How is it that a sci-fi detective series centered on two characters goes from one volume, to two, to three (epub date sometime in March 2016), four & five outlined...and now....ideas coming forth for six and even seven (which, for 3 stories each, means a total of 21?)
As a writer of fiction, I learned long ago that if the story was good, it was character driven -- which means in large part, that the character drives me to write it. So I write.
As The Casebook of Elisha Grey expands, and is set to metamorphose into a new dynamic after Casebook V, it's clear that Elisha Grey and his flatmate Kiara Ptolmai, the daughter of an Atlantean diplomat and a woman from the Caucasus region, who came of age in the country of Chungkuo, aren't the only ones who drive the narrative of life in Atlantis with its social norms, crimes, and signs of decay.
Minor characters will play key roles in expanding the landscape of Atlantean society. Each unique in her 0r his way, they bring their experience and knowledge not only to Elisha Grey and Kiara Ptolmai as they work to assist the capitol city's constabulary in solving crimes -- or intercede in behalf of private citizens where no crime is apparent -- they also illustrate the breadth and sophistication of Atlantean culture, which was the pinnacle of the world at its time.
Acknowledging the influence of knowledge from foreign lands and cultures is necessary as well. From the northern island of Albion with its psychic culture to the Baikal regions of the Asian continent and their shamanic traditions, The Casebook of Elisha Grey will incorporate metaphysical concepts and spiritual perceptions into each story as it expands and evolves.
Who are these characters? Ishmael Endymion, superiorly gifted and eccentric chemist, the manufacturer of a mind-altering drug known as Blue Steel Fire, who is a close friend of Elisha Grey; Kamay Pellay, the Atlantean of Lemurian descent who is gifted with the ability to change the weather with his intentions; Galen Toth, chemist and lecturer at the Temple of Learning in Atlantis, who has perfected an analgesic drug with minimal psychotropic effects; Philomena Darius, unparalleled chemist, scholar, and mentor to these three men, renowned for her perfumes; Chiron, the demiequine multimorph and protector of his colony of fellow multimorphs who are the results of genetic engineering; Mara Grey, Elisha Grey's older sister and member of the hetirae class of independent women who work as escorts for other people...the list continually expands as the characters reveal themselves story by story.
As the writer (or, am I just taking dictation?) of this series, all I can say is, I'm taking the bumpy ride first. And i'm finding it eye-opening. I hope you will too!
Photo: Greek amphitheatre, Yaron Seidman