Tymely News
Character Feature: Cha'da (AKA Eden Nisim)
An image of Cha'da, as Illustrated by Ryan Johnson. Taken form the cover of Dark Moon.
Cha'da is a character I enjoyed writing, because in just about every way, she's caught between. She's a human that was half raised among goblins. She's a pirate by necessity, rather than choice. As a necromancer, she's a medium between life and death. She's from a technological culture, but loves magic. Last of all, she's neither good nor evil, with one foot in the light and another in darkness, choosing to walk the line down the middle.
Early Life of Eden Nisim
Cha'da was born and named Eden Nisim in the Northwestern Empire and is actually of the royal bloodline. Her father was originally slated to become Emperor, but he rejected the throne to marry a commoner for the sake of love. The paranoia of his younger brother, who inherited the throne in his place, eventually caused the man to hire an assassin, because he feared the rightful heir would usurp him. As a result, Eden's parents faked their deaths and the three of them joined a colonization mission under false names, to escape.
They were some of the original colonists to the world that gave rise to Heart Forge (the main city-state that features in The Wizard's Scion), so Eden/Cha'da is actually about fifteen-thousand years old during the events of Dark Moon.
When the empire nuked their colony, her family hopped into a shuttle and hid underwater (imperial colonization shuttles are actually designed to also function as submersibles). They spent most of that time sleeping in suspension tubes, because the shuttle's computer went to sleep and the alarm meant to wake them never went off. Instead, the safety systems of the tubes woke them when power ran low. By that point, the shuttle was stuck in the mud at the bottom of the ocean and her father destroyed the engines in the process of breaking them free.
In the end, they were forced to bail via the airlock and swim for the surface. Eden drowned, but her parents resuscitated her. They spent ages floating on the ocean in a little inflatable raft. When they ran short of food and water, her parents gave their rations to Eden. They died and she survived just long enough to get sick with Mind Fire, the local disease responsible for people gaining magic powers. During the fevers, she was "rescued" by a crew of goblin pirates, who'd originally planned to do rather unspeakable things to her and then (if she survived) sell her into slavery.
Their plans didn't happen, because Eden used magic to defend herself. Recognizing her potential and talent, the shaman of the tribe decided to teach her magic, including necromancy. The old goblin woman renamed her Cha'da (goblin for 'little red') and the two of them had a relationship almost akin to grandmother and grandchild.
Captain Cha'da, Terror of the High Seas
Sadly, the old goblin died and Cha'da became shaman in her place, but the captain of the ship was jealous of her height and challenged her to fight him to the death. Cha'da was forced to kill him just to survive and in the process, she became captain and chief of the tribe, at the age of sixteen.
She could have abandoned the goblins to their own devices, but after years of living among them, she'd come to think of them as family. If you've ever had the misfortune of witnessing a domestic dispute, then you can likely conjure an image of the kind of dysfunction she lived with, though goblins are far worse than that.
In the end, she decided to tame their wild ways, instead of leaving the only family she has left and she really does love them, despite their flaws. To that end, she's a pirate captain, but shes slowly guiding her crew to less violent ways, using selling people into slavery as a step toward getting them to stop thinking of murder as the first and only option. Her ultimate goal is to get them to settle down somewhere and run a tavern, instead of being pirates.
Nature or Nurture? Good or Evil?
In many ways, Cha'da is a result of her environment, but a part of her will forever look to the stars, longing for the home she left behind, fifteen-thousand years before. She wants to return, but doesn't have the means.
The reader of Dark Moon might initially think Cha'da is the villain of the story, but while she is an anti-villain, she wouldn't be the mustache-twirling type, even if she were male. It would be more accurate to say she's deeply pragmatic and has a sense of morals that are less restrictive than most, but she still has lines she won't cross and regrets how hard a woman she's become. She also has a strong sense of justice when it comes to men that abuse women and will go out of her way to punish those that cross that line, regardless of who the abuser may be or how much power they have.
Cha'da is a wild child at heart, who made Dark Moon enjoyable to write, because I wasn't quite sure what she might do next.
Cha'da's Rival
Levi, the primary protagonist of The Wizard's Scion, has a very complex relationship with Cha'da, because they very much got off on the wrong foot. Some of his crew went missing and Cha'da encountered them during her work as a pirate captain.
They tried to kill her with the weapons of their shuttle and she responded with a rather deadly necromantic spell, because that was the only sure way to save herself and her own crew. Had they not attacked, she wouldn't have harmed them.
