So, you've made it this far, have you? It takes dedication to find this page hidden deep within the Tagonist Knights Website.
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Congratulations!
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As a reward, I present to you five new ways to immerse yourself within this novel. Some of it is insightful, other aspects of it is meant to make you laugh and smile. Hopefully, by the time you're done, you'll be eager to explore the book if you haven't already, or take a moment to read through it once again knowing what you do now.
“If you measure yourself by the goals and accomplishments of someone else, your life will be defined by them, not by the unique individual that history should remember you as.” – Gold
Say Hello - The Cast of Lexia's Legacy
“One way or the other, I’m going to get my ship back. If that means kicking in the teeth of my great, great, great whatever grandpa, then so be it.”
Lexia
Starship Captain
“If I was capable of an emotional reaction, I would say your definition of fun terrifies me.”
Parallax
A.I. and Pilot
“I don’t care if a newborn baby is put in charge, you better salute that infant and ask whether they want a new bottle or a change of diapers.”
Tinker
Cyborg Engineer
"Ah'wa um'foo."
Tedorn
Large Talking Gerbil
“I will not leave you. If something happens, I will be here to protect you.”
Frea
Water/Ice Being
“Are you ever worried that someone on this ship is going to get us both killed in some horrible way?”
Ferno
Fire/Rock Being
“Let death be merciful. For I will not.”
Rua'So'Nid
Lizard Warrior
“Never make assumptions based purely on what is before you. There is always the potential for so much more yet to be discovered.”
Avatar
Guide/Counciler
“Ferno said you were a mean beast woman, I don’t know where he gets such silly ideas from. I think you’re as sweet as a nylian fruit and twice as tender.”
Dryad
Humanoid Plant
“Most of those in power are just as bad as the thugs that roam the streets. Half the time they are the thugs that roam the streets.” – Lexia
Relevant Memes/Artwork
“We aren’t the culmination of what our ancestors did or didn’t do. We are able to make our own decisions, create our own path, defy destiny if need be, and prove ourselves heroes when the time comes.” – Lexia
Origin Story:
Long ago...
Lexia's Legacy began as a dream I had involving a pair, male and female, one fire, one ice. In the dream they were brother and sister. More so mutants, people with powers. There was a lizard creature named Mythos who was a dragon and I believe a robot was there, also.
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Dryad was originally created for a fantasy story where someone from our reality who hated fairy tales, was transported to a fairy tale reality. This plant woman peaks out from behind a talking tree who the man first encounters, trees with human faces that is. Obviously the story didn't go anywhere, but I loved the concept of a plant based humanoid person. So, I kept her as a concept and brought her into this Sci-Fi I was working on.
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The dragon character became a more generic lizard warrior character, rather than a dragon. It wasn't until I was writing the final draft and working on creating Tagonist Knights Publishing that I wanted to use Mythos as one of the knights. So, that forced me to come up with a new name for this lizard warrior. So, the name, Rua'So'Nid came into existence.
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Lastly, I took the concept of mutant siblings and made them two species from the same planet, one fire, one ice, and the not related at all pair became a "forbidden love" idea where they couldn't interact with each other without causing harm. Thus, Frea and Ferno.
Original Cover Art
With Series Title Added
Origin Story:
In a galaxy...
Tedorn was inspired by my love for gerbils, I grew up with them and wanted a character that was a large, talking version of them. The idea of this creature being an engineer with savant level capabilities amused me so I kept it. Early on, he spoke a form of butchered English, poorly spoken and mispronounced words. On a whim I decided he would have his own language and began working on a translation list so that I could learn his language. I have always been fascinated with alien languages in other series such as Star Trek and wanted something like that in my Sci-Fi series.
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I had a crew, but I didn't have a captain. I knew I wanted a female captain that was a little like Han Solo who was a bit of a rogue. Her origin story developed and essentially I jumped into the story with a concept of, what happened long after the Empire in Star Wars was defeated? What if this is set in a future long after a great evil was defeated and she's getting special treatment as the descendant of this great hero?
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I didn't have any clue who was inside the container. I had no clue where the story was going. I wrote the first third of the story leading up to Lexia taking a vacation on the Vostok years before completing the novel. I picked it up again since I needed a Sci-Fi story for my Tagonist Knights Publishing release. It wasn't until long after starting the book did I finally complete it.
Origin Story:
Far Away...
The story originally began with the scene between Brent explaining to Lexia the origins of her ancestor's fame. It wasn't until I was listening to this song by Fallout Boy, that I had this vision of this awesome opening scene to a movie based off the book. Then I thought to myself, why didn't I include that in the story? Start off on a high energy, face paced, action scene? Great idea! So, that's how it was added to the opening of the novel.
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For most of the book, I had no clue what the Blight was or how it was able to do what it accomplished. I was making things up as I go until I received the answers I needed. Some refer to this as "pantser" style writing which I find offensive. "Seat of your pants" is so derogatory compared to terminology used for those who create outlines and follow rigid structures. I think of it more so as a Gardner versus an Architect. Both are mutually positive ways to reach your goal, neither sound insulting in my mind. So, that's how I write, I'm a Gardner.
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Without giving away the ending, the resolution to what the Blight was struck me like lightning without warning. I had always been fascinated with the topic and found it so much fun to explore it using the various viewpoints and levels of understanding of those gathered around to discuss the subject.
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The series has given me an opportunity to let loose my inner fanboy and make as many references to Sci-Fi, science fiction, and space exploration. Any opportunity I can, I take it and have fun with it.
“First cycle as captain and I’ve destroyed the ship and killed the crew, superb job I’m doing.” - Tinker
Easter Eggs and Inspiration
Creepy Crawly
The small machines that invade the Sunfire in Chapter 2 are inspired by the "spiders" from the movie: The Minority Report.
