Leopold: Characters if they lived in the present

Originally posted at Stories That Make You Smile in October 2018.

Good day folks!

Thanks for joining me to celebrate my newest release, Leopold (Saga of the Bold People 1). It is an m/m romance sci-fi epic, and it’s the first book of a 6-book saga. I am super excited to finally release this bad boy that’s taken me around eight years to revise and edit.

This story involves a lot of characters besides Leopold. Although it is first and foremost his story of development, his encounters with other characters pushes him to look beyond his prejudices and fears to see the wonders that lie beyond.

Probably the four most important characters in this book are Leopold himself, Mastrodai, a human woman named Alex and a human girl named Sasha. Alex is Mastrodai’s slave, and she becomes Leopold’s good friend. She’s the complete opposite of him—in temperament and how she looks the world. Sasha is a girl that Leopold rescues from a slave trader when he’s a temporary captive himself. She’s going to be vitally important as the series progresses.

I thought it would be fun to imagine the characters in present times, and who and what their careers would be.

Leopold: I honestly see him as a crazy outdoor survivalist—living on acres of land in a little cabin, with booby traps and a secret arsenal. He would protect those he loved but would have not trust in the government or authority of any sort. Probably with a paramilitary background and loads of lethal skills that would make him a nightmare for anyone looking for trouble. Honestly, I could see him having loads in common with Marvel’s The Punisher.

Mastrodai: if he was human, he’d be a CEO of a world-wide corporation. A bit of an arrogant prick that secretly funnels his money to charities and worthy causes. He has a generous heart that he keeps hidden for appearance’s sake. There’s certainly more to him than meets the eye.

Alex: She’s a nurturer and mother to everyone, so she’d be a school counselor and/or a teacher. She loves helping people grow and work through hard times. She has an open heart and prefers to look at the world optimistically instead of cynically.

Sasha: She would be a Reiki healer and/or the owner of an herb shop for natural remedies. She’s quiet and watchful and wants to heal people. In Leopold we met Sasha as a young girl with much growing to do, her story only just begun. She’s a character that has always intrigued me, and I gave great plans for her.

I’ve always been intrigued by human interaction and the complexities of relationships. That’s why I gravitate toward romance as a genre I write and read. Most other genres tend to focus more on plot and action than on character development. The whole point of romance is character—or at least the good ones are. How people in our lives affect us, change us, make us think or take us down another path than one we’d planned at the start. Leopold focuses on those interactions as the title character grows and changes. He has to. He has a big future ahead of him, one he can’t face alone or without the strength that comes from fighting for those you love.

I am currently working on four series simultaneously (because I am a glutton for punishment, apparently) and several stand-alones with plans for a couple of trilogies.

I have three stories contracted with Dreamspinner Press for 2019: a vampire story, the latest shifter book (#13), and the prequel to “On Wings of Thunder.”

Until next time,

May dragons guard your dreams,

M.D. Grimm