Guest Post: H.P. Mallory

Today we welcome author: H.P. Mallory to A Chick Who Reads thanks to The Bookish Snob Promotions!

Since all of these posts have the theme of characters from the Dulcie O'Neil series, I'm really excited to talk about the character of Dia Robinson, head of the ANC (Association of Netherworld Creatures) in Moon. Dia is the equivalent of Knight position-wise but in a different county.

Dia is an especially interesting character because she's actually based on a real person! Prior to the release of each of my books (both the Dulcie O'Neil series and the Jolie Wilkins series), I host a contest whereby the winner is written into the story. The winner's name, physical description and personality is all included in the character as well.

I was lucky enough to have Dia enter the contest and win! She made such an incredible character because her personality is extremely vibrant and she's very funny. The character of Dia is very headstrong and smart. She's a tough woman but she also has a heart of gold and ends up becoming one of Dulcie's friends.


I really enjoyed writing Dia's character and learning more about her. I sent her a decently long questionnaire and asked her all sorts of questions from: what is your favorite color? to what is your nickname? (Which, incidentally, is Diva, which also made it into the book!)


One of my favorite parts of A Tale of Two Goblins is when Dia tells Dulcie the story about her bird, Tweety. That was actually taken from a story Dia sent me and it was so much fun to write it into the book and wonder what Dia thought about it!


Here's a little taste of the character of Dia Robinson:



She seemed to hesitate for a second or two, her lips clenched. “Can I offer some unsolicited advice?” Dia began and I glanced up at her in surprise.



“Shoot.”



She took another few seconds to collect her thoughts. “I used to have a cockatiel named Tweety, and I loved that bird. He was bright yellow with orange spots on his head and he used to whistle every time I came home.” She had this far away sort of expression on her face, like she was living a totally different time.


“Um, that’s a nice story, Dia, but what does that have to do with anything?” I asked, not meaning to sound so brusque.


She didn’t seem to hear me or if she did, she didn’t care but just continued her story. “This bird would sing constantly and I used to love to listen to him. I had him for thirteen years which is a really long time for a cockatiel to live, you know?”


I didn’t but anyway…


“Then one day he passed away from a heart attack and it just broke my heart.” She glanced at me and it looked like she was waiting for me to respond but the problem was, I wasn’t sure what to say.

“I’m sorry?” I asked, frowning.


“Even though I miss that bird now, I had thirteen years of love, Dulcie, and even though it hurts to think of him now, if I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t change anything because it was better to have loved him and lost him than never to have had him at all.”



I nodded, sort of figuring where she was going with all of this. But, I didn’t say anything.



“I don’t know what your background is and I don’t know why you wear that shield up wherever you go,” she said and her gaze was so piercing, I felt like she was seeing through me. “But, I do know you’re a good person and deserve to love someone like I loved Tweety.”



“Thanks,” I started but she held up her hand as if to say she wasn’t yet finished.



“And I also don’t know much about Mr. Vander other than the fact that he is just gorgeous on a stick but I know he cares about you—I can see it in his eyes. And you’d be making a big mistake if you didn’t take a chance with that one.”



“You definitely don’t know Knight,” I said, a myriad of reasons why he wasn’t a good idea bubbling through my mind.



“I know enough to know when you’re trying to talk yourself out of something, Girl, and you just want to make sure you aren’t missing out on a Tweety.”



The truth of it was that I wasn’t sure Tennyson was right when he’d said it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. I’d loved and lost and I could honestly say it was better to let the assholes go and break some other dumbass’s heart than risk mine again.



Tweety be damned.

Author Info:

H.P. Mallory: Author, Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance

www.hpmallory.com

www.urbanfantasyauthor.blogspot.com

http://twitter.com/hpmallory

http://www.facebook.com/people/Hp-Mallory/10000124964376


HP Author Blurb




Hi, I'm HP Mallory and I've written two series, the first about a fairy in law enforcement (To Kill A Warlock and A Tale of Two Goblins) and the second about a witch who can bring back the dead (Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble and Toil and Trouble).



I'm a mongo fan of anything that goes bump in the night and Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! (Quick tangent--the best costume I've ever worn was last year when I went as the Headless Horseman and my baby was my Jack-O-Lantern head!) I've always loved the Twilight Zone Marathons and if I ever saw a ghost, I think I'd wet myself.


I grew up in California although I've lived abroad in the UK (England and Scotland--woo hoo, gotta love those kilts!)


I'd categorize my writing as a blend of suspense, humor, light horror, and romance with a sprinkle of fantasy to tie everything together! If you are all about fairies and witches and vampires (oh my!), you love a good alpha warlock and you like men who get a little hairy during a full moon, I got the goods.

The next stop on the tour: Spell Checked By CG Powell

You can buy a copy of A Tale Of Two Goblins @ Amazon/Barnes and Noble/Smashwords