The Language of Worlds~ August

Hi guys! 

Forgive me for missing last week. I helped work cattle all morning, then had a doctor appointment that afternoon. 

Today I’m joining in Liv K. Fisher’s linkup The Language of Worlds. 

1. How long have you been writing this story? 

The first draft of Blood and Dust was written during NaNoWriMo of 2017. I’m pretty sure that’s the first year I ever won. It was called Young Guns back then buy ended up being changed to The Guns for awhile. 

2. Who’s your favorite character? Why?

Oof. That’s so hard. I love so many of them. Cole, Calgary, Blake. Jason is rapidly climbing the ranks as a favorite. I think Calgary is my favorite though. She’s sassy, and strong, but also broken, vulnerable, and scared. She’s a lot of fun to write. 

3. Which character do you consider the “goodest of the good”?

Definitely Cole. He’s almost always a gentleman and tries to do the right thing. Although that is getting toned down just a tiny bit in this latest version. I’d still consider him the “goodest” though. 

4. Which character is the “baddest of the bad”?

Well the main villain, James Dermott, is definitely the worst of them, technically. I mean, he’s the one responsible for all of the troubles to begin with. But my personal burning hatred is reserved for Ridge—a gun hand who is terrible to Calgary. He’s terrible. 

5. If you were to have tea (or coffee!) with one character, which one would you pick? Why?

First of all, it’s coffee. Totally coffee. Coffee is sacred in this book. Anyway, I think I would pick Jason. Because he’s my small, injured baby. There’s a lot of layers to his character. He’s strong in some ways, and completely helpless in others. Things bother him so bad, and yet he doesn’t let on to any of it. He’s starved for personal relationships, but manages to butcher every one he has. Sounds like a perfect coffee companion. 

6. Describe your storyworld.

My story world takes place in the near future, after World War 3 ended. America went through an invasion and suffered heavy destruction, losing most of their electricity and ability to connect with each other coast to coast. Cole lives in Tennessee where the majority of the eastern countryside has rebuilt and is fully functional with a government and technology. They are actively working to reconstruct the other states. Artificial intelligence is a big part of life, but the world is still very recognizable as earth I think. 

Cody, Wyoming is where most of the book takes place. It’s in the Bomb Zone where reconstruction hasn’t started yet and the people there are even more isolated than most others in the Bomb Zone are. They live a very old style life—cooking over wood stoves, living off wild game and whatever foods they’re able to grow from seed year after year. They use the natural sulfur in the area to make their gunpowder, and anything that can make bullets is guarded and recycled vigilantly. Gangs are constantly at war in Cody. There are three of them holding different territories, with The Guns being the most powerful. People die constantly, everything is a fight for survival, and the whole place is generally wild, lawless, and terrified. 

7. You’ve fallen into your book! Which place would you be happiest at?

Noooo!! I don’t want to go!!! I guess I would pick Tennessee. Where things are safe and stable. Though I’d totally miss out on all the action. I might also hide out in Yellowstone Park. It’s beautiful, and generally undisturbed, and all I’d have to look out for is wild animals. 

8. Which place would you like to avoid at all costs? (Or, explore to know its secrets a little bit better?)

Cody. I’m pretty sure I’d get killed pretty fast. Then again, that’s where all the action is, so that’s totally where the best exploring would happen. 

9. Share an aesthetic!

10. Share a snippet!

“Where do you think they went?” Gil flipped the limp rag over her shoulder and got to work slicing chunks of venison into thin strips. 

“The cooks?” Calgary quartered a lumpy potato and threw it in the big stew pot.

“Yes.” Gil wrinkled her nose. “I don’t care where the Guns go.”

Calgary bit her lip and shrugged. “Wherever they all go, I guess.” 

“You think they just disappeared?” 

Calgary rolled her eyes. “No one just disappears. You know what I mean. There haven’t been any raids—and why would they take cooks anyway? It had to have been the other thing.” It sounded ridiculous coming out of her mouth, but what else was she supposed to call it? Random disappearances of women, with most of them resurfacing in a few months with no clues to where they’d been? That was another thing.