Today I have the pleasure of
welcoming an author friend, John Marco, back to my blog. John and I go way back
– at least it seems like that. We've spoken many times over email about all matters regarding writing and books. So, without further adieu, I’ll let John take
the floor.
Hello! First, I want to thank Debra Martin for
asking me here to talk about my upcoming book, The Forever Knight, and in particular about the book’s main
character, Lukien. I’ve had the
pleasure of knowing Deb for quite a while now, and I’m still constantly
impressed by her dedication to writing and to helping her fellow authors.
The Forever Knight is the fourth book I’ve written about Lukien, often referred to as the
fabled “Bronze Knight.” He first
appeared over ten years ago in my novel The
Eyes of God, and was the main character in two more books before I put him “on
the shelf” for a while to work on other projects. Sometimes, a character becomes so real to an author,
his voice so powerful, that he insists on being heard from again. That’s what it was like for me with
Lukien.
After spending so much time
with Lukien, you might think it would be easy for me to talk about him, and yet
I still find him a difficult character to describe. He’s never been a typical hero. In fact, he’s an anti-hero in a lot of ways. Back when he first appeared in The Eyes of God, many readers described
their own mixed feelings about him, and some just flat out couldn’t stand
him. I still laugh when I think
about that, because despite his flaws I like Lukien. Yes, he cheated with his best friend’s wife and drove the
poor man to insanity. And yes, he
kills people, but hey, they all pretty much deserve it. Lukien might not always be righteous,
but he tries to be. And to me, that’s what makes him
interesting.
An author that I admire one
time spoke about books being like the writer’s dirty laundry. She mentioned how sometimes writers embarrass
themselves by putting too much on the page and not realizing how transparent
they are being. I suppose that’s
happened to me on occasion, but here’s one thing I can say for certain—Lukien
isn’t me. I’m not as fearless as
he is, or as handsome, or as popular, and that’s probably a good thing because
Lukien uses all those qualities as a shield to protect himself from his own
deep feelings of inadequacy. So
maybe that’s what really resonates with readers. I said previously that some people hate Lukien. Well, the opposite is true as
well. There are readers who
absolutely love Lukien. They see various things in him,
things I might not see myself.
They interpret Lukien in their own way. That makes me think I’ve done something right.
The Forever Knight takes Lukien in some new directions. As I mentioned on a previous
post here on Deb’s blog, this is the first book I’ve done in his
first-person viewpoint. So far the
handful of people who’ve read the book have responded positively to this
change, but time will tell how the rest of Lukien’s fan react. Whatever the reaction, I’m glad to be
spending time with him again.
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