The Story Behind "Son's Blood"

Bracer was the main character in the first story I sold. "More's the Pity" told the story of a mercenary swordswoman who mortally wounds an enemy soldier on the battle field. Before she can give the man a quick, merciful death, her partner notices the fallen warrior is an officer and decides to torture him for information. While Bracer tries to make it easier on the man, she realizes he may be the son she abandoned years before. As often happens, the character took on a life of her own.

My second story, "Die Like a Man", was a prequel to the first, telling how Bracer became a swordswoman. Her real name was Arista and she was a cousin of royalty. Married off for political gain, she loved her young husband, but he was always gone and his family treated her badly. Events led to her masquerading as a boy and being taken under the tutelage of a fighter.

After writing that story, I realized that Bracer would have needed to know if the man had been her son. From that feeling came the impetus to write the story of her return to her former husband's home. It grew into a novel as her quest kept making her want to learn more about the boy she had left behind.

I was on a panel at a convention once when I told this story. Half-way through, I was interrupted by another panelist. "You wrote that story?" she asked. "I loved that character." I do, too, and I am sharing this novel in hopes that others will, too.