So, for the first time ever on this blog (WOO), I have done one of those answer-some-questions-then-nominate-people memes. Because, y’know, why not? Lets me talk a bit about Hobson & Choi, which I always enjoy doing. For anyone who ever wanted a straight-forward pitch for the whole story, here it is.
Thanks to Lisa Goll of London Writer’s Cafe for nominating me, you can see her pass at the same questions over at her blog.
But now, on with the ME.
1. When and where is the story set?
Hobson & Choi is set in London, in The Now of the early 2010s. To be precise, it’s set in a criminal undercurrent that seems to exist just below the surface of almost everything. Seems to be nothing in London I can’t point to and say “Ah, but what if it was evil?”
2. What can you say about the main characters?
The main characters are John Hobson, middle-aged private eye with dark past, and Angelia Choi, slightly withdrawn but well-meaning teenage girl with… well, a past of some kind. They come together after she asks for a work experience placement at his agency, and end up using his expertise in turning over scumbags to investigate more modern crimes than he was bothering to find.
Although John Hobson, the world-weary old bastard, finds all these newfangled dirty-dealings rather fey and annoying. There’s a lot of bickering at first, but no doubt they’ll eventually discover they have more in common than they first thought.
3. What is the main conflict?
H&C has been one of those stories that has revealed its true self slowly as it went along. The main conflict seems to be between the slick new world and the rather grimy old one it’s built on top of, as helpfully embodied by Hobson and Choi themselves.
And more directly, the series of crimes the heroes are presented with provides a helpful immediate conflict. Can they solve the murder/find the kidnap victim/uncover the conspiracy? All the while dealing with their personal issues and secrets mounting in the background?
And if all that has enticed you to give Hobson & Choi a go, you can wait a bit longer for the upcoming definitive self-published edition of Case One.
The Infectious Phase
The lucky people nominated by me to carry this on…
- Frances Pauli, fellow JukePop author of The Earth Tigers.
- Alastair JR Ball, author of the non-JukePop webserial The First 500.
- Julianne Benford, book blogger and aspiring YA writer.