Meet Quentin and Eissa from DimWorld

Meet Quentin and Eissa from DimWorld

by | Aug 18, 2018 | DimWorld, Self-Awareness

If you’ve read any of my other blogs, then you probably know that I am a big fan of understanding how my brain works. As a fiction writer, this is a really big deal. The better I understand how people think, the better my characters will be. I think this is what makes Stephen King so engaging. He understands people exceptionally well, and he’s good at getting that down on paper.

I’ve just completed the second major revision of Genesis Dimension, which is the first book in my sci-fi series, DimWorld. I had to put a new beginning on the story, but I also spent a lot of time trying to make Quentin and Eissa more complete and dynamic people.

Quentin is a lot like me, in many ways. He’s the main character in the series. While he’s a smart, capable guy, and he’s really good at what he does (IT Tech at a big energy company), he has a serious lack of self-confidence. And what do smart, insecure people do? They seek validation from people whom they deem worthy of recognizing their competence, such as their supervisor. When they don’t get it, at least in the form they are expecting, they take it as a personal attack, and the war is on.

While Quentin manages to develop confidence in himself over the course of the story, and therefore reduces his need for validation from outside sources, we realize that if the big disaster hadn’t backed him into a corner and forced him to grow, he probably would have spent his life trapped in that loop. This is fairly representative of my life. I spent years trying to get validation from other people. It started as a kid, trying to win my dad’s approval, and continued into my adult life. Every boss I ever had ended up as a victim of my scorn, because they didn’t spend enough time telling me that I was doing a great job. Even though I was doing a great job, I was a terrible employee because of my insecurities.

Eissa has her own set of problems. As a combat veteran, she struggles with PTSD. This usually manifests itself as anxiety attacks, but it also undermines her confidence because she never knows when something is going to trigger an episode, and that makes her reluctant to participate in the world. She’s also a lesbian and a Native American, and she has a very different understanding of the world than Quentin does. While they’ve been lifelong best friends, she still has to point out to him occasions of privilege and oppression. While he’s on her side and supports her in every way, he still doesn’t always understand the difference between his experience and her experience. Again, Quentin and I are a lot alike, and have had to learn similar hard lessons.

One of the wonderful things about living in the information age is the accessibility of resources and tools. I listen to a lot of podcasts, and I have learned so much from them that it’s hard for me to believe that I made it so far in life not knowing all this stuff. Podcasts like Finding Mastery, StoryBrand, and The Liberator have taught me about being a better team member, a better leader, a better friend, and how to understand myself and others. I’ve used this knowledge to make the veterinary clinic that my wife and I own the best place in the world to work (and to get equine medical care), but I’ve also tried to apply it to the characters in my books.

All books have a message or two they are trying to deliver to the world, and mine are no different in that respect. The personal growth aspect isn’t the main point of the story, but I do hope that people will be able to connect with Quentin and Eissa and learn a few useful things from their journey. I know I’ve learned a lot!

Genesis Dimension

Justin B. Long is an author, blogger, website developer, and the CFO of Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic. In his spare time (ha!) he likes to paint, read, canoe, and hike in the wilderness. You can subscribe to this blog in the blue block, and future blogs will be delivered to your email. Warning: Subscribing may increase your awesomeness quotient. Please feel free to comment, and share this blog on your favorite social media page! To learn more, please visit JBoydLong.com.

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What in the world is DimWorld?

What in the world is DimWorld?

by | Nov 19, 2017 | DimWorld, Writing

What is the DimWorld series all about?

DimWorld is the series of books I’m writing, in case you’re not familiar with the title. I’ve made a few vague references to it in blogs here and there, as well as some posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (I’m easy to find: @JBoydLong on every platform), but I haven’t given a breakdown on the concept of the series, and today I’m going to fix that.

In the DimWorld universe

DimWorld is short for Dimension World. The concept here is that every time there is a major event in history, a new dimension is formed. For example, in our dimension Columbus landed in the Bahamas and was welcomed/accepted by the natives. This was a major event because it led to the colonization of the Americas by Europeans. So, at that point a new dimension was formed in which he and his entire crew were killed upon arrival. That, of course, had a massive impact on the future of Europe, as well as North and South America.

There are lots events throughout history that spawned new dimensions, and events within each of those dimensions that created new dimensions. All dimensions share a history up to the point that they split, but they all have a different present, and a different future. There are dimensions where major wars had different outcomes, or empires survived rather than falling (or vice versa), assassinations and rebellions that either took place or didn’t take place, and so on and so forth. The possibilities are unlimited.

DimCorp

DimCorp (Dimension Corporation) is a company that deals in raw materials and natural resources. They developed the technology to move between dimensions using DimGates, which they use to take resources from under-developed dimensions and sell them in advanced dimensions.

They use the indigenous populations in the less-developed dimensions as a workforce, and usually as slave labor. This allows them to mine resources like copper, tin, and iron at a very low cost, and transport it directly to where it needs to go in another dimension. DimCorp has expanded both their production and their sales across a variety of dimensions, making them the richest and most powerful entity in existence.

Introducing Quentin and Eissa

Quentin is our main character in the series, and Eissa is his best friend. Quentin is a 40-year-old IT computer geek who has spent most of his life philosophizing with Eissa about the problems with people and society, but never actually doing much of anything about it. He’s a good guy, and well-intentioned, but it never crossed his mind that he might be able to do something to make the world a better place.

On the day that a DimGate appears in front of them, their world is turned upside down. They cross into another dimension, and find themselves trapped in a world where the United States only goes as far as the Mississippi River. Everything on the other side is controlled by the Native Tribal Alliance, and the war between colonists and natives is still going strong. Eissa, a Native American, suddenly finds herself far behind enemy lines.

Our unlikely heroes eventually find some help in the form of Bob and Tocho, a pair of aging rebels who spent their lives fighting DimCorp. The more they learn about the victims of greed, the more incensed they become, and when they finally get a chance to go home, they are also offered the chance to stay and fight.

The series follows their adventures and exploits as they try to stick up for those without a voice, as well as confront their own inner problems along the way. Eissa’s brash tongue and quick wit create laugh out loud moments as she tries to help Quentin as he struggles on his quest to find his purpose in life, and the confidence to fulfill it.

Where do things stand?

Foundation and The Cacao Insurrection are the first two books in the DimWorld series. They have both been written as first drafts, and the goal is to have them rewritten, professionally edited, polished and published by fall of 2018. If you subscribe to this blog (and please do!) you will stay updated as we get closer to the release date.

Author Justin Boyd LongJ. Boyd Long is an author, blogger, website developer, and the CFO of Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic. In his spare time (ha!) he likes to paint, read, canoe, and hike in the wilderness. You can subscribe to this blog in the sidebar, and future blogs will be delivered to your email. Subscribing may increase your awesomeness quotient. Please feel free to comment, and share this blog on your favorite social media page! To learn more, please visit JBoydLong.com 

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