Interview with Gabrielle from Reality's Fire

Welcome to another edition of Author Interviews. Not interviews of authors, but an author interviewing their characters. Today, author R. L. Copple interviews his character, Gabrielle, who plays a starring role in the newly released novel, Reality's Fire from Splashdown Books.

RLC: Hello, readers. My name is Rick Lee Copple, thus the author by-line: R. L. Copple. I write fantasy and space opera stories. As stated in the opening, the third and final novel in "The Reality Chronicles" has just been released. One character that has appeared in all three novels, but hasn't played as large a role in the story until this book, is Gabrielle. Why don't you start by introducing yourself.

Gabi: Hi Rick. Funny talking to you. It's almost like talking to myself.

RLC: It does help an author to have split personalities. Maybe to start, tell us a bit about your family life.

Gabi: My parents lived on a mountain just outside Jerole, in the northwest edge of the Cluster Range. My mother died early in my life, leaving myself, my father, and older brother, Seth, to fend for ourselves. My dad did his best, but a wizard of sorts put a curse on him and my brother so that the littlest provocation sent them into an uncontrollable rage. I spent several years keeping them from killing one another. So while life started out pretty normal enough, it went from crazy to crazier after that.

RLC: But Sisko came along and saved them from that curse. Yes?

Gabi: Oh yes, he healed them from their hate, after almost killing us all. But if you think dealing with a miracle man is not crazy, not to mention his children, I have some lake-front property on Dark Lake to sell you.

RLC: You did have a significant part in the first novel, Reality's Dawn, even if it wasn't extensive.

Gabi: Yes, even though I was only in two of the stories, I did play a part in the last story that was key. If not for me, that would have been the end of the series right there. And what was my thanks? The next book, Reality's Ascent, you lock me up in a crystal prison for practically the whole book!

RLC: Yes, I did feel guilty about that. But look at it this way, the readers felt really sorry for you for the whole book too. And you had a couple of good scenes, opening and closing the book. But, that was part of the reason I wanted to give you a starring role in the final book of the trilogy.

Gabi: Indeed, it was quite the part. I had my own point of view for nearly half the book. And not only a big part, but I got to play a part of "eternal significance" to many people, as Father Jonah put it. And it was nice sharing the stage with my daughter, Kaylee. I think we made a good team.

RLC: Naturally, I would agree. But let's talk a bit about your co-star, Josh. Like you, this was his biggest role. He played a part in the first stories of Reality's Dawn as the fledgling wizard. But by the end the second book, we discover that he has become a very powerful wizard. What was it like sharing the limelight with him in Reality's Fire?

Gabi: Yes, he did become a very powerful wizard. He explains that in more detail in this book. However, that turns out not to be as big a help as you'd think in attempting to fulfill my task of finding Kaylee and Nathan, and change the course of events. Naturally, you'll have to read to discover if I succeeded despite that or not.

RLC: How did he make it harder, without giving away any surprises?

Gabi: Let's just say, he doesn't have full control of himself for most of the story. Making him on the unpredictable side. When you have the most powerful wizard in the world not able to control his power, we'll just say, setbacks happen.

RLC: What is your favorite part of the story for you?

Gabi: Despite the frustration of the moment, it was probably turning Josh into a dog.

RLC: We forgot to mention that you end up with a power yourself.

Gabi: Yeah, that steam house. You never know what it is going to do.

RLC: If you had to sum up what this story is about, how would you put it?

Gabi: There's lots of things I could say, but if I were to boil it down, I'd say that the fear of God will either redeem you or defeat you, depending on how you approach Him. Each character experiences that in one way or another.

RLC: I couldn't have said it better myself. Now, let's shift gears a little to some topics the books don't usually touch on. The world you are in, does it have a name?

Gabi: Huh, just the world.

RLC: It doesn't have a name?

Gabi: You call your planet, dirt. Earth.

RLC: Hum, you have a point. But here we have nations like the United States, England, Germany, Australia, and a lot more. Is there anything similar there and why not?

Gabi: Not being from your world, I couldn't say for sure. But our world has a series of city-states. Mostly they get along though there are fights from time to time. A small handful of cities might govern an area, but most have their own king, ruler, or whatever, and they trade and work with neighboring villages and towns in an organic way. So there's not a bigger political entity beyond that.

RLC: And therefore, no need to name a bigger area.

Gabi: There are forest, deserts, and mountain ranges that have names. Like the city I'm in when this book starts out, Reol, is in the Durge Forest.

RLC: So your lands have never experienced wars much?

Gabi: If you believe the myths, thousands of years ago there was a big war between humans and dragons. Some say our peaceful living is in part due to our bonding together back then to fight a common enemy. Most people believe they are scary stories told to frighten kids around camp fires and that dragons don't exist. I used to think as much too, but Sisko's encounter with an invisible dragon gave me pause to wonder about that.

RLC: Interesting. Thank you so much, Gabrielle, for being with us today. Any last words to leave with our readers?

Gabi: Sure. God's reality is the reality. Don't hide from it, embrace it.

RLC: Your on a roll today. Until next time, faithful readers. Be sure to read the series if you haven't and if possible, leave honest reviews on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and anywhere else you please. You can find the book list at my website along with the other books I've written. Thanks for reading.