Ray arrived, and he glanced around. He must have realized the backup wasn’t in yet, and he charged at Tad. Tad coolly raised the weapon and shot the man in the face, creating a grazed oval on Ray’s skin, marring its otherwise just about unworldly perfection.
“What the fuck did you do that for?” yelled Ray, touching his hand to his face, and drawing away blood.
“You do realize that when you try to attack people, they’ll defend themselves, don’t you? Sheesh, why was this guy in charge of the OIA again?” Josie smirked, gesturing at Ray.
Tad lowered the weapon to allow it to recharge. “You’re lucky I can aim well. Most people would’ve taken your head off from this distance.”
“Besides, now he’ll have a Zero scar on his face,” said Josie. “We branded him as one of your boys, Robin.” She paused for a second and sneered. “You’re welcome.”
Relationships
Because the timelines keep shifting, his relationships and other aspects of his life change. But there’s one constant—he and the chief governor of all the orbs are, shall we say, simpatico.
Peter Ray and Chief Governor Dae Ou Xiang
Sometimes, she is his mentor. But sometimes, he seems to be hers. Also, at other times, they are good friends with a kind of unspoken attraction. Yet other times, they are lovers. Because like everything else, it really just depends on the timeline.
But does he have ambition to unseat her? Even I confess I am not certain. I give them six-year terms, just like US Senators. And they have got a term limit of two.
So, he could technically just wait things out if he wanted to become Chief Governor. After all, having her backing would be a huge feather in his cap.
But I don’t necessarily see him as having that kind of patience. If he did go up against her, either officially in an election or in some illegal and underhanded manner, I believe she would prove to be a formidable opponent.
Conflict and Turning Point
As the timelines keep colliding and changing, he is of course pulled along with everyone else. And because he is, he can be manipulated in some ways, to further serve the ends of the cabal.
For a person who lusts for so much power, it has got to be a bit of a comedown to realize that you are just someone else’s useful idiot.
Continuity/Easter Eggs
Unlike the Shapiro crew or Tommy 2000, he doesn’t have much continuity. But he most certainly does have continuity when it comes to the myriad of timelines Josie visits and has to undo.
Future Plans
He doesn’t show up in either the Obolonk prequel or the Time Addicts prequel. So, unless things change, his personal story won’t be visited again.
Peter Ray: Takeaways
If human nature stays more or less the same in the future, then a villain like him seems almost inevitable. Because in a way, he’s the ultimate in wolves in sheep’s clothing. Except his sheep’s clothing is impeccable suits, made from Tethyan silk.
Peter Ray — because gladhander politicians who turn out to be fascists are just a little too real these days….
Want More of Peter Ray and the Rest of the Obolonk Universe?
If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other articles about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks.
Tad—er, Thaddeus—Lewis sprang forth almost fully formed when I first thought of him. Josie James would need someone who could shoot. She would also need someone who could afford her some physical protection. Enter Tad.
Where Did Thaddeus Lewis Come From?
Now, for the Time Addicts universe to work, the people who work for the OIA-DTN have to be excellent at whatever they do. Hence I could see an immediate need for a sharpshooter. That is, Tad has to be able to shoot the hairs off a flea that’s a city block away—more or less.
I also wanted for him to be into guns but not obsessive. So, he’s not going to throw a tantrum if one is taken away for any reason. Rather, it’s subtle things, like changing the drawer pulls on his desk to little pistols.
Since he enjoys history, he understands older, historical weaponry. This includes the Glock Canadian, a gun which has almost become an Easter egg in my stories.
The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Tad Lewis
Tad gives some of his backstory when he says: “I’m a sharpshooter. I worked in the security detail for Chief Governor Xiang. No ranks—but I did get to ride in the official tri-phib.”
So, he’s a little silly at times. But he’s got serious shooting chops. And, the reader learns later, he’s good about making friends with the people who he works with. Tad is, in some ways, a little like a traditional networker.
