Introduce your MC

Excellent thread starter Miss M.

My MC is Gregor Lazlo, a lonely teenage boy growing up in an old antebellum plantation house on an island deep in the Louisiana bayous in the early years of the twentieth century (he was born in 1900).

Gregor is introverted and moody. He is trying to come to terms with his homosexuality at the same time facing the inevitable reality that his twin brother, Graydon, is a werewolf.

The Lazlo family is under a curse from a vengeful voodoo queen which has resulted in two generations of bizarre and violent deaths. Gregor’s father was bitten to death when he stumbled into a nest of black widow spiders; his mother succumbed to acute narcolepsy; one brother died after a fencing sword penetrated his left eye and destroyed his brain; another brother was buggered to death by his pet goat.

In between ghastly deaths, Gregor ponders the meaning of life.

My MC, Bo Fexler, is a twenty-something woman who's smart and sexy. She loves a good challenge, which is why she went into the PI business. Well, that and some problems with authority. She's rather tenacious and doesn't take warnings very seriously. In fact, she doesn't take anything very seriously.

She carries a gun but doesn't want to have to use it. She's confident and knows that there are quite a few men who'd do anything to be with her in one way or another. She's willing to use that to her advantage. She figures that looks are just one of the things she has in her arsenal-- along with her brains and her fists.

On the flip side, she's a very private person who has great difficulty letting anyone close enough to her that they might have a chance of hurting her. She hates talking about herself and generally perfers not to talk much, anyway, since she has a speech impairment. She likes to pass her time reading or maybe playing a few video games. She'd rather be alone than risk being hurt.

She's awful good at manipulating people, but she doesn't know how to act when she doesn't want anything from someone. This makes friendships hard. But she has a dark sense of humor that certain folks find amusing and she can converse on many topics.

She's a completely different person when she has her "work hat" on compared to when she's just hanging with friends. The few people that have gotten past her defenses to get to know the person behind the hard shell and sharp tongue. To those people, she is fiercely loyal and protective. Since she doesn't show affection well, the best she can do is to kick the a$$ of anyone who wrongs her pals.

Diane Nine, blonde, blue-eyed and 29-years old. She's been a paraplegic since she fell out of a treehouse. She's a celeb comic book artist and writer, and is also syndicated in the major dalies. The boyfriend she meets is a engineer who has developed a military combat exoskeleton. They get the bright idea that she can use the lower half of the suit to give her back mobility -- she can finally walk again.

The boyfriend is actually a traitor to the U.S. government and has set Diane Nine up. He stages his own kidnapping, hoping she will smuggle the suit out of the country and come looking for him. The foreign power that wants the suit and technology is waiting for her. She ends up in deep shite. Until...she puts the full suit on and starts kicking some serious azz.

Get thee behind me, Ironman.

Tri

My MC is a police detective in his mid thirties. Picture Gary Sinise (who is 53) at that age and you'd be looking at him. My MC has the same demeanor as Sinise as he plays Detective Mac Taylor in CSI NY, with somewhat better interrogation/interview skills.

He surrounds himself with interesting characters, a Chamorran giant street cop, and his partner, who is black, and looks like a younger version of Jamie Foxx, who is 40.

triceretops said:

Diane Nine, blonde, blue-eyed and 29-years old. She's been a paraplegic since she fell out of a treehouse. She's a celeb comic book artist and writer, and is also syndicated in the major dalies. The boyfriend she meets is a engineer who has developed a military combat exoskeleton. They get the bright idea that she can use the lower half of the suit to give her back mobility -- she can finally walk again.

The boyfriend is actually a traitor to the U.S. government and has set Diane Nine up. He stages his own kidnapping, hoping she will smuggle the suit out of the country and come looking for him. The foreign power that wants the suit and technology is waiting for her. She ends up in deep shite. Until...she puts the full suit on and starts kicking some serious azz.

Get thee behind me, Ironman.

Tri

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Oh, this sounds awesome! Just the kind of thing I would love.

My MC (my sadly neglected, I miss him but I'll get back to him soon MC) is named Neal. He's just a regular guy who recently got married, but he's looking back on his life and regretting some things. His favorite client turns up dead, and it throws him together with his ex. Neal and the ex never quite closed the book on that chapter of their lives, so it's an interesting ride.

Cool, Tri! Sounds like you finally ironed out your premise/MC. (No pun intended )

As for my current MC: in the words of the prosecutor at his murder trial, "Axyl is a remorseless killer who needs to be put down like a rabid dog." When the story opens, Axyl has been on death row for seven years for a murder he didn't commit...oh, plus five he did. Oh well.

