
It’s always a pleasure to see how much people have enjoyed both Huma and Kaz. It’s not possible to please everyone, but I’m more than satisfied with how many I have pleased. These are two characters of whom I’m very proud. There were just fragments to work with on Huma and some were, of necessity, set aside or avoided. Still, I like to think that Huma is very true to what people would expect him to be.
Kaz, of course, is completely my creation. My editor saw his value immediately, for which I was grateful. The prototype for the meeting between the knight and minotaur is clearly in my story “Definitions of Honor” and that theme plays through the novel, as well.
While I was restricted to one novel for Huma, I had a brief opportunity to agree to a Kaz trilogy. Sadly, I did not have the time needed for that, so, he returned in a single novel. Fortunately, I was able to add another novel later, along with a short story. I was also able to build on my interest in minotaurs in general, with only 1 of my novels not involving them in some way (that was the Citadel, but I did have gargoyles!)