Description
He’s about 30 or so. He was born in the Columbus-Chicago Meg. Tad lives in a three-decker brownstone in Allston and was an Eagle Scout.
Armie Hammer, who I see as Thaddeus Lewis. Image is for reference purposes only.
So, the main actor I see for him is Armie Hammer.
Now, this is not a testament to the real actor’s character. It’s just a reference and nothing more.
Purpose/Theme/Motivation
Beyond simply protecting Josie or being her partner, his motivation is to protect what he can remember of the original timeline. But he’s got holes in his memory.
Because he trusts Josie implicitly, he believes her version of events. And so, even when he doesn’t really know the original timeline, he works to protect it all the same.
Quotes {Josie and Tad are working out signals for their first undercover mission}
He plucked a black tee from the middle of the stack. It said Led Zeppelin’s. “Will this work? I got it on Europa.”
“Yeah, that’ll work.”
After he’d donned the shirt, he said, “We’re going to need signals.”
“Right. Marky and I were partners for so long we just sort of knew.”
“Well, you and I don’t exactly know yet. So how about pet names?”
“Pet names?”
“You know, like sweetie, or cutie or whatever. We’re supposed to be dating.”
“Yeah, this could work. We need one for keep going, another for stop, and another for change things up. Plus, we could use a panic signal for when we really can’t do anything but get outta Dodge.”
“Ha!” He snapped his fingers. “Honey can mean yes or ‘go ahead’, because it flows.”
“Well, it flows kinda slowly.”
“I am not gonna call you water or anything.”
“So, I guess honey it is. And hey, baby can be the signal to change. Because, you know, babies need to be changed.”
“Yeah, works for me. Sweetie pie for stop or no.”
“Why that?”
“Because my mom’s pies are as thick and heavy as doorstops. But if you ever meet her, er, don’t tell her that.”
“My lips are sealed. And speaking of that,” Josie said, not finishing her sentence. Instead, she came up to him and gave him a quick peck on the lips.
“What was that for?”
“We’re supposed to be dating, Tad. We had to get that outta the way. Otherwise, the first kiss is really weird. And we don’t want our pals to get even an inkling that we’re only kissing for the first time.”
“Gotcha. Oh, and sugar?”
“Sugar?”
“Yeah, sugar,” he said, “That’ll mean we need to abort the mission and get the fuck outta there.”
Relationships
So, the truth is, when I was first writing Tad, I wanted people to potentially ‘ship him and Josie. So, why not? They are thrown together constantly, and often have to convince others that they are boyfriend and girlfriend.
But of course I had other plans for Josie. And then I ended up having other plans for him as well.
Tad Lewis and Josie James
Even though I personally do not see them as romantic partners, they are certainly work partners. They spend a lot of time together, and they bounce off each other well. He is a lot more than a glorified bodyguard.
Tad Lewis and Cyndi Mendez
So, I did not originally see them together until I started to get into the story. And then I figured: what the hell. Yet the more I see of them together, and think of them together, the more I like this pairing.
Part of this is because both of them are, essentially, unflappable. Their experiences and their purposes are mainly on the defensive side of things.
Conflict and Turning Point
Just like with the other “good guys”, Tad comes to his turning point with the rest of the story. Despite his background and his obvious talents, he’s underestimated in some ways. But he comes through as well as he can, even when it seems as if all hope is lost.
Continuity/Easter Eggs
Tad does not have any real continuity in other stories, unlike all those folks named Shapiro or Tommy.
Future Plans for Tad Lewis
Because he does not show up in either the Obolonk prequel or the Time Addicts prequel, I am not so sure there will be any future plans for him. I am so sorry, character!
Tad Lewis: Takeaways
Clearly one of the good guys, Thaddeus Lewis is someone you want on your side. He is so indispensable, it is not funny.
Tad Lewis — because a sensitive sharpshooter is kinda fun.
