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Characters from The Bow of Destiny: Spark

This is the second of several posts revealing more about characters from The Bow of Destiny. You can read about Athson here. If you like dogs, you’ll love today’s post!

Spark was a rather interesting and late addition to The Bow of Destiny. You see, Spark is a dog but not just any dog. He’s a dog that only Athson sees while he’s not taking doses of his elven medicine, Soul-ease. You might wonder if Spark is real and so does Athson. However, Athson considers Spark an old friend who watches out for him.
The idea for this invisible dog came from my daughter who did some alpha reading on the book last year. She suggested adding a dog so Spark is what I came up with. In the book, Athson identifies this dog as a Mountain Hound but to you and me he’s a German Shepherd – or very much like one.
If you’ve read my bio you know we own two German Shepherds so you can guess the origin of this character. But there’s more to the characterization than just being like a common breed. Spark is actually based on both of my dogs, appearing more like our female, Chloe, while sometimes acting rather like our male, Sam.

Chloe & Sam
While Chloe is all guard-dog and ready for action all the time, Sam is more of a friendly bloke with a nasty side when necessary. But the unique quality of Sam is his way of communicating with us – he wags his tail for “yes” and doesn’t for “no”. Don’t believe me? Here’s a sample of Sam (Spark)-talk which is through a series of yes and no questions (and of course you have to catch Sam at a good time since he’s usually easily distracted like most dogs by things like food):
Me: “Sam, is it cold outside?”
Sam wags his tail – and it is (or was when this happened).
Me: “Sam, do you like the cold?”
Sam wags his tail because he really doesn’t like the hot Alabama summer but thrives in what cold weather we have.
Me: “Sam, do you want to sleep outside?”
Sam doesn’t wag his tail because, while he likes cold weather, he prefers to stay near his people like most GSDs do. This question is one that’s meant to ensure he’s really answering rather than just wagging his tail in distraction.
Me: “Sam, do you like Chloe?”
No wag because Chloe can really pesters him and bites him often since she’s rather feisty.
Me: “Sam, did Chloe bite you today?”
Sam wags his tail. Funny thing about dogs is that, being like wolf puppies, the males often let females win. Sam is much larger but always lets Chloe win.
Me: “Sam, do you want Chloe to sleep outside in the cold?”
Sam wags his tail. Yep that’s right, Sam wants Chloe to sleep outside while he gets to sleep inside.
We often can ascertain if Sam feels sick (he gets colitis) or achy (he’s getting a little older now and is starting to get stiff joints). We even found out that Sam wants a pet cat though this is likely the fact that he actually misses the old cat, Becky, who was still alive when Sam came to live with us. The cat hated Sam but he loved her. But you get the idea – Sam talks in his own way. He’s rather intelligent that way and even plays tricks on Chloe to get her to do what he wants. Now don’t think that Chloe is dumb by any means. She recognizes aggression easily and can solve some puzzles that Sam just won’t bother with.
So guess who speaks Sam-talk? Spark! I have a number of instances where Spark reveals something to Athson about his surroundings that Athson just doesn’t get. But you, the reader, get to understand that Spark may just know more about what’s going on at times than Athson.

To find out more about The Bow of Destiny, click over to one of these online retailers:

About the Author

P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.

Prequel short stories to The Bow of Hart Saga:

Trading Knives – Kobo, iBooks & Barnes & Noble, Smashwords & Amazon

What Is Needed – Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords & Amazon

Characters from The Bow of Destiny: Hastra

This is the third of several posts revealing more about characters from The Bow of Destiny. The first in this series was about Athson and the second featured Spark, while the third covered Limbreth.

For those who have read my free short story, What Is Needed, you’ve met the Withling Hastra. What are Withlings? They were a mystic order devoted to the deity Eloch. If you’re interested in the Withlings, the e-book is still available on all major book retail sites. But here’s a little more about Hastra. She’s been alive for several centuries serving Eloch through many adventures while working against Magdronu’s efforts. Her mystic powers come from Eloch and can come in many forms and at timely moments.

The Withlings were fond of a saying among them, “What is needed, is given.” This simple sentence means that they rely on Eloch to provide what is needed at any time – or not. If nothing happens, Withlings are willing to let things play out no matter how dire things are at the moment or how bad circumstances turn out. This means sometimes a miracle of some sort will be done at the hands of a Withling while at others nothing they take no mystical action. As part of their faith, Withlings learn to be with Eloch spiritually so they are attuned to know what they are supposed to do. Withlings can also be prophets and counsellors. However, there are but a few still living at the time that The Bow of Destiny begins.

As you can imagine, Hastra is rather old, wise, insightful – and faithful. However, all her mystic practice does not make her perfect and certainly doesn’t make her all-knowing by any means. She’s just as apt to make mistakes as anyone. I liken Hastra’s appearance to that of Judi Dench. Though very old, Hastra is rather spry mostly because it’s Eloch’s will that she be nearly ageless but who knows for how long? Not even Hastra knows…

To find out more about The Bow of Destiny, click over to one of these online retailers:

About the Author

Prequel short stories to The Bow of Hart Saga:

Trading Knives – Kobo, iBooks & Barnes & Noble, Smashwords & Amazon

What Is Needed – Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords & Amazon

Characters from The Bow of Destiny: Limbreth

This is the third of several posts revealing more about characters from The Bow of Destiny. The first in this series was about Athson and the second featured Spark

Limbreth is a young woman who appears in the book as a traveling companion to Hastra. At first glance, she’s just a young, brash woman with a horse and a couple of swords. She got a lot of bravado and seems to be looking to make a name for herself. But there’s more to her than meets the eye. Her horse is rather well-trained and Limbreth seems to have some cavalry skill as well as some rather good training at least as a duelist.

But just who is Limbreth? She’s not willing to reveal her identity. Is she the typical beauty so often found in fantasy books? Well, she’s not a model nor is she someone like Brienne in Game of Thrones. Limbreth certainly falls somewhere between in the looks department. Is she like an Amazon, or even Brienne? I’d call her neither. She’s skilled with swords but she’s no knight like Brienne.

I wrote Limbreth into the book many years ago as a young woman with heroic aspirations. She wears white, light-weight leather armor made for dueling and her horse is white – she seems to like the color. Last year, I happened to read about Joan of Arc. I’d always heard about her and even seen a few shrines to her in some churches in France (my wife’s a French teacher so I’ve been a few times). However, I’d never really studied her closely. When I did, I found Limbreth to be eerily similar to her in appearance except for the hair style (Joan bobbed her hair). I never intended Limbreth to appear like her in any way. It just turned out that way through no intention of my own.

Along the way in the book (and what’s coming in the next two books), Limbreth’s role grows. In fact, she gets some very good scenes all through the series. But Athson is the true main character since everything revolves around him and the Bow of Hart. But Limbreth’s a character who’s grown in many ways from when I first added her to the book many years ago when I wrote the first draft. She now has far more complexity to her in addition to her larger role. For more on Limbreth, check out her character interview on C. S. Boyack’s Lisa Burton Radio. If you’re interested more about about female warriors, check out

To find out more about The Bow of Destiny, click over to one of these online retailers: Real Characters: She Can’t Be That!

About the Author

Prequel short stories to The Bow of Hart Saga:

Trading Knives – Kobo, iBooks & Barnes & Noble, Smashwords & Amazon

What Is Needed – Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords & Amazon