The story begins a year and four months later, and if I did my job right, will have you gasping by the end of chapter 1. *crosses fingers* You won't find the slower pace of ARCHETYPE within these pages, folks.
There will be some returning characters, but what I'm most excited about are the new ones. I don't think a single one of them was planned, and they all stepped into scenes bursting with personality. I can't even pick a favorite.
I'm going to start the introductions this month with Dr. Phillip Malcolm. He's probably the only character I don't have an image of to share with you. He's a complete figment of my imagination. He almost didn't make it into the story at all because he showed up about 3/4 of the way through. I removed him because introducing a character that late was just foolish. But he stuck with me for days and days and DAYS.
So I went back to the beginning and weaved him in. And out of all the new guys, he gets the most reaction from readers. You might call him the comic relief. Anyway, here's a taste.
Meet Dr. Malcolm:
Sonya peeks her head in and gives me a belated, tight smile. “May we come in?”
“We?”
Another head, male, bald, and shiny, ducks in nearly a foot below Sonya’s. The man’s smile beams from one unusually tiny ear to the other. He must be older by twenty years, but he looks far more youthful than I feel at the moment.
“Hello, Miss Emma,” he says and darts into the room with quick feet, stocky arm extended in greeting. He wears tan slacks and a rumpled button-down shirt striped in shades of brown. One of his shoes is untied. His palm, when I take it, is warm and moist but soft.
“Just Emma,” I say.
“Phillip Malcolm. Call me Phillip.” A nervous energy makes his hazel eyes darting, his smile twitchy. His head bobbles jerkily from side to side. “Or Phil. Or Dr. P.”
It takes everything I have not to yank my hand free. “Doctor?”
Dr. Malcolm glances between me and Sonya, who leans cross-armed in the doorway. “Geneticist, actually. Or at least that’s how I began my career. I like to dabble in all the sciences. You know, I once even tried my hand at ichthyology, which sounds boring except—”
“Phillip,” Sonya cuts in. Her weary tone suggests she has to do this often.
The man flushes, but his smile never shows any hint of disappearing. “Anyway. My specialty is in genetics.”
Sonya walks the rest of the way in, her hands sliding into the deep pockets of her white lab coat. Unlike Dr. Malcolm’s, her attire is neatly pressed. “I told Phillip I wanted to take a look at that cut on your head and he insisted on coming along to meet you.”
He raises both hands as if to stop me, though I stand perfectly still. “I am a huge fan.”
I wish I could share all of him with you right now. I adore Dr. Malcolm. ADORE.
Anyway, here's your chance to see every second of him! I'm giving away one signed advanced copy of PROTOTYPE. This is open internationally, so enter away!
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