The Introduction
This topic was inspired after a discussion with my sister-in-law when she read Just One, and life took her away from them. As she jumped back in, she commented about getting back into the characters. I first shared my character document with her, which features facts about the Just One characters and pictures of my fantasy cast.
It made me think about how some authors have information on their characters on the back of their books. J.K. Rowling had a list of names and their pronunciations, which was a great help for a girl reading books in Croatia, and still no point of reference on how to read names such as McGonagall, Nymphadora, and Weasley. I had some idea of how to say them, but it wasn’t exact when I was a child.
George R.R. Martin has an even better back-of-the-book option where he talks about the families and characters, which inspired the development of a bloodline rather than a character list. This page seemed like it would be just a list of facts (much like my biographies document). So, I chose this option instead and told short snippets of stories about who the prominent families were.
This blog post will cover two main points – a lineup and a short description of the characters in the Just One book, as well as an explanation of the bloodlines within the series. It will also cover aspects of what makes my aliens unique, heavily connected to the bloodlines.
Just One Characters
You have already been able to read up on some of the main characters throughout this blog. I’ve introduced you to Kivana Eli, Eveleen, Dominic, Rebecca, Connor, and Felicity. I even put up a post about the villains of Just One, which gave you some insight into Veronica and Corran. You can catch up on all these through the links in their names.
Eveleen and Valerie
Eveleen (Ellie) Collins and Valerie Flores are my major female characters. They are two girls their planets depend on, with dreams about each other’s lives. They begin to dream about life on another planet throughout the book.
Just One is primarily written from Eveleen’s point of view (POV). Through her discovery of her past, the reader learns about this world.
Cameron
As Eveleen understands her dreams, she also begins to see a boy called Cameron (Cam) Dimitrov, who appears to have had a crush on Eveleen his whole life. This is where you might find similarities with Roswell, which I always clarified.
But until now, Eveleen has never seen Cam.
He has a twin sister, Felicity, and an older brother, Dominic.
Yes, Max Evans has a sister, Isabel (or Isobel, depending on the version), and their best friend, Michael Guerin. Cameron, Felicity, and Dominic share a secret that authorities cannot discover.
The aliens are identified by their eyes, similar to Earth’s skin colour.
Eveleen begins to see history with Valerie, a history the three siblings will learn through their friendship, as they had never realised it.
Eveleen and Cameron’s love story is a prominent point, but many other romantic or otherwise relationships also contribute to why aliens are on Earth.
Felicity and Dominic
Felicity Dimitrov is a beautiful girl who doesn’t associate herself with others and remains close to her two brothers and best friend, Cara. She grew up with an overwhelming sense of guilt she has never been able to place. Much of what Eveleen learns about herself and her relationship with Cameron will help her.
Dominic Dimitrov is the protective older brother who has questions of his own.
He knows he’s not like the twins, but his answers come later, through another figure in their life. We learn much about Dominic in the series; he grows into a strong figure.
Cara
The original inspiration for Cara Bonnet came from the character of Tess Harding.
She’s not one of the good guys, but she has more knowledge than she lets on. Cara has her own agenda and has committed crimes for which she must answer. But Cara is essential to the book series. She is not just some girl chasing after Cameron. As I wrote, I grew to like Cara and chose to develop her further.
Cara’s backstory became a significant factor in Just One, not just her actions but that of her family. I chose to explain why Cara was the way she was and why she felt entitled to be with Cameron. This allowed her to grow as a character in later books. Despite starting off as a villain, she will have her happy ending.
Connor
Connor was inspired by Kal, whom I felt had a lot more to tell than what he was given a chance to during season 3. Connor is Eveleen’s uncle and the protector, sent down to ensure no harm comes to them.
His first duty was and is to his niece, though, and if push came to shove, he would choose Eveleen and Valerie over any of them.
Like Cara, he has a dark secret, and his origin story will be relevant in the later stories, especially the story under the working title Conspiracy. The question for the present is whether Eveleen will ever learn of this dark secret and how she will take it.
Irene
Irene is another group protector, and she is connected to one of the aliens.
Like Connor, she had a personal reason for joining the Earth project. Connor and Irene are some of the supporting characters in the story, the grown-ups who were inevitable in writing a story about teenagers. I like Irene. She often feels like a fierce mother who would do anything for her own and has sworn an oath to protect the teenager (after brokering a deal in their past life for an excellent reason).
Kivana Eli and Zannder
The two lovers in the story are introduced in Just One and will take centre stage in Just One: Edge of Never. They’re crucial characters of the past life, and unravelling their story defines Eveleen’s and Valerie’s journey of discovery.
To be perfectly frank with you, I don’t plan on making it that easy.
While writing the Just One series, I realized the story of Kivana Eli and Zannder didn’t begin with their past lives. There is much more to that, and we’ll slowly explore it.
