#AADSAV - James R. Tuck Talks About Chicks

LET'S TALK ABOUT CHICKS, MAN. 

James R. Tuck
 

So I'm going to Authors After Dark this year and I'm extremely excited about it. I love being a writer and one of the things I love most is getting out and connecting with my fellow authors and the readers. I do a lot of conventions and I have found something to be true.

Often I am the only man in the room.

Not always, but if there is another dude on site then we are hugely outnumbered. And it doesn't bother me one bit.

You see I love women. I truly do. I'm married to a teriffic one, I raised a good one too, and before all that I was raised by a good one. I've always been comfortable around women. I find them to be interesting and intriguing.

I believe that's why I write so many of them.

Now my main character, Deacon Chalk, is a man. He's a true blue, Alpha male through and through. His saturation of testosterone sometimes is his biggest asset and sometimes leads him to do things the hardest way possible. His world is filled with women. They keep him on target and balanced as much as possible. They are strong and they are varied. Most of them are damaged just like he is, life is rough in the Deaconverse and monsters are real, but they pick up and pull through and keep right on going. They affect who Deacon is and they are intregal to the story.

Let's look at some of the main ones.

(Fair warning: SPOILER ALERT but we are 2 novels and 3 novellas deep in the series so if you haven't read those then back away from the blog if you don't want spoilers.)





Kat: Kat has been with Deacon since almost the beginning. She is his left hand (sorry, Father Mulcahy is his right). If it weren't for Kat, Deacon would be lost, probably in jail for blowing things up too much. He'd definitely be broke. Kat's the one who keeps the doors open at Polecats, which is the funding operation for Deacon's monster hunting. She's the one who keeps Deacon supplied with ammunition AND information. He'd be able to hunt monsters without her, but he'd miss half of the things that go bump in the night.

Deacon and Kat have a very brother and sister relationship. They're family and would die for each other. They'd kill for each other too, but the killing part is easy.

Charlotte: Everybody loves Charlotte the Were-spider, including Deacon. They met in BLOOD AND BULLETS and, once the dust settled from that adventure, quickly became friends. She finds Deacon to be fun when bullets aren't flying and she's willing to be at his back because he saved her life not once but twice. Deacon enjoys Charlotte's company. He finds her easy to talk to, she's not only intelligent, she's refined as well, and he enjoys having a friend who can hold their own in a fight. He has relied on her since they met, trusting her to back his play. That changed in BLOOD AND SILVER when she hesitated. Now she is not his go to back up, they're still friends, but he's realized that Charlotte, for all her fearsome Were-spiderness, is still just a school teacher.

Tiff: Now Tiff is a strange one. She has decided that Deacon is the man for her. She is completely on board from the moment she steps onto the page. Clueless and naïve about the world she is choosing to live in, but she gets by with bravery and smarts. Unlike all the other women in Deacon's world, she was not damaged by a monster. She never truly faced anything like that until she was by his side which kept her safer than she should have been. She is bringing healing to Deacon, slowly, with great patience, softening some of his rough edges and soothing some of his pain. She loves him fiercely and completely, willing to wait and to sacrifice to be what he needs at the time and that is her strength. Tiff is one of my favorite characters to write. She's the one with the most growth, starting as a civilian in BLOOD AND BULLETS and still not truly taking things seriously in BLOOD AND SILVER until something happens that changes her. When we see Tiff in BLOOD AND MAGICK (out March 4) she isn't the same silly girl we have been dealing with. She's transformed into a serious monster hunter who holds her own as best she can.

Deacon's wife: The one woman with the most influence over who Deacon is and what he does today. His whole life is a quest to protect humans from monsters because of her death. He loves her in a way he will never be able to love another and even though she is gone his goal is to one day be by her side. He still has flashbacks to her death (and the children's also) as well as their life together. He misses her everyday and she's the reason he mounts up and fights the good fight. Without her there would be no Deacon Chalk.

So, you can see that even though my main character is a man there are plenty of strong female characters to read about. Check out the series today.

James R. Tuck is a multi-published author of Dark Urban Fantasy, Crime Fiction, Horror, and Science Fiction/Fantasy. He owns Family Tradition Tattoo in Marietta, Ga and lives in the Atlanta area with his lovely wife, a cool son, a terrific daughter, and four kooky dogs.

He writes the stories that keep you up at night.

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BLOOD AND MAGICK

Deacon Chalk Book 3

March 4, 2013 

ISBN-10: 0758271492 

ISBN-13: 978-0758271495

Taking out hellish creatures—not a problem. Armed with blessed silver hollow-points and the ability to manipulate magick, he’s ready for anything—except betrayal he never saw coming… Deacon Chalk knows the biggest danger in fighting monsters is becoming one. Just another day at the office for your friendly neighborhood occult bounty hunter. If keeping three helpless were-dog children safe means battling a malevolent trio of witches by any means necessary, so be it. If that means partnering with a ruthless government agent to stay one step ahead of the allies and friends he must now suspect, he’s not going to cry about it. The only way Deacon can save humans and shape-shifters alike is to embrace a power beyond his imagining, putting his team at stake—and his soul on the line…

“. . . Chalk takes his gory demon-slaying business dead seriously, allowing readers to have both fun and high-powered action. This exciting and charmingly ridiculous installment will appeal to fans of B-movies and urban fantasy.” ~ Publishers Weekly

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