Well, folks, we’re down to the wire! These are your last few days to enter the Launch Contest and Prize Giveaway for Orphan’s Song. If you haven’t entered yet, it’s super easy to earn entries, and you don’t want to miss out on a chance to win one of the three awesome prizes!

(See the original post here: Orphan’s Song Launch Contest and Prize Giveaway.)

In the meantime, I’d like to introduce you to a character who quickly became one of my favorites to write…

Amos hefted the larger of the two packs and slung it over one shoulder. He took a deep breath, puffing out his chest. “We’ve supplies aplenty, the wind at our backs, and the open road before our feet. What more could a man wish for?” – Orphan’s Song

Amos McElhenny was a part of the story from the very beginning. Before there was a plot or a problem, the character of the traveling peddler existed somewhere in the back of my brain, complete with his brogue, penchant for imaginative insults, and his stubborn donkey Balaam.

Half Waveryder by birth, Amos hails from a little sea-side village called Bryllhyn on the west coast of Leira. A man of many talents, he considers his skill with a dirk and most long range weapons second only to his mastery of the insult. One does not with to engage him in a battle of the tongue.

As a traveling peddler, Amos and his pack-donkey Balaam have visited many an inn, eaten at many a tavern, and stopped off at many a small town. He’s a man who’s been everywhere, seen it all, and experienced just about everything there is to experience. So you can hardly blame him for having an over-developed sense of his own rightness and a high regard for his own opinion.

But with all the places he’s visited, there’s one inn outside of one small town where he always returns: the Sylvan Swan in Hardale.

T’was at the Sylvan Swan that he met his wee lass, Birdie, and t’was there all his troubles began. Again …

Have you read Orphan’s Song yet? If so, who is your favorite character?

Be sure to check out the other Backpage Pass Posts and be watching for more posts in the future: Ky Huntyr, Birdie.