Meet My Character Blog Hop

I joined this blog hop from a post on the KindleBoards that seemed interesting to me, since I had done a similar character post for my fantasy novel but have never done one for my published novel The Immortality Game. The hop goes to one site each week, so my post was preceded last week by Rachel Medhursts' post here.

Since there are two primary characters in the book, I figured I'd tell a little about each of them.

1) What is the name of your character? Is he or she fictional or a historic person?
Zoya Vladimirovna Drozdova is the first of the two main characters in the book. Her precise age is never determined in the story, but she's in her mid-twenties. She lives with her mother and brother in a poor part of Moscow in the year 2138, not far from the refugee park at Kolomenskoe. She works in a morgue preparing corpses for funerals before their cremation (burial is no longer legal). Life is hard, so she has only vague dreams of one day being able to have a child. Her brother has a good heart but has fallen in with a mafia gang.

Zoya, artwork by Stephan Martiniere

2) When and where is the story set?
The story takes place in 2138 Moscow, Russia in about a 24 hour period.
3) What should we know about him or her?
Her passion is for ancient rock music, such as Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Simon and Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, and so many more great bands. It's her one true escape from the general misery of her life.
4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his or her life?
Her brother is tasked by his mob bosses with stealing some secret military tech from a compound on the outskirts of Moscow. He blackmails a guard who steals two data chips for him. However, he is upset at being passed over for promotion, so he decides he is going to take the chips, leave Moscow, and sell them himself. He can't have the chips on his person for some of his escape preparations, so he forces Zoya to hold on to the package for him and bring it to him at a safe house the next morning. When she goes to meet her brother, Zoya witnesses his murder and find herself being chased by the mobsters, who will do anything to get the package, including killing anyone she loves.
5) What is the personal goal of the character?
At first she just wants to survive and try to help her family and friends. Later, as things become more and more horrific, she decides she has no choice but to seek revenge on her pursuers.
6) What is the title of the book(s), and where can find out more?
The Immortality Game was published by Breakwater Harbor Books on November 24, 2014. I have lots of information here on my blog or on my Facebook page, and you can check out the book on Amazon, Goodreads, iTunes, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, and GooglePlay. Links to all of these and more are on the right-hand sidebar of my blog.


1) What is the name of your character? Is he or she fictional or a historic person?
Marcus is the second main character. He's 26 years old and earns his doctorate in nanotechnology on the very day his life changes. He is a former Mesh addict, which means he was addicted to 'living' within the virtual reality of the Web. His dead father got him out. Yes, his father is dead, but 'lives' on as the world's first true artificial intelligence.
2) When and where is the story set?
Marcus lives in Phoenix, Arizona in America West, the US having been divided during the Dark Times of the late 21st century. After the death of his father, Marcus's mother became a Mesh addict as well, so Marcus essentially lives alone with just his AI father for company.
3) What should we know about him or her?
He is depressed and aimless when the story starts, beat down by the extreme fame and genius of his father, who is known the world over for having made the Web safe by creating the sentry code that wiped out viruses. He has no plans except to follow what his father demands of him.
4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his or her life?
When Zoya's brother inserts one of the stolen chips into a Web port, Marcus's father is alerted to a fabulous new technology that could potentially help restore him to a human body cloned from his own DNA. Marcus's father sends Marcus to Moscow to track down the chip in order to learn who developed the technology.
5) What is the personal goal of the character?
At first it is simply to follow his father's orders, but once he meets Zoya he begins to have feelings for her. When she seems to become ever more intent on getting herself killed, Marcus becomes determined to save her from herself.

So, for this story I really wanted to take two fairly average people and throw them into the fires of hell to see if they could find a way to survive. I hope you might check out the book to see if I succeeded!

Now, since this is a blog hop, I'm supposed to tell you a bit about the next blogger in line for the hop, which appears to be one post per week. That would be Amelia Smith!

Amelia Smith takes an odd-jobs-and-adventures approach to writing. She is currently working on a multi-volume epic fantasy about four friends making their way in a land animated by dragon gods. She has also written a stand-alone Regency romance, a historical fantasy novella, and a screenplay, along with dozens of magazine and newspaper articles. She lives in a small house on Martha's Vineyard with her husband, two children, and an overweight cat. 

Link to website:  www.ameliasmith.net 
Link to blog: http://ameliasmith.net/blog/