GHOST IN THE STONE, Nicasia, and the Vice-Queen of Italy
A few people have sent emails expressing approval that the character of Nicasia returns in GHOST IN THE VAULT.
I’m always happy to take credit for positive developments. 🙂 But we can thank narrator Hollis McCarthy for Nicasia’s return in GHOST IN THE VAULT.
Nicasia wasn’t originally in the outline of GHOST IN THE VAULT, but while I was plotting out the book, I was also listening to the proof of the audiobook of GHOST IN THE STONE. I liked Hollis’s performance for Nicasia/The Defender in the audiobook quite a lot, and since at that point I hadn’t finished the outline for VAULT yet, I rewrote the outline to include Nicasia.
To judge from the reader response, it seems to have worked pretty well. 🙂
A few other people mentioned that Caina seems more emotionally and mentally stable in this book than she has previously. That is not surprising. Meeting Ariadne Maraeus in GHOST IN THE TOWER (a female relative she didn’t hate and even actually liked) was very good for Caina’s mental state.
Additionally, it’s her character arc progressing. I used to joke that Nadia Moran’s character arc was Catwoman evolving into Gandalf.
Caina’s character arc, by contrast, has become James Bond evolving into Matilda of Tuscany (also known as Matilda of Canossa). If you don’t know who Matilda of Tuscany was, she was an Italian noblewoman who essentially ruled northern Italy towards the end of the 11th century and the start of the 12th through a combination of guile, tenacity, ruthlessness, and sheer force of personality. She led her own armies in battle, usually came out ahead in a dexterous web of alliances, and towards the end of her life was so powerful that the Holy Roman Emperor gave her the title of Imperial Vicar and Vice-Queen of Italy.
(Though Caina’s love life has been more successful. Matilda hated her first husband and possibly had him assassinated, and her second husband feared she had seduced him via witchcraft and refused to sleep with her.)
So, to lay aside historical metaphors, Caina is changing from a secret agent into a leader and a mentor – Sophia Zomanek definitely views her as a mentor, and even Ilona wants Caina’s approval.
Naturally, the evolution from secret agent to leader will play a big part in GHOST IN THE COUNCIL. 🙂
You can read GHOST IN THE VAULT at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon CA, Amazon AU, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play, and Smashwords.
-JM