J.M. NORTHUP

MEET MY CHARACTER

1. Tell us about your story:
   • What is the name of your book?
     • I’ve appeared in all four of Hawkin’s Hollystone Mysteries: To Charm a Killer, To Sleep with Stones, To Render a Raven, and To Kill a King
   • What genre is it?
     • Hawkin likes to mix her genres. Some people call it urban fantasy. Hawkin says she writes “myth, magic, and mayhem” mostly on account of me.
     • The first two books are murder mysteries. The last two are thrillers.
   • When and where is your tale set?
     • Hollystone Coven operates out of a place near Buntzen Lake just east of Vancouver. I live in a flat on Commercial Drive, but I tend to travel.
     • In To Charm a Killer, I fly to Ireland to save an innocent seventeen-year-old girl who got caught up in the spell we invoked to catch a serial killer. Six months later, Dylan’s grandfather called from Scotland and asked me to come there and get Dylan out of prison. He’d been charged with murder because some nasty journalist was killed and left in a cairn while Dylan was sleeping with the stones in the next field. A year later, my child, Lucy, was stolen by vampires on her first birthday. We all travelled up the West Coast of British Columbia by yacht to rescue Lucy and render those ravens. I’d just returned from that ordeal and was hiding out near Los Angeles, when I discovered that my friend Sorcha was trapped in Iron Age Ireland. That time, I travelled through time along with Dylan. What else could we do? With her attitude, Sorcha would never survive Iron Age warrior druids.
2. Who are you?
   • What is your name?
     • Sandolino Estrada, but only the police and Nigel Stryker ever call me Sandolino. Nigel is kinda like a father to me, so I don’t mind. Everyone else just calls me Estrada. Michael Stryker sometimes calls me compadre, which I like, cause he’s my best friend and sometimes lover. Oh, and the Horned God, Cernunnos, calls me Shaman. I take that as a form of respect.
   • Are you a fictional or historical character?
     • Well, that depends. You’d call me fictional, but Hawkin thinks I’m real and part of her story so . . .
   • What’s your role in the story – are you the protagonist or a supporting character?
     • Definitely the lead.
   • Are you a human, animal, alien, robot, or something completely different?
     • I’m a human, but I have some unique skills. Once, when I was abducted and bound in a strait jacket, I projected my spirit into the body of a raven so I could fly above the van and find out where we were.
     • I’m telepathic at times, can see auras and visualize heat with something I call “thermal imagining.” I can also do some amazing things with fire that are a step up from the flash power fire balls I toss around at the goth club where I’m a magician. And I’m something of a wolf. I’ll take on anything or anyone who threatens my pack.
   • Do you consider yourself to be good, bad, or indifferent?  Would others agree with this assessment – why, or why not?
     • Like I said, I’ll take on anything or anyone who threatens my pack. Sensara, who’s the mother of my child, sometimes gets upset by my need for sexual freedom, but I am who I am. Michael, who’s something of a hedonist, calls Sensara, Ms. Hetero-Monogamy. The two of them do not get along. Sensara thinks Michael is to blame for my behaviour, but she’s wrong. I’m my own man.
3. What do we need to know about you?
   • What is your personal goal?  I mean, what do you ultimately want?
     • A family. My family evaporated when I was twelve. My little sister was killed in a hit and run the same night my father disappeared, and I ended up in an L.A. street gang. Then, my mother retreated to Mexico with my other sister. She sent me to live with my tyrannical uncle in Vancouver who believed in corporal punishment. That’s when I picked up a wand and decided to take control. So, I want a family of my own to love and cherish, and I do love them. But if I ever see my father again, I’ll want some answers.
   • What is standing in your way?  What conflict(s) do you face?
     • My need for freedom. You see I still believe, much to Sensara’s chagrin, that sex is just sex. Falling in love, now that can cause all kinds of problems.
   • Why is this goal important to you?  What’s your motivation?
     • Love is the most important thing in the universe. I love Sensara and Lucy. I’d die for them. I love Michael. He and I are as close as two men could ever be. Sometimes I just want to crawl inside his skin. Michael understands my need for freedom because he has that same need. And sometimes, I just fall in love with someone I connect deeply with. I wish we could all live together as one big happy family.
   • If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be, and why?
     • Why would I change a thing? So far, I’ve managed it all.
4. How do I get a copy of your book?
   • Is it available now, or when can we expect to see it released?
     • The books are all available now.