Kivana Eli is an entirely original character compared to the television series Just One is based on. She was a vision in my head that began this journey. As Roswell introduced us to the “dupes” and revealed a more alien side to the second royal four and all around, there is a continuous tease to who our four in Roswell were throughout the series, I wondered about who Liz Parker would be if she had lived that life.
Kivana Eli was born of that wonder and curiosity.
From the beginning, my chosen “fantasy” cast for Kivana Eli has been Kate Beckinsale.
Zannder is Cameron Dimitrov’s past life. Despite the many changes while rewriting the original fan fiction, I grew attached to this name and its style and boldly kept it.
Roswell talks a lot about clones, but I decided early to say no; not everyone is a clone.
Zannder is the “original” Cameron with his own mission on Earth.
What happened in the past life? Why did Kivana Eli create the clones?
Zannder Amayx is an integral part of those answers.
While Eveleen and Valerie learn about their past lives through their dreams, they will need Zannder to guide them and help fill in the missing blanks. I will lead you to believe there was betrayal throughout the past lives, but hang in there. There is much more to what happened on Hadin than meets the eye.
It will go hand in hand with Cara’s storyline.
The Humans
There are, of course, other humans in my story.
Rebecca (Becca) Jordan is Eveleen’s best friend. While initially kept in the dark, she slowly becomes part of the adventure. Not only does she learn who her best friend is, but she is also my caterpillar, breaking out of her cocoon.
Her parents and a girl she meets in Weight of the World play crucial roles in this. I loved writing about Rebecca’s journey of discovery and the realization of her strength.
Eveleen’s father, David Collins, plays a significant role in Just One.
Police Chief Doug Granger serves as our moral compass, trying to understand the otherworldly. I have previously mentioned Veronica Harlington and her connections to the aliens. I didn’t want fill-in humans who were simply there to serve a small purpose.
David, Doug and Veronica are all fleshed-out human characters with background stories that led them to where they are now, and I love them all. And I hope you will, too.
Just One Bloodlines
While capable of standing independently, these characters are part of a legacy that has yet to become apparent in the Just One universe.
I had initially thought this article would focus exclusively on the bloodlines. Still, as I began writing it, I was stepping into an introduction (or re-introduction) of some of the more vital characters, primarily in Just One.
As teased in the introduction, the Bloodlines section was heavily influenced by R.R. Martin’s works, presented with my own twist that suits the Just One service a bit more.
It’ll be simply explained – last name, prominent features, origin planet and characters in the book. The bloodline section is intended to help navigate the storyline and provide additional information. I don’t want to keep repeating myself on specific things throughout the story, but they are critical (more in the later stories).
The main bloodlines:
- Hadini – Zannder, Cameron, Felicity
- Ryctori – Kivana Eli, Eveleen, Valerie
- Vetri – Connor, Cara
- Ferroa – Irene, Dominic
- Earth – Rebecca, David, Doug, Veronica
Eye colour is the most dominant feature. Others may appear typical but are not fixed. Skin colour is not standard by race but is still affected by the impact of the two suns.
- Hadini – piercing blue (typically jet black hair)
- Vector – pitch black (typically light brown hair)
- Ryctor – enlarged pitch black (dark brown hair)
- Ferroa – emerald green (rainbow-coloured hair)
- Eeran – red, intense with emotion (lighter hair, red hue possible )
- Laun – yellow (with pale skin and near-white hair)
- Magnea – silver (blue and silver skin, blue and black hair)
These articles have revealed much information about Just One, but in many important ways, they are spoiler-free. There are little details that would be more curious about “fluff” and others that will ultimately define these books. Any big reveals for our characters will be added to the Bloodlines section of the sequels.
I will not reveal any of the latter until publication. I hope you like this idea and will use the bloodline section when reading Just One. If you pick up Just One after the sequels are published, try to avoid ruining the surprise of reading something for the first time.
The Wrap Up
As always, I hope you enjoyed the read. Tune in again next week for the next rendition of Inspiration Monday. This will be the only written blog section covering all previously existing topics. I would greatly appreciate likes and follows, especially on this blog post.
What do you think of the characters in Just One and some bloodline information shared in this post? Hopefully, the suspense in Just One is building up by now. This post covers a slightly wider topic than initially anticipated and serves to refresh memory on some of my older posts, introducing the main characters of Just One. We have talked about alien characteristics, but this one has shed more light on them than before.
Next week, we will discuss Writing as a Journey of Self-Discovery.
Something a bit more existential and philosophical, though I will spend some time talking about the journey itself and explaining my writing process and how I develop characters, which we’ve discussed in the past.
And don’t forget to keep up with my Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
You can find me on Facebook and Instagram under the username @lvlucaauthor or on Twitter (I’m not very active there) at @LVLuca1.
Until next time…
~ Love, L.V.
L.V. Luca 