Thanks, guys. Boy did I need to hear that encouragment.

Tri

AAAaaarrrrrooooooo.....

Kaiser is a large wolf with black fur that makes him disappear like a shadow in the thick forest. His bright yellow eyes stand out against his dark fur like they were detatched and floating free in the woods. He lives in the northern woods of Alberta Canada near the Wood Buffalo National Park. Together with his brother Tahquitz the two wolves, with their pack, begin a series of attacks against those that brought them harm. At first they attack and kill a cougar that killed some of the packs pups. Eventually they go on to track down and kill some hunters that have killed Kaiser's mate Zarina. And, oh yeah, there is a Dr Katherine La'Gow who was hired to study these wolves and gets caught up in the packs 'war' against the 'evil doers.' Eventually Katherine becomes initiated into the local First Peoples lore and finds out that she may be the key to saving the earth from destruction. (Wow, this is better than my query letter!)

And in the end? (Snoopy dances!)

Mr. Fix said:

Kaiser is a large wolf with black fur that makes him disappear like a shadow in the thick forest. His bright yellow eyes stand out against his dark fur like they were detatched and floating free in the woods. He lives in the northern woods of Alberta Canada near the Wood Buffalo National Park. Together with his brother Tahquitz the two wolves, with their pack, begin a series of attacks against those that brought them harm. At first they attack and kill a cougar that killed some of the packs pups. Eventually they go on to track down and kill some hunters that have killed Kaiser's mate Zarina. And, oh yeah, there is a Dr Katherine La'Gow who was hired to study these wolves and gets caught up in the packs 'war' against the 'evil doers.' Eventually Katherine becomes initiated into the local First Peoples lore and finds out that she may be the key to saving the earth from destruction. (Wow, this is better than my query letter!)

And in the end? (Snoopy dances!)

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I'm intrigued!

I'm working on a fantasy, but since it's also a murder mystery, I figure it fits in this forum.

Tantoska is master shaper to House Kestoney. A shaper is an artist who sculpts magical clay to produce wondrous magical items. Her artistic talent stems from her single magical talent: her sense of touch. She's sensitive enough to feel the magic within the clay, ink lines on a page, or objects from across the room. The drawback is that she's also able to feel other peoples' emotions and does not know how to protect herself from being bombarded with other peoples' feelings. For sanity's sake, she's a recluse who lives in a cave. She's about forty, has little or no social skills, and her hands are permanently stained from working with the colored clay.

My other MC, Gideon, is the newly inherited lord of House Kestoney and an extremely powerful journeyman mage. He's about twenty-two and has been estranged from his family since he turned thirteen and his magic manifested. Now that his immediate family has been murdered, he's inherited the lordship since there's no one else, but the rest of House Kestoney has no confidence in him and his barons are seeking to depose him. While trying to cope with his grief and his new responsibilities, he's been losing control of his magic. So far he hasn't accidentally killed anyone.

Gideon's mentor sends him to Tantoska so she can help him unlock his sense of touch and regain control of his magic. When there's a bizarre murder in the nearby village which looks like someone tried to kill Gideon but missed, it's up to the two of them to figure out what really happened.

TheIT--I loved that "So far..." I'm intrigued!

Les is deaf from an improvised explosive device (IED) in Iraq. He emerges from a two-year drinking binge a jobless hermit in the Montana mountains and tries to rebuild. Friends at the private college where he taught before his guard unit was called up land him an online teaching job, which is facilitated by an answering service with deaf clients. D'arcy, the owner, is in a wheelchair from a hunting accident. Les is a reluctant amateur sleuth, but can't help probing curious inconsistencies about her accident looking for a place to happen--again.

My MC is Lisa, a 33 year old detective in a smaller sized city in Michigan. Her parents didn't want her to become a police officer; she has done well in the short time she's been one. She's smart, articulate, and anxious to 'prove' herself to all the 'guys'. A murder happens and she wants to get to the bottom of it; even though her partner has no real desire to do so.

cambric said:

My MC is Lisa, a 33 year old detective in a smaller sized city in Michigan. Her parents didn't want her to become a police officer; she has done well in the short time she's been one. She's smart, articulate, and anxious to 'prove' herself to all the 'guys'. A murder happens and she wants to get to the bottom of it; even though her partner has no real desire to do so.

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Cambric, welcome to the mystery section. I feel it significant your first post was here.

One of the items implicit in your mystery is (at least in terms of location), you're writing what you know.

I still get lost in Oregon's way bigger cities and winding roads. Plus, they all talk funny. But I know rural Montana and its people, many a half-bubble off plumb, so that's my setting and main source of characterization.

Welcome to AW Cambric!

