What are your names? And tell us a little about yourselves?
Merrick: My name is Ged Merrick. I’m Captain of the Breaker-one-Niner. It’s a military class ship designed for deep space missions. And she’s fast, she is mighty fast when we need her to be.
Jessie: And sometimes we need her to be.
Merrick: Yeah, we don’t always work within the law.
Jessie: You can’t say it, can you? We’re pirates. We never work within the law.
Merrick: It’s a small crew, usually just ten men. It fluctuates. We work mostly in the Zeta Quadrant, but have been known to drift closer to the homelands from time to time. More lately, I guess, in the search for Jessie.
Jessie: You went back into homeland territory for me?
Merrick: Of course we did. I thought he might have been sold back to Rexalon for reconditioning. Oh, that’s our home planet. Where we were trained. Farmed really. They pay big money for runaways.
Jessie: I’m King Jesson. I used to be second in command on the Breaker but for the last six years—
Merrick: You don’t have to tell them about that Jessie.
Jessie: Sure I do. For the last six years I’ve been working as an erotic dancer all over Zeta and the surrounding quadrants. There was a … we got caught up in … some bad stuff and I was uh … captured. And sold. But that’s old news. Now I’m back with the Breaker.
What do you believe is your worst or most frustrating quality? What about his/hers?
Jessie: He’s stubborn, boneheaded and never thinks of himself.
Merrick: Uh, I was going to say the same about him.
What is your best quality? What about his/hers?
Jessie: He’s stubborn, boneheaded and never thinks of himself?
Merrick: Oi, cut it out. I said he was very bendy, didn’t I?
If you could have one wish come true, what would it be and why?
Merrick: I only had one wish, and that came true.
Jessie: He’s playing you. He wants a Helden 54 fighter platform with duel relay.
Merrick: You’re right I do. It’s the latest in military tech. Full cloaking, quantum generators and she can be remote piloted from five hundred clicks.
Jessie: I knew it. You bastard. I’ve only ever wanted Merrick.
Merrick: Except when you didn’t.
Jessie: Yeah, well. I was lying.
How did you meet? Was it love at first sight?
Jessie: It was for me. Merrick didn’t know I existed for a long while.
Merrick: I did. I just didn’t want you to know I had a thing.
Jessie: You had a thing for me? That’s too sweet for you Merrick, you didn’t have a thing.
Merrick: I was a kid, of course I was sweet. And who didn’t have a thing for that stupidly bendy body of yours?
Jessie: And I thought it was my eyes, and my charm that got you. We met in training. On Rexalon. Pair of kids being forced to make hard decisions. He blew my world. All that anger and compassion bleeding through his skin. Hot as hell. And I should know—I’ve been there. It was a precise military operation to get his attention.
Merrick: Don’t be daft.
Jessie: Took a lot of effort to hook him, but once I did—
Merrick: I basically didn’t stand a chance.
***
Casey, tell us a bit about yourself! From your back catalog, do you have a secret favorite? If so which book and why?
Ooh, that’s a difficult one. It’s got to be The Rise of Alec Caldwell series. I’m addicted to the characters’ lives and Alec never shuts up, he’s always up to something in my head and the muse is crazy about him. I can’t ever imagine a time when I won’t be writing about Alec and his adventures, even though the published version will end with Volume Four.
What is the most rewarding aspect of writing and/or publishing? The most terrifying/frustrating?
The best part is when a reader really gets the characters. I’m amazed at some of the reviews and emails I’ve had. It feels good to share a little bit of love and inspiration and to brighten someone’s world for just one day.
The most terrifying is the same with any creative venture, sharing a story is like sharing a little piece of yourself. That and the fact you always think people are going to hate it, and of course, sometimes they do.
What’s next for you?
Finding King is the first in a trilogy, so the next installment is on the drawing board. I have Alec Volume Four in progress and a couple of new WIP’s, a novel length paranormal fantasy, a psychological thriller and a couple of contemporary novella’s. I am also working on a sequel for Be My Boy.
