On this first episode of Inking Neon, journalist, author, and teacher Stuart J. Tanner is sent to Baghdad at the height of the Iraq occupation and discovers that and other strange worlds. We discuss what makes for compelling characters, the process of investigation in writing, and read from Stuart's book Devas: A Sci-Fi adventure in which a serial murder case spirals out of control when a detective discovers an alien civilization.

0:00 Intro
7:21 The Ultimate Challenge
10:15 Visitors in a Strange Land
19:04 Examples of Compelling Characters
29:30 The Case of the Tabula Rasa Character
35:34 How to Keep Your Characters from Knowing What You Know
43:00 How Do Good Author’s Make Bad Characters?
52:41 Reading: Devas, a Sci-Fi Novel

Buy Devas, by Stuart J. Tanner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XWSCFP9