The Emperor’s Edge Q & A on Sicarius

Much to the other characters’ chagrin (especially Maldynado’s), Sicarius is getting a lot of attention in my giveaway + reader questions post (plenty of time left to ask questions if you’re interested!). Let me see what I can do insofar as answers…

Gwen asks:

It’s been awhile since I’ve read the The Emporer’s Edge and Dark Currents so please forgive me if you already answered this question in these books. Do we find out where Sicarius came from and who his parents were before the emperor started “training ” him?

There are a couple tidbits along these lines in Book 3. I haven’t decided yet if his parents are still alive (and should make an appearance at some point). That could be fun. 😉

Margaret asks:

Will there be romance between Amaranthe and Sicarius?

And what is Sicarius’s true name? Sicarius is latin for assasin, or dagger-man, so I’m assuming that you may have a different name for him.

I’m not sure romance is a word I could ever see associated with Sicarius, but Amaranthe makes a little progress with him in Book 3…

As for any other names, I haven’t decided if anything will come out yet. It’ll depend on if Mom is still alive and we ever meet her.

Sara asks:

You’ve said that you want to write a book from the perspective of each of the main characters. I can see Akstyr’s and Sicarius’ books being very challenging to write — Akstyr because he’s a punk teen, Sicarius because so much of his character is about what he doesn’t say or share. Have you thought at all about how you’ll keep those characters consistent with what we’ve seen so far while writing from their point of view — and keeping it likable?

Yes, I’ve thought much about it, heh. Especially Sicarius. I know I can do Akstyr — he’s not particularly loveable, but doing his POV would be a good opportunity to have him grow up a little bit. Sicarius is more daunting, and I’ll probably save him for last and do a short story or two for practice first!

Raeann asks:

What’s your brainstorming process? Have you thought of doing a prequel-stand-aloneish book on Sicarius?? I’m curious about how he got entangled with everything.

For brainstorming, I take note of cool things I read about or hear about and that I’d like to incorporate in a story someday. (The idea for the Ice Cracker II short story came out of a History Channel special on ice-breaking ships.) I also decide whose story it’s going to be (like in Dark Currents, it was very much Books’s story, even though Amaranthe was a POV character too) and what that person is trying to accomplish or come to terms with over the course of the story. I mix everything together, and a story eventually comes out.

As for a Sicarius prequel, probably not a book (that would be a long time for me to spend in the head of someone with a very dry-to-non-existent sense of humor!), but maybe  something shorter at some point. I’ve thought about writing the story where young Sicarius and Admiral Starcrest (from Encrypted) meet for the first time.

Okay, I think that’s it. If I missed anyone’s question, feel free to ask or remind me below. Thanks for reading!