Want More of Tad and the Rest of the Obolonk Universe?
If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other articles about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks.
Consider Devon Grace, One of My Original Characters
Who is Devon Grace?
Dr. Devon Grace arose from, among other things, Peter Capaldi being tapped to play Dr. Who.
Where Did Devon Grace Come From?
Once Ceilidh is ensconced in Massachusetts, she needed something to do that was not going to be just endless cookery and housework. And then the idea for Devon sprang up, and I realized it could drive the plot rather well.
The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Devon Grace
Rich and privileged, all Devon wants to do is heal people. But it is the Victorian era, and he’s got a major secret.
He’s gay.
And so, his very existence is essentially illegal.
Female patients seem to sense something about him, so Devon becomes essentially an OB-GYN. He delivers babies and, eventually, women start to trust him to perform abortions. His track record is decent (after all, he is no quack), but women still die.
It all goes wrong when a relative of a member of Parliament dies on the table.
Arrested, but then charged with buggery, Devon ends up in prison for a year. But he’s lucky. Since Dr. Grace is wealthy, at least he is not executed.
Post-Disgrace
Banished from practicing medicine in the UK, he comes to America. But he feels horribly guilty and wants to atone. He does so by becoming what we would now call a Public Health Officer. In particular, he helps a morphine addict turn her life around.
Description
Peter Capaldi, who is the only person I see as Dr. Devon Grace
I see Peter Capaldi, hands down. There is no one else.
Purpose/Theme/Motivation
Like the other characters in the Universe of The Real Hub of the Universe, his motivation is to protect the Earth. Much like Ceilidh, he has a redemption arc. Finding love, and finding purpose, are key.
And, along the way, he even finds a more traditional-ish family, marrying Ellen Remy and adopting her son, Richard, who was born out of wedlock.
For Devon, Ellen, and Richard, it’s truly the best of all possible outcomes. She gets security and a degree of respectability, with her son’s future assured. Richard gets a father and a more stable life. And Devon gets a way to return to Scotland legally.
Quotes (to help out Ceilidh in the Charles Street Jail, Devon poses as her husband)
When the church bells rang for one, the jailhouse’s bell rang and Gregory Ashford arrived, looking concerned. Less than half an hour later, the bell rang again, and Ceilidh heard Devon’s voice. “I will visit this prisoner when I please,” he complained.
“Oh, really? And who might you be?” asked the captain.
Devon came close to the bars and Ceilidh could see he was wearing an unfamiliar cloak. Either he had purchased something new, or it was Shannon. He nodded to her and she approached. Unexpectedly, Devon took both her hands in his and kissed them and then said to Marsh, “I am her husband.”
Relationships
For someone who wanted to be left alone in his misery, he ends up making friends and more.
Ceilidh O’Malley
As originally his employee, Ceilidh is a combination serving girl, maid, valet, and confidante. They become closer when they reveal their secrets to each other.
At her annulment hearing, he cosplays as a priest, the third necessary for a hearing. No one needs to be the wiser.
Ellen Remy
Devon loves children and sees an injustice in how Ellen and Richard are treated by most people. He proposes marriage to fix that, but also for his own purposes.
If he can convince the authorities that he’s a changed man (which we would just see as him being forced even further into the closet), he can go back to Scotland to live.
At first, Ellen is afraid he is in love with her but she does not feel the same way about her. But they come to an understanding.
Carlos
Devon’s old friend is an important member of SPHERE in Europe. They can joke and laugh and end up in love.
Shannon Duffy
The entity known as Shannon Duffy has odd relationships with most human beings. With Devon, the relationship is cordial. They play draughts a lot, and team up to help Ceilidh and Jake and the rest of SPHERE.
Conflict and Turning Point
When the Yarinduin and the Xolana attack, Devon is right in the thick of it.
