Character Sketch . . . Lyris Jaimes

I was asked to post something about one of my characters by Jay Faulkner. And it seems that everything has conspired against me to get this post up. From IEP's to a broken front door.

That said,I've had a hard time deciding which character I would talk about today.

My fallback character would be Antony Danic. But you've heard from him and seen him before. Besides, there are so many other characters in my head that are worth mentioning. The real question is which one.

So . . . without further delay is Lyris Jaimes.

Lyris is the adopted daughter of Hannah and Owen Jaimes. Lyris was born on February 14, some eighty years from now. I honestly know the date but I can't find where I wrote that information down. She lived in Utah and attended the elementary school and middle school in Salt Lake City. At 16 she moved to Seoul Korea to train at the Academy Center. She was selected to become a sword master after petitioning the Center council. After graduation from the Seoul Academy, she applied and was assigned to London England as an agent. She spent the next six years falling in love with the city and culture. She became engaged to a man named Ethan and started to plan a wedding. One day she came home from work early to find Ethan in bed with another woman. She threw her ring at him and left. As we join her story in Latent, she is on the plane from Heathrow on her way to Salt Lake to spend some time with her parents.

Lyris was a hard character to pin down. She is independent but also has a needy streak. While Lyris existed as a character before Elite, with Elite being introduced before her presented a problem. How was I supposed to separate and keep Lyris and Elite different in the readers heads. In fact, when I introduced Elite into the story Lyris pulled a coup and gave me the silent treatment for weeks. When she did return she had morphed into her own very strong and independent character who was not just an agent, but a sword master as well. While Elite is fun loving and flighty, I needed Lyris to be determined and stubborn to a point, but not too serious. I needed the reader to see a direct contrast between the two of them. It wasn't as easy as I imagined it to be. I needed her to be strong and professional but a romantic at heart and fun to be around.

I think that Lyris is the closest to me as a character. I imagine she looks a lot like Scarlet Johhanson in the Avengers with that pretty red hair.

A little about Antony Danic

Antony the main character in EMERGENCE was interviewed a few weeks ago. It was an interesting process. Here is the link:


Here is the Interview, incase you can't link to it.

Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)




My name is Antony Danic. I live in the Deakin District of Canberra. That’s the Australian Capital Territory. I have dark brown hair, usually to my shoulders, but I like to change it often. My eyes are blue. As for what I do? I am a . . . Human Resources specialist for Hurst Enterprises. I’d like to do two things, one retire and travel, and have a family with my wife Elite.




What do you like to do in your spare time?




I like to travel. I like to practice martial arts, I should be testing for my fifth degree black belt in Tang Soo Do soon. I like to go dancing with Elite.




What is your favorite color and why?

Black. Then I can blend in and be un-noticed.




What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?

Chinese. I think for the variety. I love pot stickers.




What would you say is your biggest quirk?

I dislike technology. Especially machines that think they are autonomous.




What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most, and why?

Antagonist? Don’t have one. (Author note, antagonist is himself.)




What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?

Elite. She means everything to me. I’d do anything to protect her. Even kill someone.




What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?

That anxiety issue my author thinks I have. . . um, not real.



If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?

Honestly? I don’t think so. We both think the plot is pretty perfect.




Ask me any question. I've always wanted to know what a character thinks about writers like myself. I'll answer the question at the end of this interview.

How many characters have you killed in your writing? My author thinks she holds a record or something.




Let's see, I've only written one mystery (that's published, that is) and I really don't want to give it away, so I'll say somewhere between one and four. You probably have the record.




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Thank you, Antony!