About K.I.A.

Hildegard lives in a real-life dollhouse, surrounded by prop houses and actors who play friends, teachers and foster parents. Only one man ever seemed real, and after his disappearance, she’s had enough playing along. As Hildegard makes her final preparations to run away from home, a swarm of black clad soldiers appear, controlling the police and swarming across her home town. She can evade them for now, but after learning their mission, she decides to play along one last time, following them to Truman Academy, a lonely building on a freezing aleutian island.

Hildegard knows it for what it is: just another prop, but not everyone feels the same way. Through the hell of endless drills and marching, Hildegard befriends the stealthy Grace and bloodthirsty David, and enlists them in an effort to unravel the plan of the man called G and his monstrous menagerie of inhuman soldiers.

Enjoy an Excerpt of K.I.A.

Kneeling against the open door, I can hear voices, but not clearly enough to tell what they’re saying.

The garage is crowded, though; too many footsteps.

From here, I can see about half the room. The ramp leading down to the ambulance, the open gate, and some piles of stretchers and medical supplies. It’s completely dark, apart from the distant rays of street lights filtering in past the ambulance. Somewhere on the wall I can’t see is a light source, and since I hear but don’t see people, I’m going to assume that’s where they’re standing.

I test the floor; it changes from plastic tile to concrete at the threshold. Not really ideal. I lay flat on the ground, and try to crawl, as slowly as possible, on elbows and knees. The railings on the ramp to the ambulance, combined with the darkness, should keep me hidden, as long as the people in here keep talking, I might even be able to listen in.

It feels as if my heart should be beating out of my chest, whatever that means, but to be honest, I think I’d prefer that. What it actually feels like, as the ambulance inches closer, is freezing to death in a blizzard. Each time my heart beats, there’s a second of suspense as I wait for the next one.

I can’t stand up. It’s too low, they’ll see me. I’ll have to crawl all the way.

“All teams, reporting in for the fifth sweep.”

“And?”

“Still nothing.”

I want to turn on my side, watch them, but I can see enough in my peripheral vision. Five men, standing in a group, one holds a small light, strapped to the forest of pouches and armor on his chest. The others peer into a variety of equipment, propped up on black plastic legs or resting on piles of bags and boxes.

The ambulance’s tire is by my hand. The back of my neck hasn’t stopped itching.

It’s getting worse, in fact.

“It may be time to consider the possibility we were misinformed. Should’ve brought dogs.”

“Sir?”

I’m under the ambulance now. Five feet to go. I turn on my side, to watch them.

“She’s not here. How is she not here?”

Leaning against the far rail is a man with the proportions of a spider monkey, equipment hanging off him like autumn leaves on a tree. He’s looking right at me.

Pick up your copy of K.I.A today at Amazon!

Q&A with Alexander Charalambides

Q: How do you name your characters?

AC: The names of my (or your) characters, like everything else, can be valuable tools. Do you want to tell your audience something about a character, or at least have them assume something, or inform the audience of their ethnicity? A name is a quick and easy way to do that, and can even stretch to thematic links with more abstract names, although once you’re being this ambitious, you might hurt yourself by being corny.

If you’ll forgive a shameless plug, my previous novel, Black Blade, discusses ideas around heroism and entitlement through the lens of classic knightly valour, so naturally, my protagonist is called Lance, to lead the audience into believing he fits into these themes.

He doesn’t, but that’s beside the point.

If nothing else, thinking pragmatically about how to name your characters will save your from indecision, If I didn’t use this process, I know I’d have no idea what to call mine.

Q: What tools help you focus best during your writing time?

AC: The ideal tool for focus is a strong, step-by-step account of what’s required for the plot, from the broad strokes of theming and escalation, to a list of plots and scene pacing, down to the details for flavour or humour.

This doesn’t just apply to your first draft either, with a strong plan, it’s much easier to return to your first draft with a solid idea of what each scene is meant to accomplish. This doesn’t mean you have to stick to it, but with this plan, spelling out what each piece of your text does, it makes it easy to work out what you need to change, as well.

Planning is an extra layer of work and requires a whole different set of skills from your line by line writing, but there’s no work of fiction that can’t be improved with a plant o keep it concise, consistent and detailed.

Q: Do you like to plot, or do you prefer to let the characters take the reins?

AC: It’s possible that you’ve guessed my answer to this question.

I know it’s easy to dismiss the idea of planning as extra work, or uncreative, it might even seem tempting to look at your first draft and then apply a plan to what you’ve produced in editing.

Planning your novel, in my experience, is the hardest part of writing, and conceiving of events, partitioning them and pacing them is, like i said above, is a different skill from writing prose.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking of planning as something other than writing, though, or even as “optional”, plotting is writing, and without it you’re practicing half an art.

Giveaway!

Alexander Charalambides will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B&N gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Just use the form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And be sure to visit all the stops on the tour to increase your chances of winning (the full list of stops is posted at Goddess Fish)

About Alexander Charalambides

Alexander Charalambides was born in London and grew up in Berkshire in the UK. He studied Creative Writing, and graduated from the Open University. As a freelance writer Alexander enjoys storytelling just as much as editing and analysis, but often takes time off to enjoy wind surfing, do the sickest of motorcycle flips, wrestle with deadly animals and lie about his hobbies.

In 2008 he moved to the USA and now lives in New Hampshire’s beautiful White Mountains with his family and two dogs, Gwynne and Gimli.

Connect with him online at his website on Facebook or on Twitter @ajcharalambides

Live the adventure!

24Apr2018