THE CHARACTERS
IN
THE STORY

I do not know about other authors, but the characters in THE ULTIMATE APOSTLE are as real to me as friends that I have lost contact with over the years. Every character has a unique personality. But, I didn't know the characters when I began writing the novel. So, until I became familiar with each of them, I thought about the traits each person should have at the end of the novel. Then, as I was writing, I would build those traits through actions and conversations. I also employed the 'this person should be like Moses in "The Ten Commandments"' rule. Here's a breakdown of the major characters.

John Clancy Bourdeau

John is the main character in the book and I identify more closely with John than any of the other characters. Above all, John is a man of principle. He is honest and insightful: a man of great integrity and compassion. Choosing his name was easy. John is a strong name taken from the Bible. I borrowed Clancy from Tom Clancy because I wanted John's middle name to begin with the letter 'C'. As for Bourdeau, I made it up.

John has many faces in the book. He's young, he's old, he's human and he's Scarletian - just to mention a few of his faces. But only two of those faces matter to me. The first is John as a human in his later years. The other is John as a Scarletian man. I tried to mold the older human John around Anthony Hopkins. His character, Don Diego de la Vega from "The Mask of Zorro", is perfect. But as a Scarletian man, the nod goes to Anthony Simcoe as Ka D'Argo in the Sci-Fi series "Farscape" - huge - strong - yet sensitive.

Rosetta

Rosetta is truly the heart of this story. She's fun. She's brass. She's bold. She's always got a zinger on the tip of her tongue. She's also a bit of a mystery. She won't tell you just how old she is, but she claims to be as old as I AM. Of course, she also claims to be a lady. But for all of her clowning around, Rosetta never loses sight of her purpose in life - to help bring God's gift of salvation to countless worlds.

I'd like to tell you that I took the name Rosetta from the Rosetta Stone. How symbolic would that be? Just as the Rosetta Stone was the key to deciphering hieroglyphics, the character Rosetta was the key to my understanding the Bible. But that's way, way too deep for me. The truth is, I was sitting in church pondering her name. I could use my sister's name, Rose. But I wanted a name with more weight. It was Christmas time and I was staring at poinsettias as I thought. Eventually, the idea to join Rose with poinsettia produced Rosetta. I liked the name so I kept it. It has the softness of roses but ends with a hard 't' sound. That fits Rosetta.

Now, who could bring Rosetta to life? I always pictured Rosetta resembling Gwildor from the movie "Masters of the Universe". But Billy Barty died in 2000. Next, I thought about Danny DeVito. But if you want bold and brassy in a woman, and Rosetta is a woman, you've got to go with Bette Midler. Sorry, Danny.

Lieutenant Thomas DeMarco

So young, so ambitious and so ready to make his mark on the world. Thomas, following in his father's footsteps, intends to spend his life in the military. He's a 'lifer' through and through. He is keenly aware of his surroundings and a great judge of character. He employs gentle persuasion to guide situations to the desired outcome. His quiet confidence makes him a natural leader.

When choosing a name for Thomas, I began with people that I knew - family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. My neighbors last name began with 'De' and ended with an 'o'. I liked the cadence of the name when spoken. By chance, I was reading a book about project management titled THE DEADLINE. The authors name was Thomas DeMarco. I just couldn't using resist the name.

As I began to develop his character, I noticed similarities to the character Captain Jean-Luc Picard from the series "Star Trek, The Next Generation". I began to build on the similarities. I even included the tug on the bottom of the shirt to right one's appearance.

Minglia

Minglia is young, vibrant and beautiful. She is also a bit of a maverick. She is fiercely independent and not willing to compromise her beliefs. She is respectful, but not to the point of being submissive.

Minglia changed more than any other character. I never intended for John to fall in love with her. She was going to be his mother during one of his journeys. But somewhere during the writing of the book, I realized that Minglia wasn't cutout to be the mother of a savior. I also wanted John to be viewed as a man instead of a savior. So, I decided to do a little match-making.

Minglia became a woman instead of a mother. Passion replaced nurturing and desire ruled over maternal instincts. I wanted her name to sound exotic. And I made her last name very long so John could give her the pet name M&Ms. As I contemplated Minglia the woman, I wondered about her appearance. I've always liked Halle Berry, so naturally, I thought of her. But Minglia's eyes are green, and that led me to Vanessa Williams.

Mr. Stickle

Mr. Stickle is a jack of all trades and is Rosetta's right-hand man. He is ever present. Whatever the situation, it's never too much for Mr. Stickle. You might say he's a lot like Mr. Scott from "Star Trek". The name came quite by accident. I was at a family golf outing waiting for my tee time. I was paired with my brother-in-law. The starter looked at the card, and announced in a loud voice, STICKLE. Unfortunately, Stickle isn't my brother-in-law's last name. Close, but the vowels are wrong. But to this day, we still call him Coach Stickle.