She's not guiltless in the matter, but neither is she completely at fault and when Levi finally hears her version of events, he's forced to admit he might have done the same, in her place.
Final Words
Depite how she's introduced, Cha'da is one of the protagonists of Dark Moon and this is the first book in which I decided to pit one protagonist against another, which is something I've done several times since, though those other projects haven't been published, yet.
After all, when the hero faces the villain, you usually know what the final outcome will be, but when two protagonists face off, no one can predict the results. It's really fun to watch characters that should be allies beat the snot out of each other, until they realize what went wrong.
That's why I'll always have a special place in my heart for this character, because she helped me embrace a very different style of writing.
I hope you'll enjoy seeing her walk the line between light and darkness as much as I did.
Tags: the-wizards-scion, character-feature
Dark Moon Released!
Due to an error on my part, instead of one week's wait for Dark Moon to be released, it's out now.
I would have preferred to give a little time for it to show up in stores before release day, but I set the date as July 23, 2024, instead of August 23, 2024, largely because I've been dealing with a lot and yesterday, I got confused about what month it was, just long enough to put the wrong publishing date on this one. Oops.
Oh well. If it isn't in the store you'd prefer, please be patient. It may take a day or two.
The Steel Wizard, Captain Levi Jacobs, second-guesses himself over a shuttle and her crew that dangerously vanish into deep space. As search and rescue operations fail to turn up any any trace of them and he’s pressured to declare them ‘missing, presumed dead’, his worries grow.After following a nearly-hopeless trail of bread crumbs, he discovers the shuttle crew managed to return to their home planet, but were killed shortly after arriving by a skilled necromancer-witch named Cha’da and her crew of goblin pirates. With his hopes of rescuing his people dashed, Levi turns his attention to punishing the responsible party.
In the background, strange mysteries unfold as the invisible moon no one knew the world had reveals itself as a crescent that grows toward a full circle in the sky!
As the sun sets and the full moon rises, Levi faces Cha’da in a magical duel, but nothing is as it appears. Cha’da isn’t evil, having killed the shuttle crew in self-defense, while subtly trying to redirect her blood-thirsty pirate crew to a less violent way of life.
As night begins and strange ‘Harbingers of Doom’ from the moon crash into the ocean, bent on harvesting life energy, the two enemies are forced to fight back-to-back, just to survive!
Will Levi and Cha’da live long enough to save the world or will the alien harvesters steal the souls of everyone they love as part of their dark harvest?
Tags: the-wizards-scion, novel, publishing
The Smashwords Sale Has Begun
Troll Song and Forgotten Legends are 50% off on Smashwords until January 1st.
Tags: writing, publishing, sale, the-wizards-scion
50% Off on Smashwords!
I’m excited to announce my Ebooks, Troll Song and Forgotten Legends, will be 50% off on Smashwords as part of their 2023 End of Year Sale starting on December 15! Be sure to follow me for more updates and links to the promotion for my books and many more!
Lyra never intended to cause the extinction of the troll race, but when she uses the power of troll song to read the mind of a dwarf, she's forced to compare her life of abuse to that of a loving family.
Acting for the good of the world, she betrays her family and her race by revealing the secrets of the trolls. For the sake of the dwarves, Lyra kills her oldest sister, creating an opportunity for the dwarves to defeat a disorganized army composed of their brothers.
The middle sister, Lyra's childhood nemesis and personal tormentor, Nicole, is furious beyond all rationality over her youngest sister's actions, determined to make Lyra pay, no matter the cost! Death would be too good for Lyra, so Nicole seeks to telepathically destroy her mind, instead!
Luring her sister into a trap, Lyra drops an entire mountain of ice on their heads, intent on ending Nicole at the expense of her own life!
They wake from their frozen sleep thousands of years later in a world of wonders both scientific and magical. As Nicole escapes, the contest begins anew and she gains control of a powerful star ship, intending to use it as a platform for her vengeance!
Meanwhile, Lyra gains modern allies, including the influential family and friends of a young wizard, Levi Jacobs.
Will Lyra defeat her murderous sister or will Nicole destroy Lyra's mind to fulfill her vow of vengeance? Will Lyra end the troll threat or will Nicole become a scourge on the entire world, raiding and pillaging as she sees fit?
Levi hated the monster from under the bed as a child, but when he meets the creature as a young adult, he quickly learns nothing will be the same in his life, ever again. The creature of darkness pleads for his aid in a coming war and the young wizard reluctantly agrees, making it his familiar.
