Sunday, April 1, 2012

A is for Assassin

Well, that's an alphabetically fortuitous start!

For the A to Z Blogging Challenge, I'm posting alphabetically on things related to Shayla's world...

Shayla Carver, the main character in Ghosts of Innocence, is an assassin. 

Fighting was always in her nature, even before she started on her quest for revenge. By the age of ten, she was a junior master of Jivan wrestling, and well on her way to the bronze standard in Shohan Calinda, the Knife Dance.

Things got serious after her home planet was destroyed, and she decided to kick the sorry butt of the Emperor responsible.

She threw herself into martial arts, joined the Firenzi military at seventeen, but soon realized that this was a step in the wrong direction. The Firenzi forces would never take on the Empire, not in direct battle, and even if they did she would never be in a position to take out the kind of personal revenge she was looking for.

For that sort of opportunity, Shayla needed to enter the Special Service...not the kind of organization you just apply to join! She got noticed by their talent scouts by volunteering for behind-the-lines assignments - chances to show the skills the Service was looking for.

In doing so, she discovered her talents for disguise, for blending in under cover, and for extreme stealth. These talents complemented her formidable fighting skills, and an assassin was born.

25 comments:

Francene Stanley said...

Hi from homeworld, UK,
I assume you're blogging about a book you've written. It's a bit hard to tell who Shayla is and how you know of her. I like your link to A.

mooderino said...

As my mother would say, How does she expect to get a husband acting like that?

Good luck with the challenge. I was hoping to have it all planned in advance, but, you know...

mood
Moody Writing

Huntress said...

Love the excerpt!

Sarah Tokeley said...

I'm looking forward to learning all about Shayla over the next month :-)

Anonymous said...

Not exactly the girl next door.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Well, I'd say you "killed" the letter A. Great start.

J. Andrew Jansen said...

How can you go wrong starting with the phrase "alphabetically fortuitous"?

Looks like a grat start. Can't wait for more!

--j--

Kimberlee Turley said...

So cool that you're doing a theme, and that you're making it personal.

Unknown said...

I am in love with Shayla. What a badass chick she is? Please, please where can I read more about her?

Rob-bear said...

This is one "tough dude" of a woman. A young woman. I suspect she is up to no good at every turn. Makes her a potentially endearing character.

DL Hammons said...

Quite an interesting character! Great start!! :)

Botanist said...

Hello to everyone who's visited! I usually reply individually but as I'm trying to find time to visit others in the Challenge I won't this time, other than to answer a few specific questions.

Francene: Sorry for the confusion, I guess I was forgetting there might be newcomers dropping over, I'll try to make it clearer in tomorrow's post.

Melissa: Shayla is from an unpublished novel, so not much chance to read more just yet other than here.

J: :D !!

No, Shayla is hardly the girl next door. But she is darned handy to have on your side!

Patricia Stoltey said...

Assassin is a great start to the challenge. My theme is a writerly (and personal) wish list. Hope you drop by when you can.

unikorna said...

Shayla can kick ass, I wanted to ask you if you envisioned her somehow, how would she look like? And also does she have a soft spot? Or is she all about strength and arms :)?

Lindsey R. Loucks said...

I want to be Shayla when I grow up! She sounds awesome!

Stephanie V said...

Assassins are always exciting to read about and yet they are not considered to be people we would want to know. It must be true that everyone loves a 'bad boy' - or girl!

Thanks for the visit. Nice to meet someone else from my time zone.

cleemckenzie said...

Sounds like an A for Amazing book! Great theme for this AtoZ Blogging Challenge.

Leigh Covington said...

oooh! I love a good character - especially an assassin. She sounds SO COOL! Love it!

Mysti said...

Ian, since I haven't had time to follow your story on CC (though I've read a submission now and then), I'm happy to see you describing it here.

Your heroine sounds like a girl I could root for, and I really hope to see this in print some day soon!

Mysti

Karen Jones Gowen said...

A for Assassin is Awesome! I love me a good assassin any day. Fictional of course.

momto8 said...

Congrats on taking the challenge!! I like your heroine!!
I am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.
happy week!

Botanist said...

Seems like I tickled people's interest with the assassin bit :)

unikorna: I do have something of a vision for Shayla, which I attempted to capture in the Casting Call blogfest. Also, she certainly does have a soft spot for the young and vulnerable, which becomes her undoing mid-way through the story.

Lindsey: that's what I like to hear :D

Stephanie: this time zone can be a bit of a pain, I often feel like I'm late to the party in Bloggerland.

To all newcomers: I will try to track you down as time permits, if I don't stumble across your blogs beforehand in my travels through the sign-up list. I suspect April is going to be an even busier month than I thought.

Pearson Report said...

I knew I had a twin...we are from the same planet. Somehow we were separated at birth and an alien cargo ship jettisoned me here, on this little orb.

Great intro to what's in store for us...I'll be back to "turn" the pages of this story.

Cheers, Jenny @ Pearson Report
Co-Host of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Bethe77 said...

Martial arts seems to be coming my direction a lot lately. Revenge........Always makes a good read.
Visiting from A - Z Challenge
Blessings

Melissa Sugar said...

I like your heroine and what a perfect choice for the letter A. I am a new follower from the challenge and I look forward to reading more of your post this month.

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