This week, I've chosen to share some new things I haven't included in the past. As you may know, I'm always looking to improve the immersionable experience of all my stories, and I'm thrilled to talk about the characters and share some artwork for the first time. I've taken some away time to draw and digitalize my interpretations of Kyle and Matias. Back in high school (secondary school), to us Irish folks, 15-year-old me, which is about ten years ago now, actually did art. While I wasn't the best, I enjoyed creating things and drawing, so it's been an exciting development to try to recall forgotten techniques. My artistic side hadn't been working together for the past few years. I don't share a lot of art because I'm conscious of my ability, but going forward, I may share portraits of my characters from time to time. Though we'll go sparingly since its time consuming to create these. Let's get to the meat and potatoes of this email, which was about getting to know the characters. You can view the characters below I drew below. Let me know what you think?
Tell us about the characters of how I live?
Kyle: He is a 17-year-old boy who has run away from his mother and father. What kick starts the journey is Kyle's desire to escape his abusive father, and he finally takes up the courage to flee when he has saved up enough money to buy a plane ticket. Anywhere is better than home. So, he orders a cheap ticket to St. Clement, and it's all wonderful when he first arrives. However, now struck with the reality of having to fend for himself, the pressures of adulthood start to take hold of the kid. Although he lived in an abusive household, he still received an education; he had clothes on his back and a roof over his head. Kyle never went to bed hungry, and now that he has all of these responsibilities to uphold himself, his once grand ideal of a better life seems so far away. Over the course of the story, Kyle meets Matias, and the two of them start a fledgling love story, all while navigating the treacherous waters of the crime world.
Matias: He is a 17-year-old Hispanic boy who lives in St. Clement with his mother, Amy, father, Hector, and little brother, Hudson. From the outset, Matias is presented as the perfect boy. He plays baseball; he's adorably cute, has those f**kboy tendencies, and is an all-around wholesome guy. It is revealed that Matias is a big foodie, and he promotes the fact to Kyle, showing him around the city once he first meets him through his mother, Amy, who works at the local store where Kyle eventually gets employed. The boys hit it off, and after a bit of flirting, Matias agreed to show Kyle around the city. Kyle begins to enjoy his time spent around Matias and his family. He falls in love with the dynamic between Matias and Hudson, how they are both jokingly throwing shade at one another but still support each other. Except Kyle begins to see that Matias is not just a pretty boy, but beneath the shiny exterior, there is a complex boy who has more going on than what meets the eye. It is revealed that Matias is a soldier, sometimes running drug deals for a local gangster and loanshark called Salvatore. As time goes on, Kyle is slowly introduced to the criminal underworld, and eventually, the two boys are forced to fight for survival. It would suggest that Matias is immature, easily led, and naïve, which haunts the kid later in the story.
Salvatore: He is a 40-year-old local gangster, loan shark, and drug dealer. He'll try anything to make sure he benefits and reaps the rewards. The man runs his empire from the top of an apartment block in St. Clement called Sunnyside Apartments. Kyle originally enters the scene as he is inquiring about a loan, and that's how the two meet. However, it is later revealed that Matias also does side jobs for the man, so it was destined that the pair were to grow closer. With his enforcer Pauli (a.k.a. Tiny), Salvatore runs his operations with an iron fist. Anybody who gets in his way pays the consequences. At the time where I live now takes place, Salvatore is currently under investigation for drug smuggling by a lawyer called Thomas Copeland. As conditions go awry, Salvatore resorts to dirty tactics to stop the investigators from probing into his criminal network.
If the name Copeland means anything to you, this would be Austin Copeland's father from EIWT. So this story will officially link Even If We Tried to How I Live Now. I hope to release the first part by the end of the year. Anyway, that's it; I hope you liked this little tidbit. You've got to meet the protagonists and the antagonist.