Continuity/Easter Eggs
Since I also see Capaldi as David Shepherd, I’ve had an intriguing idea. Perhaps Shepherd’s real name should be Devon Grace? I confess I rather like the idea.
Peter Capaldi, who I see as Dr. Devon Grace. Image is for reference purposes only.
If I write another prequel, he would be a fascinating character to cover.
Devon Grace: Takeaways
Complex, sardonic, rueful, but ultimately kind, Devon Grace was a great character to create.
Devon Grace — a doctor character ahead of his time.
Want More of Devon Grace?
If Devon resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other articles about Ceilidh, Johnny, Devon, Frances, Shannon and everyone else as they work to prevent a temporally jacked-up genocide.
Consider Peri Martin, One of My Original Characters
Who is Peri Martin?
The main character of the first Obolonk trilogy was born on a whim.
Where Did Peri Martin Come From?
I was really just posting on Able2know, and playing around, with no plans whatsoever. Yet before I knew it, I had four solid posts which were the genesis of the first three or four chapters of the first book.
And I put it aside for maybe ten years. But then I remembered it, thinking, ha, I bet there’s a story there.
So, she came back into my life.
The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Peri Martin
Coming off unsuccessful PTSD treatment, Detective Sergeant Peri (Perdita Sita Martin if you want to get technical) needs a new partner as hers has been killed.
Hence, her PTSD. At the same time, we live in a society of Obolonks (vegan, intersex aliens), robots (both sapient and semi-sapient), and us.
Someone is targeting crunchy, hippie Obolonks on the Appalachian Trail. Peri needs to stop the killings.
But then she starts getting phone calls from a mysterious caller. The Appalachian Trail killings are merely a prologue. Little known to her when the story starts, something a lot worse is coming next.
Description: Peri Martin
Peri is about fifty when the story first gets going. She’s average size albeit a little short. Her PTSD treatment included hospitalization, so she gained a few pounds.
She’s blonde, sardonic, and has a taste for cheap clothes from an interplanetary outlet store just called The Marketplace. This store is a lot like Sears was back in the day. Cheap and it has basically everything, with outlets all over the place.
Wait, back up. Interplanetary?
Oh, did I forget to mention that this society has people living on nearly every vaguely spherical rock in the Solar System?
Mary Stuart Masterson. Image is for reference purposes only.
But back to Peri. I see Mary Stuart Masterson‘s face. The more I learn about Masterson, the more it confirms my choice.
And apparently she’s a lefty, which is wacky, as is her trilogy successor actress, Anna Kendrick (‘playing’ Josie James in Time Addicts)!
Smart, sassy, and troubled, this character is a flawed heroine.
Purpose/Theme/Motivation
Beyond solving the case, Peri also has to finally heal properly. She isn’t just sad at her partner’s death—she’s angry. At his killers, yes. But also at him.
She needs to stop dwelling on the past.
Quotes (from the first book, The Obolonk Murders)
The interior of the Rhombus was dimly lit, and the music was loud but incoherent. “Cops,” some large fellow bellowed, spitting on the already-dirty floor in front of them.
Peri looked at him. “We came for the music, and to see if we could meet some of the natives.”
People stopped and stared. Even the music stopped playing. “You’re lookin’ at the natives,” growled the guy who’d spat at them.
“I mean the other natives,” Peri said. “You know, the orange folks.”
A woman came over and looked her over, none too approvingly. “Ain’t no Creamsicles here, Cougar.”
“Do Obolonks ever come here?” Tommy asked.
“Like we would ever tell you,” snarled the guy who’d spat earlier.
Peri scanned the room quickly. The bar’s patrons seemed none too cooperative, and there were no Obolonks to speak of. It was the very epitome of a dead end. “Sorry to trouble you,” she said. Taking Tommy’s arm, she steered him out of there.
“Our appearance was immediately discovered,” he stated the obvious.
“Right, yeah.” She sighed. “This sorta thing used to work like a charm.”
“What did?”