Thanks Chase and heyjude.

I've been reading many postings, the great advice, the 'how to's' and what not...I came to this post and thought it was time for me to actually post something instead of lurking.

I've written 2 books; neither published...both were bad, and I'm being kind. I'm working on my 3rd, a mystery, and it is based on from where I live; change of name and such...I did want it to be something that I knew about, felt confident about and that would ease a bit of stress for me.

I've written many chapters, finally, and friends and family love what they have read so far. I've always wanted to write a book but never had the confidence. Went back to college and in advanced English got an A+ on my term paper, the professor said it was the first A+ she's given in her 10+ years of teaching. She suggested I use my 'talent' for writing...with the encouragement from my wife and kids, I'm finally doing so.

Looking forward to learning more from AW!

Welcome to AW, Cambric! Lots of good resources here. Be sure to check out the threads on the Writing Novels forum (especially "Learn Writing with Uncle Jim"), and if you need some friendly encouragement (or kicks in the complacency), try the 500 words a day thread in this forum. Good luck with your writing!

Chase, you're writing about a deaf detective? Intriguing. That's got to make it more difficult for him when he's interviewing suspects. I'm guessing he'll have to rely on body language rather than voice.

How did I miss this thread before?

I have a trio of detectives, siblings Arthur and Julia Alsbury and their dear friend Calandra.

Lady Calandra is in a panic. Her almost betrothed is dead, the police suspect her of murder and even if she is not arrested, she is so tainted with scandal that she may never be married. She has only recently recovered enough from last season's scandal to find her place in society again and pursue and engagement with Marquess Westbourne, Thomas Lynton only to have him murdered in his bed at a weekend party where she was expecting his proposal. Death by poisoned chocolate. Now she has no bridegroom and no prospects.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first of her suitors to suffer misfortune. Last year's scandal was the shooting of Robert, Earl of Camdenshire, in an apparent hunting accident shortly before he was to propose to Calandra. She was very sorry and it was truly an accident on her part, but alas the Earl still walks with a limp.

Things seem dire when rumors abound that Calandra might have had a hand in Thomas' murder, so she falls upon the only help that is offered. Her dearest friends, siblings Julia and Arthur Alsbury aren't about to let Calandra be falsely accused and vow to do everything in their power to help solve the crime themselves. As the duo uncover the shocking truth the Marquess was killed to suppress, Arthur is in danger of revealing his own most intimate secret, that he has loved his friend Calandra since childhood.

Yes, it's an historical set in late Regency England.

*GASP!* @SoccerMom's post (makes me think my sordid little gothic isn't scandalous enough)

Captain Howdy said:

*GASP!* @SoccerMom's post (makes me think my sordid little gothic isn't scandalous enough)

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Ah, but there is no goat buggering in my novel, so it sounds as if the Laszlo clan has plenty of their scandal.

TheIT said:

Chase, you're writing about a deaf detective? Intriguing. That's got to make it more difficult for him when he's interviewing suspects. I'm guessing he'll have to rely on body language rather than voice.

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He's an amateur sleuth, so his detecting is unofficial, and you're right that interviews are more observation. You've hit on an advantage of a practiced speech-reader (it's no longer just lip-reading--it's so much more).

I was increasingly hard-of-hearing more than two decades before going totally deaf these last eight years. But my big sister has been deaf since birth, so she's my main resource. If you play poker with a speech-reader, your tells are better than having marked the deck.

Juliet White is a pretty normal (fairly sarcastic and a little crazy) sixteen-year-old girl. She has low self-confidence, not much helped by the company she keeps (vampires are entirely perfect, especially in the looks department). She's recently been thrust into a position of almost-motherhood, taking care of her strange little sister. All Juliet really wants is to hang out with her little crowd of 'good' vampires, but everything seems to be getting in her way. Especially her mortality.
And she doesn't like grilled cheese sandwiches. (ominous DUN-DUN-DUN)

What a great thread.
Okay time to introduce my MC. his name is Toby Manning, he's twenty five, a photo journalist. Married three years to his loving wife Katie. He gets in a car wreck and has an out of body experience, during which he witnesses a murder. He has to come to terms with the experience himself, convince his friends and family that his experience was real and try to help the police out. Which is awkward because someone he talks to is the actual killer which puts Toby on his radar...

Woo, NYBrit! That sounds like fun. Um, not for poor Toby, but for us.

I have a new MC. She is a DEA agent who went a bit too deep undercover. She's now struggling with an addiction to meth and alcohol and seeking revenge against the man on whom she blames all her problems. Of course, she's headed toward self-destruction, and she doesn't really care who she takes down with her.