Who Are They? Kane

Both Convergence and Resurgence are written with alternating points of view between Tala and Kane. Writing Kane was a new kind of challenge in my work as I'd never written from a man's perspective before. But this story beckoned to have a male voice, so I decided to step outside my comfort zone to tackle this new undertaking. My husband was a huge help in accomplishing this. More times than I can count I would make him read my scenes from Kane's POV - I wanted to know... did he sound like a man? Were his thoughts and behavior consistent with a man's? Or did he sound like a woman thinking this was how a man thought and behaved? After a while, Kane became so natural to me and I was able to jump right into him. Turns out I loved writing from Kane's perspective.

In the past, the male heroes of my writing were very obvious. In my mind, these men simply should have certain qualities. But Kane was different. I really embraced the idea that we can love characters with great shortcomings, characters that are imperfect and flawed. Kane (like Tala) definitely falls into this. And I love him even more because of these imperfections. I have to thank my stepdad for being real with me and telling me to stop writing such idyllic male characters!   

Kane Ryan

Kane's POV alternates between the story's present and years earlier in his youth, where we see the hardship of his life having grown up in a low-income family with an abusive father. As an adult, we see the influence of these factors and how they have shaped him in both positive and negative ways. Rough around the edges, Kane can be temperamental, and while he is stubborn and obstinate, he's also loyal, however not to the Republic. Having suffered tragically in a failed military experiment, Kane harbors a dark, sensational secret, able to do things no man should. To protect himself, he lives in hiding, supported by his best friend Max, the one person who knows his truth. Until Tala. While Tala tends to see the world in black and white terms, Kane sees it very much in gray, and his ideas of right and wrong sometimes conflict with Tala's. 

Kane's and Tala's lives converge in an unexpected and extraordinary way from the very beginning, leaving Kane with one of two options: to protect his secret at the expense of her life, or to help Tala at the expense of exposure. While Kane is a stranger to Tala, she is not one to him, their lives more intertwined than she knows. He quickly becomes Tala's ally and despite the dangers, Kane can't deny the pull he feels toward her. While great forces bring this unlikely pair together, it's the power of corruption and an elaborate secret that threaten to drive them apart. But Kane is nothing if not a fighter, and he will face his greatest battle as he tries to protect Tala.  

"He let out a shaky, uneven breath and wondered at what point she had become so important to him. It was like a summer rain, watching each drop fall from the clouds. At first, it's nothing but wet pavement. Then suddenly the gutters are like swollen rivers, the downspouts like waterfalls, every drop unknowingly adding up."