“I’d get dolled up, and me and Charlie would have no problem getting intel outta people. And for God’s sake, they never used to call me a cougar.”
Relationships
Peri has a slew of relationships. These are more or less in chronological order.
Anil Deshpande
When we first see Peri, she’s already divorced from Anil and back to her maiden name. Later, she reveals their marriage ended when she discovered he was cheating on her.
Her mother, Karen, comments that she never seemed to have too much enthusiasm for the marriage.
In the prequel, her former mother-in-law, Sudarshana, works to get Peri’s engagement ring back, ostensibly to give it to Anil to give to a new love. Peri negotiates, and gets the high rise apartment in downtown Boston in trade for the ring.
Greg Shapiro
There is nothing romantic with Greg whatsoever. He is what you would call her ‘work husband’.
Greg is funny, silly, and he can match her snark for snark. But he also cares about what happens to her. In addition, as the technical/analytical side of solving the case, his help is invaluable.
I could technically also put their squad leader in here, Dennis Dolan. Dennis is another one she snarks with—but Peri knows who figuratively signs her paychecks, so she is a bit more respectful to Dennis. A bit.
Charlie Hollis
Peri’s partner was also her lover. And so, when she sees him killed, it affects her deeply. But she is too stubborn to get full treatment for PTSD. In a way, she prefers to suffer, feeling it is more like proper mourning.
In addition, Charlie was married, and not officially separated from his wife, Elaine. Also, in the prequel, we see Charlie alive, and this couple is on again and off again for years.
Charlie is on again and off again with everyone, it would seem. Elaine even comments that Charlie cannot seem to let go of anything.
And so Charlie is, to use a nice word for it, a jerk.
Doug Anderson
Doug does not show up in person until the prequel story. He is kind and patient. And so, she does not think she deserves him. At the same time, he also bores the heck out of her. They are together during a spell when she is not with Charlie.
But Doug is the source of one important article in Peri’s life. This is the baseball signed by Sandy Koufax.
David Shepherd (AKA Mark Ross)
The dashing head of the Orb Intelligence Agency (essentially, the future CIA) takes an interest because he finds her fun and fascinating. She is not the kind of person who kowtows to him. And Peri is (for the most part) unimpressed by his wealth and status.
Their relationship progresses until he is forced to go ‘full covert submersion’. The OIA erases his identity for his own safety. But he is a part of solving the case, too.
In addition, she needed someone after Charlie. Dave, to his credit, also helps her more fully recover. Without Dave, she most likely would not have recovered as well as she does.
And in the Time Addicts (the second Obolonk trilogy) novels, there are some alternative timelines where she and Dave marry.
Tommy McFarland (AKA Tommy 2000)
Peri’s new partner is not human. And he is utterly baffled by a lot of things. But he is a quick study, and he is able to step up when necessary. They save each other more than once, and realize they are meant to be together.
Conflict and Turning Point
The Appalachian Trail cases turn into full-blown terrorism quickly.
The group (it calls itself HEART—Humans, Earth, And Robotic Technology) is planning even more attacks.
Orange blood will spill by the liter unless Peri, Dave, Tommy, and Greg can stop it.
Continuity/Easter Eggs
Apart from Greg being another Shapiro character, Peri shows up in the sequel trilogy, Time Addicts. Or, rather, her grave does. It is, after all, about 500 years in the future.
Future Plans for Peri Martin
Apart from the above-mentioned prequel story, there will be a third and final (at least, that is the plan, kind of) trilogy in this universe. Since Tommy is close to being indestructible, he can be in it. So, wherever Tommy goes, his infallible memory of Peri is sure to follow.
Peri Martin: Takeaways
I love this character. I think she is probably one of the first truly sophisticated characters I ever created. She even precedes Untrustworthy.
Peri Martin — the wisecracking cop you want on your side.
Want More of Peri Martin and the Rest of the Obolonk Universe?
If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks.
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