As you may be able to imagine, I’ve read a lot of books. I’ve also watched a lot of movies and TV. The types of books, movies, and TV shows that I gravitate toward have a certain amount of action in them, and as a result, a certain amount of character deaths.
What I don’t see as often is the rest of the characters processing those deaths. Occasionally there are scenes when they grieve and sometimes there’s even a funeral. But far less often do we have characters dealing with the ongoing trauma and uncertainty and sadness of that loss. We will if it suits the plot, but otherwise deaths–even significant ones–fade into the background to make way for other stories.
Spoiler alert if you haven’t read it yet: a character dies in my novel Mirrobius. It’s a major event for everyone else present for it, and it’s part of an overall climactic moment in the story. While writing it, I knew that it would be a factor in the characters’ decision-making for the remainder of the book. And when I began writing Dunamis, it also made sense to me that the loss would continue to impact them. So I wove the enduring trauma of that moment into how they moved through their new case.
The result is an exploration of how trauma continues to affect people mentally, emotionally, and even physically. Characters actually go to counseling to process what happened. At times, their continued struggle stops them in their tracks, sometimes at the worst possible moments. They voice their needs to each other so that they can offer mutual support.
I not only wanted Dunamis to show the ongoing issues that trauma can have on people, but I wanted to show that people–even strong ones with superpowers and who are charged with protecting others–need help working through it. My hope is to give these characters depth and complexity, but also to show that it’s okay to admit that you’re not okay, and to ask for help if you need it.
Dunamis releases March 3rd. You can pre-order it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, and Smashwords.
Jeffrey A. Nelson 