Character profiles: Jackson Brown

Name: Jackson Brown
Age: 35-40

Position: Inventory & logistics and assistant engineer, Martian Freighter Crazy Horse

Personality: Can seem to be quite inapproachable at times as he prefers to keep his own counsel. He is always certain of his own mind and isn't slow to tell other people if he thinks they or a situation is wrong, bad, or being handled wrong.

Misc: A mixture of hired muscle and a steady mind, Jackson is in charge of dealing with port authorities, sourcing cargo, and dealing with any problems that arise. One of Dak's most trusted friends, he is also the one the captain turns to when something needs to be done.

“Jackson seems to be alright, and judging from the language he used when I told him he was restricted to the medical bay this morning I would say he’s well on his way to recovery,” Dr Rivers said, smiling slightly.

Inspiration & character creation: Jackson began as little more than an additional crew member but has become more and more part of the plot as the story has progressed. He has a sense of mystery around him in the story - partly because sometimes when I write him I'm not even sure myself what's going on. It was fun to give him a more key role in discovering the saboteur on board the Crazy Horse - especially as I'd noticed his main role up to that point seemed to be to get injured!

I didn't base his character on anyone in particular, and although I'd had his name in the back of my mind for use in a story for a while, he hadn't really got any personality to go with the name before Alive!.

Finishing a story

I'm reaching a few deadlines during the next couple of months. First, I really need to finish editing my NaNoWriMo story from 2008, The Dark Lady.

Lavender crept out into the passage, trying to ignore the feeling that the pictures were watching her. At the end of the passage she found a large round room, lined from floor to ceiling with shelves containing jars, scrolls, bottles, small wooden boxes and dusty old books.

Fascinated, she went closer to see what was in the jars. She reached out a hand towards one when a voice stopped her.

'I wouldn't do that.'

She turned to see Columbine standing in the doorway, arms folded across her chest and black and green wings held out wide, blocking the exit.

'Columbine!' she cried in relief. 'I know you said you want to be here, but this place isn't good for you!'

Columbine shook her head slowly. 'I wouldn't expect you to understand,' she replied. 'You have never been afraid of your own magic, scared that it will run away with you, and worried that you might do something terrible.'

'No, you're right,' Lavender replied. 'But there still have to be better places to learn how to control your magic than here, with that dark faerie.'

'She is my friend,' Columbine returned, coldly.

'I thought I was your friend too,' Lavender replied quietly, looking Columbine straight in the eyes.

Columbine paused, and for a moment Lavender thought she had got through to her. But before she could be sure, another voice cut in, and Lavender wheeled round to find the dark faerie had somehow appeared behind her.

'I'm impressed you got out, but you've caused enough trouble now,' the dark faerie hissed at Lavender, throwing a bolt of black magic at her.

This story has been lying around not doing very much for the past year. I did get it proofread, but never really got around to editing it. Now I'm finally getting the chance to edit, and I'm on the second read through now. On the first go through I fixed a section that didn't make sense and took out a large chunk that was really just waffle. Now I'm onto more nitpicky things. I'd like to get it finished by the start of June - I'll keep you posted...

The other story that's coming to an end is Alive. I've been doing weekly updates since January on this story and it's due to come to a close in July. There's no fixed date yet, but I'm already starting to tie up loose ends.

I reckon I've got about 6-8 more installments to find out the truth behind Delta the cyborg and figure out why she was sabotaging the Crazy Horse, figure out whether or not to leave Colonel Leonard and the missing child unsolved, and help Dak get out of trouble for taking a drug mule on board.