The Sovereign, a Dusty Shelf, and Leonardo da Vinci
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There is a fellow on a very high shelf above an ancient computer, looking down on the desk. Until recently, he did not have a royal title. Now, apparently, he is the Sovereign.
The name came to me after a week of watching stories full of libraries, crowns, sovereigns, and all sorts of things that tend to wander into my imagination and make themselves comfortable.
Looking up at him, I decided he deserved a plaque. Something a little more dignified than sitting there looking dusty and sad.
We tried “Keeper of the High Shelf” and “Watcher of All Below.” And in my imagination, I heard him huff. A little steam came out of his nose.
Apparently, even a plaque requires royal approval.
To be honest, I do not even do my writing at that desk. The computer is ancient, although I finally got Voice Access working on it today. So calling him the overseer of my writing would be giving him rather more credit than he deserves.
But this is how my imagination works. Something sits quietly on a shelf, and suddenly it has an opinion. Then I find myself wondering about dignity, personality, and the lives we imagine beyond what we can see.
Which brings me, by a rather winding route, to Vegas Ghost.
In my Brothers of Odin world, a familiar name does not necessarily mean a familiar life. Take Leonardo da Vinci. In this fictional universe, his story did not end with the life we know from history. A second life gives that extraordinary inventive mind room to become something more.
And then there is Lizzie. She is married to Leonardo, and they are expecting a child.
Yes. That Leonardo da Vinci.
I rather enjoy putting those things together: a name we associate with history, genius, and inventions, alongside marriage, a baby, and a future that history never recorded. Because however extraordinary someone may be, a life is more than a title or a list of accomplishments. There is room for love. There is room for family. There is room for what happens next.
That is part of the pleasure of writing this universe. I get to ask what might happen if an ending were not quite the end, and what an extraordinary person might do with another chance.
Sometimes that question leads to Leonardo da Vinci becoming a husband and a father.
Sometimes it leads to a buffalo on a shelf demanding a proper plaque.
I am not claiming those are equally important developments. The Sovereign, however, may disagree.
For now, his title is settled. The wording beneath it is still under negotiation.
There are more second chances, unexpected families, and extraordinary characters waiting in Odin’s Bloodline. Come read with me, or find your next book in my shop.