Character Focus with Talli L. Morgan

Welcome to very first issue of my new and improved Character Focus interview series!

I used to do these back in the day when I was a fledgling author and it was fun getting to know all these different authors and their characters, but life got too busy for me to keep up with it. And while I’m not exactly less busy now, I have gotten better at time management to a degree, so I’m bringing it back!

To kick this thing off, I’ve brought on the lovely Talli L. Morgan to talk about the protagonist of their latest novel, Silver Blood—a queer gothic romance.

First off, introduce us to your main character and tell us a little about them!

Cyrus Beldon is peak “reluctant hero.” The youngest son of a famed vampire hunter, he wants absolutely nothing to do with the path laid out before him. He’s ashamed of his family’s legacy of bloodshed, and longs to be a regular person with a regular life.

Pleasure to be acquainted! What’s your earliest memory of him?

It was July of 2022! Cyrus kicked down the door into my brain and hasn’t shut up since. At first I only intended to write a short story with him, but then that story turned into a novella, and then the novella demanded a backstory that became the 160k-word behemoth that is Silver Blood. He had a lot to say!

Haha, the boy sure knows how to make an impression! Care to tell us how he meets the handsome devil on the cover there with him? Would you say their meeting falls more into the realm of a meet-cute...or a meet-ugly?

Well, considering Cyrus pulls a knife on Lucien within one chapter of meeting him, I would say it’s closer to a meet-ugly, haha. Cyrus seeks out Lucien after finding a journal belonging to him, which contains information that could lead Cyrus toward a way to reform his family’s legacy. Given that their respective families are generational enemies—Lucien being a vampire and Cyrus coming from a long line of hunters—their introduction is…prickly. It takes a while for them to truly trust each other.

Oop, sounds tense! I do love a good enemies/rivals-to-lovers type of story, though. Speaking of stories, Cyrus is said to be a lover of books himself! What’s his favourite genre to read?

He does love books! If you asked him, he’d tell you he loves a grand adventure—something in the vein of epic fantasy. What he won’t tell you is that he’s a sucker for dramatic romances.

Ooh, a secret sucker for romances, you say. I hear Lucien has a secret enjoyment for romance, too…as a popular author in this genre. Has Cyrus unknowingly read his books?

Omg yes, this is one of my favorite little details about Lucien! Cyrus was previously familiar with the pen name under which Lucien writes, but he’d never read any of his books. He only finds out that the books are Lucien’s when Lucien finds him reading one and makes a comment about it.

Hehe I love that! Characters can go through a lot of changes between a story’s early and final stages. Has Cyrus changed much between his original and current iterations?

Absolutely yes. In 2022 when I wrote Sweet Sorrow, Cyrus was a very different character. In that early version, he was a vampire hunter—or at least, he had been until he’d met Lucien—and he was a far more callous version of himself than the character I came to know when I wrote Silver Blood. I learned pretty quickly when I started writing Silver Blood that Cyrus was far more sensitive, thoughtful, and unhappy in his situation than I originally expected him to be.

Oh fun! It’s so fascinating to see how they change once they’re set free on the page. Did these two come easily to you, or did you have to wrangle them?

Cyrus and Lucien both dropped pretty much fully-formed into my brain. Busted down the door and took a seat around the table. This happens so rarely for me, and it’s how I know a character is truly special. I had to wrangle the plot more than I had to wrangle the characters, making for a frustrating drafting process, but Cyrus and Lucien were so vivid in my mind that I had to get their story onto the page.

Characters cooperating with their author? We love to see it! On the topic of cooperation, how a character either meshes or doesn’t with their family often plays a influential role in their story. How is Cyrus’ relationship with his family?

*snort* Uh. Bad. Lmao. Cyrus is very much the runt of his family, undervalued and often brushed aside by his father and siblings. His otherness as the reluctant one doesn’t do him any favors; he’s not as strong as his older siblings, and they don’t let him forget that. His father sees him as a nuisance and a failure, and Cyrus is well aware of those sentiments. You can blame his lack of self-esteem and utter confidence deficiency on his family and upbringing. 

Aw nooo, poor Cyrus! Now that we know which qualities he’s definitely not fond of, which qualities would you say he values most in his relationships (platonic/familial/romantic)?

Across the board, Cyrus wants to be heard. He’s spent his whole life making himself small and unseen, told that he doesn’t matter unless he can keep pace with his siblings. It means the world to him on rare occasions when someone will meet him where he’s at and respect him for who he is, rather than for the reputation that comes with his family name. 

I have a feeling he’s going to find someone who will make him feel all that appreciation and more. 😌 Now, we’re coming to the end of this interview. Why don’t we wrap up with a couple of fun questions: If Cyrus were an animal, what kind would he be?

I think Cyrus would be a cat. Like, a half-drowned feral cat you tried to rescue from the gutter and you’re not quite sure if that thing is even a cat but it clearly needs help so despite the hissing and biting you take it in. And it’s full of rage for months and won’t let you get near it, but eventually it chills out and becomes inextricably attached to you and loves you forever.

Cute! (Y’know, once you get past the biting, hissing stage.) And do you associate any songs with Cyrus? Feel free to share a few lyrics that suit him!

BOY DO I! I’ll limit myself to just two:

• “Ghosts” by Xandria. The lyrics speak of a lack of belonging and a longing for escape; this is very much the mood in which we meet Cyrus. He’s deeply unsatisfied with his life and the path that has been laid out for him; he wishes for literally anything other than the life he has. But the other thing that captures Cyrus so perfectly is that this sense of longing for escape isn’t actually talking about a longing to die—it’s a longing to live: I just want to be lost in space and time / And never come back / Follow me up to the stars / Leaving the world and the lies far behind me / There’s no regret in my heart / Crawling my way, crawling my way back to life.

• “Moving Forward” by Colony House. This song captures the growth Cyrus has had since the beginning of Silver Blood; for the very first time, he’s excited for the future ahead of him. He’s thrilled to be alive, he’s relieved to have survived, and goddammit he’s going to grip this chance with all his strength. The mood of this song is a direct antithesis to the hopelessness and sense of being trapped that Cyrus feels when we meet him: My eyes are open / My heart is beating / My lungs are full / My body’s breathing / I’m moving forward / I found my freedom / I found the life that gave me reason to live.

As of publishing this, I don’t believe I’ve heard these songs, but you can bet I’ll be searching them up because I’m always on the hunt for new music.

And that’ll do it for this comeback issue of Character Focus! It was such a pleasure to have Talli on, and I hope those of you reading this enjoyed getting to know Cyrus with me. Be sure to check out Silver Blood if you haven’t already to get to know him and Lucien on a deeper level!

books2read.com/silverblood | tallimorgan.itch.io/silver-blood