My A-Z theme this year is a guide to my trilogy of novels called ‘The State Trilogy’. Set in an unnamed island country known only as ‘The State’, in the imagined near future, the books follow the intertwining stories of a number of characters, principally a State police detective named Danny Samson and an assassin, Gabriella Marino, over a period of six years. It begins with the assassination of an elected official and spirals into revolution and civil war. Part political thriller, action story, war story and dystopian science fiction, the trilogy took three years to complete and the books are available to read now – you can find links to purchase them HERE

In The State Trilogy, ‘L’ stands for:

Lucinda Románes: The State Chancellor. In her seventies now, she has ruled the State for over forty years. Pragmatic and uncompromising, she has lost sight of her initial morals and beliefs, and in acting in the best interests of the State and the Central Alliance Party, cannot see that she is harming her own citizens. Thanks to modern science and medical care, she has the energy and vigour of a much younger woman and has no intention of releasing her grip on power. She is ruthless too, determined to put down the rebels in the civil war, whatever the cost. After being in power for so long, she knows all the dark secrets of the past and the sacrifices made to ensure the State survives. Only in the very end does that past catch up with her. It was important for me to have a strong woman in this leadership role, and to also show that her intentions, particularly at the start of her reign, were good, rather than being a representation of pure evil.

Lucas: The son of Eilidh, who lives in the village in the wilderness. His father is never revealed. He was born in the wilderness. As a child he develops type-1 diabetes and because of this eventually has to go to Central City to survive. The character in ‘State Of Denial’ was inspired by my own son contracting type-1 diabetes, and was a therapy for me to work through my anxieties about his care and his future. Danny becomes a sort-of father figure to Lucas and it is up to him to save him.

The Lakes: An area to the north of Central City, the start of the wilderness region. Equivalent to much of the Trossachs and Argyll and Bute areas of Scotland. Gabriella and Danny both travel through this area in their escapes from the city.

Laramidia: An area roughly equating to the west coast of America. Millions of years ago, northern America was split in two by a large body of water in the centre. The land mass to the west was named Laramidia and to the east Appalachia. I reused these names for the same areas, except this time, instead of a body of water, it was a cloud of nuclear contamination that split the continent in two.

Lachlan: One of Danny and Gabriella’s mercenary band, known for his keen observation skills and frequently put on lookout duty. Before the war he was a farmer, but lost everything thanks to the rebellion and the State crackdown that resulted. He favours neither side in the war.

Doctor Leroy: Only mentioned in passing, Doctor Leroy is responsible for allowing the medical trial at the heart of ‘A Justified State’ to occur. His reward, when the scandal is discovered, is to be sent to the front line of the First Strike War, and his fate after that remains unknown…

Loris: A minor character, acts as the cook aboard Xavier’s ship and part of his people-smuggling crew.

Lars James: The Chief Commander of the Central City State Police in ‘A Justified State’, and father of Detective Henrik James. In his position of power, he is complicit in enforcing the will of the State over her citizens and has become corrupted by that power, losing sight of why he became a police officer in the first place.

Next up – M is for: Maxine Aubert, MidLands City, Matthias and Mitchell.

All the entries in the A-Z of ‘The State Trilogy’ can be found HERE

The books are available from a wide selection of online retailers, including AMAZON

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