I had a supportive note from a FB friend today that included a sigh about limited funds. I can appreciate that budgets are tight these days, so I just want to remind you that coupon code ZD65L (not case sensitive) remains good at smashwords.com until 10/15/2013. The coupon is for a 20% discount on the purchase price only at smashwords.com. As usual I appreciate your support.
I thought I would also write a bit about Sean-Guy and my development of his character. It starts really from living close to an unusual feature of the Canada-US border. I’m not far from Derby Line VT, perhaps an hour or so to the NE. For a long time I have been aware that the Haskell Library straddles the border. The front entrance is in the USA and the border line runs through the stacks marked by a black strip on the floor. The back of the building is situated in Stanstead, Quebec. That got me thinking about a character whose own life in a sense is marked by dividing lines. Sean-Guy O’Dwyer-Lariviere was invented with two hyphens in his name, symbolic of a mixed heritage of Irish and French Canadian, a mix that he is well proud to be, though he does not admit to it in The Chechen’s Revenge. That part is still in my mind. I probably should deal with that in the second novel of the series, A Prairie Vendetta.
The Irish part of his upbringing is molded by his mother, born in County Sligo, Eire. She is a devoutly religious woman, attending mass nearly every morning of the week. I imagine that she prays daily for her son for his protection in what she must consider his dangerous profession of law enforcement. Again, I only imagine this, because she has only a limited appearance in The Chechen’s Revenge at the end of the book. There is a meeting with the new woman in her son’s life, reporter Angela Maria De Luca. Though not much detail is given about the discussion between the two women, I did reveal that a heart to heart talk took place. I am expecting more will be seen of Angela in A Prairie Vendetta. That is still being worked out as I think about the direction of the story. Rest assured, she will be assigned to cover a big story that involves Sean-Guy’s investigations once again.
Sean-Guy’s father is French Canadian, a Quebecois from Stanstead, a faithful supporter of the parish church, but less religious than his wife. His attendance at mass tends to be restricted to the weekends and holy days. But he is active in the local chapter of the Knights of Columbus. Again, there is a limited appearance of Sean-Guy’s father in The Chechen’s Revenge. Perhaps more will be seen of him in A Prairie Vendetta as I figure out how to re-introduce both parents.
Sean-Guy’s character is portrayed as skilled in both English and French, without discernible accent in either. I should probably explore that further, because with an Irish Mother and a distinctly Quebecois father from a somewhat rural area, one would normally expect learned accent in both languages. Perhaps I can argue successfully that his impeccable English accent comes from his enrollment as a day student at the English language Stanstead College, a respected primary and secondary school that hosts students from around the world as residential students. As to a lack of accent in French, perhaps I can argue successfully that Sean-Guy makes a particular effort to lose the accent while at the Royal Military College for his undergraduate degree work. Both arguments sound good to me. We’ll see if that works into A Prairie Vendetta at some point all in the aide of understanding Sean-Guy a little better.
I see these divides in Sean-Guy’s upbringing as instrumental also in his being a conflicted man in a variety of ways, some of which are indicated in The Chechen’s Revenge. But more about that part of his character another time.
Till then, thanks for your support. Have a good read please as you enjoy The Chechen’s Revenge, available now from most e-book sources.
Regards
Ron Stotyn, PhD
I am a retired college professor and former broadcast journalist. I live in Vermont with my wife. I write near the shores of Lake Champlain. As an author I cast characters in the task of anti-terrorism efforts. The setting for my stories is Canada. My first novel is The Chechen's Revenge, a story of Sean-Guy O'Dwyer-Lariviere and his team of Canadian Anti-terrorism Service agents on the trail of a rebel Chechen, determined to create havoc and death on Toronto's Go Train system. The Chechen's Revenge is now in print and can be ordered online at https://mkt.com/northof49publishing.
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