Month: December 2018

Silk Betrayal: Dramatis Personae

The Silk Betrayal has a lot of characters, including seven who are our points of view for different chapters. I’ve highlighted some of those characters in posts this month. As you read the novel, you may find it useful to have a complete list of them, minor and major, in one place. The book itself includes this Dramatis Personae. But in case it’s easier to consult a page online than flipping around within the ebook or print book, here it is, the listing of major and minor characters and the places within the valley where they are encountered:

The Assembly of Princes and their attendants
  • Baram –  The High Prince
  • Jasfer – a young prince whose sister was cast out fifteen years ago
    • Yatim – a trained fighter
    • Kalvandi – Jasfer’s steward
    • Taurav – footman
  • Apijet –   Jasfer’s mentor
  • Tarak – supporter of Dartak in the Assembly
    • Sindar –   his servant
  • Vedu – older member of the ruling 30
  • Samatrit –  Jasfer’s cousin
  • Dartak – an eloquent speaker
    • Abhish –   head footmen
    • Vipak – footman
    • Teert – head of servants
  • Dhalip – friend of Jasfer’s father
  • Arbul – friend of Jasfer’s father, patron of the railroad
  • Girmeet – former mentee of Apijet
  • Lakanrik – the oldest member of the ruling 30
    • Karket –   his grandson and likely heir
  • Shardash – member of the ruling 30
  • Bhainu – member of the ruling 30
Chaitan’s house
  • Chaitan – hero of the Mumbler Wars, founder of arcist magic, now infirm
  • Pavresh – a young wanderer who wants to learn magic from Chaitan
  • Rashul – charismatic leader of would-be rebels
  • Ekana – a fisherman and dancer
  • Indima – a silk weaver and dancer
  • Namrani – a quiet musician
  • Jaritta –   an outcast with a fire scar on her face
  • Iksheen –  a poet who deliberately obscures his caste
  • Rilef – also learning arcist magic
  • Purunrik – supporter of Rashul
  • Tanmai – supporter of Rashul, brother of Upeng
  • Upeng – supporter of Rashul, brother of Tanmai
  • Marankaya –  former theological prodigy, now disgraced
  • Tanjali – Chaitan’s attendant
  • Kapita – Chaitan’s attendant
Silk weavers
  • Jinsu – Indima’s father
  • Ambal – father to two small children
  • Datri – Weaver girl, companion of Indima
  • Malya – weaver girl, friend of Indima in Romnai
  • Charu – weaver girl, friend of Indima in Romnai
  • Juki- weaver girl, friend of Indima in Romnai
  • Raksh – head servant to Indima’s family
  • Shidi – servant woman to Indima’s family
  • Phangun – servant to Datri’s family
Soldiers of the wolf jati
  • Karuda – Commander of the mountain post
  • Bhadrik
  • Deraj
  • Hirsha
  • Surjit
  • Tugar

Song Styles

Another few months, another set of music CDs to entertain me upon my driving … driving … so much driving.  As always, I create CDs with themes, whether it be “House and Home” or “Long Distance” … and then one set that where the connecting th…

Festive Frolics & the Best of 2018

I have a new short (The Poison Harp) with some backstory on my sassy assassin Mist from my yet to be released epic ‘Army of Me’ (Bindcrafter Paradigm Series) coming soon, that should be ready in the new year, and has been a LOT of fun to write.
The po…

The Ship of Silk on the Calmest Sea

a fable of the Forgotten SouthThe founding mythology of the Valley of Eghsal is that their ancestors came by sea hundreds of years earlier, sailing through usually impassible waters from a distant land known only as the Forgotten South. Before I’d begu…

Silk Betrayal: timeline

While I have no plans to do a massive George R. R. Martin style multi-book history of the Eghsal Valley and all its twists and turns, the book does include a broad timeline of the major events of the past 600 years. This is, to be clear, the timeline a…

Silk Betrayal main character: Jaritta

Jaritta is one of those characters writers will tell you about, one who takes over a story and demands recognition.She is an outcast, an untouchable, who spends time at Chaitan’s house with Rashul and all the other dreamers who imagine a different worl…

Wednesday Wanderings

Since I’ve had a number of short story sales lately (huzzah!), I’m working on editing a new story to put into submissions soon.  This tale, “Lip Service,” is a contemporary fantasy. where phantasmal creatures resembling bees secrete magical energy…

“Super Solutions” now available!

The Fifth Di … December 2018 issue is now out, with my story, “Super Solutions.”  Check it out:  The Fifth Di – December 2018This is my oddball little superhero reality television show story.  I had so much fun with it, but humor …

Song Styles

One of the reasons I have this Sunday feature is because as a professional harper, music is very important to me, though my listening tastes are quite different from my playing tastes, where I specialize in Celtic and early music, with some contemporar…