It’s release week for author Michael Cairns (I get so excited during releases!). Before I let him take over and talk about his awesome book and great characters, I want to fill you in Spirit Room, the first book in his Planets Series!
The Avengers meets Magician, The Planets series is superhero conflict on a global scale…
- An ancient cadre of magicians
- A select team of extra-ordinary warriors
- An unseen foe
As two ancient forces battle for control, reality as we know it is being torn apart. Caught somewhere in the middle, and tasked with ridding the world of the insidious alien intelligence are The Planets. Neptune hails from Rio, the gay daughter of strict catholic parents. Mars, from Ireland, still missing the sister he lost years ago. Uri grew up on the streets of New York, and Venus… well, no one knows and she isn’t telling. Imbued with extra-ordinary powers, these highly trained individuals take the fight across the globe. With startling and unnerving revelations at every turn, the depth of deception is only now becoming clear…’
Does that sound exciting enough? Well I read it and it is! You’ll see my review soon, but we’re here to hear a little about why Michael chose these characters…
Why I love my characters
Guest Post by Michael Cairns
The characters from the Planets are a mash-up of all the characters I loved from the books and comics growing up. I think a lot of comics nail the wish-fulfilment part of what we desire from our entertainment. I love reading books and comics that feature people you’d love to be, assuming you didn’t mind getting shot at, stabbed, or chased at random intervals throughout your life.
It’s the reason we love watching Bond movies and Indiana Jones. I’d love for my books to give the reader that similar sense of escape. So without more ado, here are the characters.
Venus
She’s the classic classy girl. She knows just a little more than everyone else, but is far too decent to point it out. The advantage Venus has it that she’s been around for centuries. She won’t tell anyone her exact age of course, because a lady doesn’t speak of such things. But she has the perspective and wisdom to temper her natural curiosity and unending desire to party when the occasion demands it.
Her power is simple. She creates love and lust in anyone she meets. She can switch it off, to an extent, and really push it when she wants. She had fun when she was younger. She’s a little more controlled with it now. A little.
Mars
He’s the angry young man. He’s not that young any more, nudging fifty, give or take, but he’s still angry. His sister was special, like him, but her power didn’t work out so well. Mars is driven by a need for honesty and fair play. They form the anchors of his life and woe-betide anyone who doesn’t agree. Admittedly, he isn’t averse to using his fists to support the honesty, but then, he is called Mars. He’s fiercely loyal and wears his heart on his sleeve more than he’d like.
His power revolves around time. He can see people’s futures. It takes effort to go much beyond the next ten minutes, but when you combine that with serious combat chops, it makes fighting a doddle.
Uri
She’s the sassy one. And the funny one. She’d say she was both and you wouldn’t want to disagree. Her mum raised her in Brooklyn and showed her how to work for what you wanted and what you loved. She’s only a year or so younger than Mars and shares his loyalty and drive to make things right. She has less control over her anger though when it comes to betrayal and will take on anyone and anything given a chance. Uri laughs, drinks and fights in equal parts and has no problem in doing any of them.
Her power is the most obvious of the lot. Uri can fly and when she does, she possesses extraordinary strength and resilience. When she’s on the ground, she has only her wit to protect her, which depending upon which Planet you talk to, is almost as good.
Neptune
She’s the damaged one. Neptune had a bad time when her powers came in, and the forty years since hasn’t done much to make her feel any better. Coming to New York has made being gay easier to deal with, but getting laid and drinking every night only works for so long. In the field she’s compassionate and thoughtful and uses her powers only when pushed. She cares deeply, sometimes too deeply, about the important things and struggles to contain it.
Her power is control over water. It’s a power that is still evolving. Despite her years, she’s never been big on practice, preferring to work it out as she goes along. So far, she can change cocktail drinks into floating fish and make a whirlpool. As it turns out, she can do considerably more.
I love writing all of these characters, along with the various others who appear in the Planets series. I love being able to say things I would never say and express feelings and fears I’ve never needed to or had the opportunity to, which is, I suppose, the magic of being a writer. Mostly though, I hope reading these characters gives the reader the same sort of escape I spoke about at the beginning.
Book links:
The Spirit Room on Kobo http://bit.ly/SPMwXU
The Spirit Room on Amazon.com http://amzn.to/1kZLofN
The Spirit Room on Amazon.co.uk http://amzn.to/1c1x4zs
The Spirit Room on Smashwords http://bit.ly/13jmIT3
A bit about Michael:
Chocoholic Michael Cairns is a writer and author of the superhero fantasy series, The Planets and science fiction adventure series, A Game of War. A musician, father and school teacher, when not writing he can be found behind his drum kit, tucking into his chocolate stash or trying, and usually failing, to outwit his young daughter.
You can find Michael at:
His website: At http://cairnswrites.com you can download a free copy of novella Childhood Dreams (A Game of War, Part one), find podcasts, free short stories, info about me, and of course, links to where you can buy my books.
Twitter: www.twitter.com/cairnswrites
Facebook: Feel free to ‘like’ www.facebook.com/cairnswrites (he talks about chocolate mostly, and a bit on writing as well)
Pinterest: Enjoy some of the comic art and inspiring images he repins on www.pinterest.com/michaelcairns
GoodReads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7035089.Michael_Cairns
Wattpad: http://wattpad.com/MichaelCairns