See the face on your left? That's Silas Carver from "The Third Order". I'm not that good at character appearance description, so I thought I'd show the face of my antihero.

My motto for writing is: "A good antagonist makes a better protagonist, which makes a better story." While it's commonly accepted that the protagonist should win, I have no compunctions against making life difficult for him or her in the process. Plus, who doesn't like and/or respect a well-crafted antagonist? They have the best dialogue and can generate the most surprising plot twists.

Here are some lines from antagonists of my own creation:

"The quickest method to convince a person to see your point of view is to make them believe they reached their own conclusions."

"There are few thing I enjoy more than watching my enemies snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."

"Welcome back to the land of the living; ready to die again?"

"You are so focused on the enemy with the gun to your head that you fail to see the friend with the knife at your back."

But a character who creates conflict just to create conflict is uninteresting. "People who commit evil acts never think they are evil. They always believe their actions are justified. The problem is they usually take their actions to extremes." That was what one of my English professors told me about creating a good villain (slightly paraphrased).

"Stagnation, human, is the enemy of all things. It rots from within everything that it touches. It destroys purpose, meaning, curiosity. And it breeds corruption, greed, apathy. But the one thing I find most disturbing about stagnation is how readily people will fight for it."

“That is what happens over the centuries, boy. Your sympathies wane as you constantly pick off the scum of the universe from the bottom of your boot, listening as they beg and plead for a hand out."

I've been in the process of writing these books for several years now, and with any luck, I'll be debuting this villain and the hero(s) fighting against him shortly after I graduate college. However, my intuition says I'll be typing up chapters well into my 30s.

Current Projects:

Star Wars

The Third Order

Chapter 17 "Dark Reflections" - Recouping after the encounter with Sion, loyalties are pushed to a new limit. Includes the cave and a cameo by an ancestor of a "The Old Republic" character.

"Return to Dxun" The crew divides to conquer in a two-pronged attack. And a debt is settled in blood.

"The Invasion of Iziz" While Jaq, Mira, Visas, Bao-Dur, HK-47, and T3-M4 lead a Mandalorian charge against the Sith on Dxun, Carver, Mandalore, Brianna, Kreia, and G0-T0 storm the Iziz palace. Malvolis enters a showdown with Jedi Master Kavar in which neither combatant can afford to lose...

So I Dated a Sith Lord

Chapter 2- a few drinks after chapter 1. On hiatus until further notice

Conquest

A fanfic based on the PC game "Empire at War". So far, I have created the main Imperial cast and part of a first chapter organized. The main character on the Imperial side is Arvel Fisk, captain of the Victory Star Destroyer Relentless. Fisk is cold, decisive, and lacking a sense of humor, but his XO, Gade Russat, makes up for it by attempting to make his captain at least crack a smile on occasion. I'm still working on the Rebels, and expect some female characters to play some important roles. Plot-wise, I'm going to blend events from both EaW singleplayer campaigns and maybe the Forces of Corruption campaign from the other factions' points of view. I'm imagining a one-on-one battle between the Relentless and an Aggressor-class Destroyer, the Overkill.

Here's the opening credit scroll as it is so far:

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Star Wars

Empire at War: Conquest

War has come again to the galaxy. After establishing his New Order, Palpatine moves quickly to exert his authority over the thousands of star systems who now find themselves in the iron grip of an oppressive Galactic Empire.

However, as the Emperor tightens his hold on the galaxy, rumors circulate of an underground resistance movement forming within the Imperial Senate intent on bringing down the Empire and restoring freedom to the galaxy.

Facing an increasingly impotent senate, this group, known only as the Alliance, finally decides to take military action against the Empire in the form of a daring raid on Kuat's orbital shipyards. In the aftermath of the attack, one Imperial captain reels in shock while a Rebel commander celebrates his victory...

More will be revealed later...