Levi's family and friends are soon caught up in a galaxy-wide war to decide the fate of humanity and continually come face to face with monsters straight out of myth and legend, including the dreaded Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse! The old gods and monsters humanity revered before the rise of science and reason are angry over being ignored and seek to force humanity to believe in them once more!
The young wizard's allies find themselves in a unique position to fight the supernatural creatures, since they're gifted with magical powers of their own, soon sparking a wave of resistance from the governments of the galaxy, as they take the fight to the legends!
However, the battle isn't easy, because the forgotten legends weren't idle over the millennia, having built an impressive manufacturing facility that draws matter straight from a star to build warships at an incredible rate, churning them out faster than humanity can deal with! Worse yet, these ships have the very best in weaponry that both magic and science can produce.
Will Levi and his family overcome the endless waves of disposable warships or will the governments of the galaxy be crushed by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, beginning an era of slavery under the heel of their own forgotten legends?
Tags: writing, publishing, sale, the-wizards-scion
Smashwords Sale!
I’m excited to announce my Ebooks, Troll Song and Forgotten Legends, will be promoted on Smashwords as part of their 2023 End of Year Sale starting on December 15! Be sure to follow me on social media or this blog for more updates and links to the promotion for my books and many more!
You can find Forgotten Legends here.
Tags: writing, publishing, sale, the-wizards-scion
On Sale, Now!
To celebrate my novels being featured in the local newspaper, the Ebook versions of my novels are on sale until the end of Monday!
Troll Song is currently a dollar off, at $1.99. https://books2read.com/b/TrollSong
Forgotten Legends is two dollars off, at $2.99. https://books2read.com/b/ForgottenLegends
Hurry and buy them, before it's too late!
Tags: writing, publishing, sale, the-wizards-scion
Available for Pre-Order: Forgotten Legends!
The second volume of The Wizard's Scion series, titled Forgotten Legends, is now available for pre-order as an Ebook. The print edition should follow, soon.
Forgotten Legends releases on November 13, 2023.
Levi hated the monster from under the bed as a child, but when he meets the creature as a young adult, he quickly learns nothing will be the same in his life, ever again. The creature of darkness pleads for his aid in a coming war and the young wizard reluctantly agrees, making it his familiar.
Levi’s family and friends are soon caught up in a galaxy-wide war to decide the fate of humanity and continually come face to face with monsters straight out of myth and legend, including the dreaded Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse! The old gods and monsters humanity revered before the rise of science and reason are angry over being ignored and seek to force humanity to believe in them once more!
The young wizard’s allies find themselves in a unique position to fight the supernatural creatures, since they’re gifted with magical powers of their own, soon sparking a wave of resistance from the governments of the galaxy, as they take the fight to the legends!
However, the battle isn’t easy, because the forgotten legends weren’t idle over the millennia, having built an impressive manufacturing facility that draws matter straight from a star to build warships at an incredible rate, churning them out faster than humanity can deal with! Worse yet, these ships have the very best in weaponry that both magic and science can produce.
Will Levi and his family overcome the endless waves of disposable warships or will the governments of the galaxy be crushed by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, beginning an era of slavery under the heel of their own forgotten legends? The answers lay within this book, but you’ll never know unless you buy it!
Tags: the-wizards-scion, novel, writing, publishing
Troll Song is Released!
The first novel in The Wizard's Scion series, titled Troll Song, is available for purchase in both eBook and paperback forms. You can find out more by clicking this link or by clicking on the image, below.
Lyra never intended to cause the extinction of the troll race, but when she uses the power of troll song to read the mind of a dwarf, she’s forced to compare her life of abuse to that of a loving family.
Acting for the good of the world, Lyra betrays her family and kills her oldest sister, creating an opportunity for the dwarves to defeat the troll army.
The middle sister, Lyra’s childhood nemesis, Nicole, is furious beyond all rationality and determined to make Lyra pay, no matter the cost! Death would be too good for Lyra, so Nicole seeks to telepathically destroy her mind, instead!
Luring her sister into a trap, Lyra drops an entire mountain of ice on their heads, intent on ending Nicole at the expense of her own life! Waking after thousands of years frozen sleep in a world of wonders both scientific and magical, Nicole steals a powerful star ship and the contest begins anew!
Will Lyra defeat her murderous sister and end the troll threat or will Nicole destroy Lyra’s mind to fulfill her vow of vengeance, followed by raiding and pillaging as she sees fit? Buy this book and find out, today!
Tags: the-wizards-scion, novel, publishing