Jordan Creed's Blog

*This post contains spoilers for The Breacher: Revenant.*


With the loss of Porter and Keaton and their shift in a new direction, Dakota needed someone to bring life back to the group dynamic. With certain things to come in Revenant, as well, Nathan needed a partner. Beyond that, with big things to come in Exodus, the plot needed a wild card. There was only one character who fit the bill: Jessica Havenheart.

Jessica’s character underwent a lot of changes from her initial inception in the early days of The Breacher. Originally, Jessica was going to be an older member of Dakota, already in her twenties, and she was actually supposed to be the previous love interest of Porter. Nathan’s own love interest was a girl named Rebecca Havenheart, a character who once held the position in the story that Seth would later inherit after her execution. With Nathan’s love interest erased, I was content leaving him without a romance for the rest of the trilogy. In fact, that was the plan.

Then came Jessica and Nathan's first interaction - at gun point. From that moment, I knew that my plans had to change. Once Jessica shot off that bullet past Nathan’s head, there was instant chemistry. It’s funny how characters can sometimes seem to choose their own paths through the story. Jessica took control and made her future what she wanted it to be. From then on, she was Nathan’s love interest, and she proved her capacity to hold that role again and again as she complemented his character in every scene they shared.

But Jessica’s character extends far beyond her relationship with Nathan. To me, Jessica is a very unique and intriguing personality. In fact, she is the only character other than Nathan whose perspective could have led us through The Breacher. Had Nathan not beat her to the chase, she would have been the protagonist of the trilogy. Her charm, motives, and inner conflicts are utterly captivating to me, and I hope you, as the reader, felt the same way.

What is it that makes Jessica’s character so alluring? Well, I think it has something to do with the fact that she has layers, and she protects each and every one with tact and a slippery sense of charm. Even for Nathan, she’s tough to pin down for long enough to get any real information. Whenever a character has a secret to protect, everyone wants it, and I think that applies to us as consumers of stories, too. But beyond her mysterious nature, Jessica has a lot of admirable qualities. She’s brave, confident, fearless, and utterly consumed by her personal cause. In a word, she’s sharp. She knows what she wants, she has a purpose, and she’s going to cut her way toward it by any means necessary. On a personal note, the feature which I most admire is passion for the cause. When someone has a purpose in their life and is willing to sacrifice anything for it, they have my undying respect.

However, this virtue comes with its vices. If we were to make a list of real-world historical figures who had a purpose and pursued it with complete devotion, I bet only half of them would be considered heroes. Passion can lead people to do awful things, and atrocities are almost always committed in the name of a greater purpose. While Jessica won’t be burning any countries down any time soon, she still adheres to an “ends justify the means” mentality. She is willing to do anything for the sake of her goal, and that is both dangerous and intriguing.

In the end, this mixture of volatile passion and cunning charm made Jessica the perfect addition to The Breacher. It attracted me to her as a character, and it makes her an amazing foil to our idealistic, unbending Nathan. As someone who, just like Nathan, has a hardline moral path to any goal, I must admit my curiosity for anyone who unapologetically pursues the opposite.


-Creed

The Breacher (book 1) is available for free on Amazon until the 17th! Be sure to tell your friends!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y1PMWS1

I am proud to announce that The Breacher: Revenant is now available to pre-order on Amazon! It will be released to download on December 12th!

This sequel has been long in the making - almost the year - and I've learned a lot while writing it. Revenant is a big leap forward for me, as it represents another step toward completing The Breacher Trilogy, a project I've been working on for almost three years now. There's only one more installment remaining, and I can't wait to tackle it!

I'd like to thank everyone who has been waiting patiently for this novel. I appreciate the support and hope you enjoy The Breacher: Revenant...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077ZTG5GW

*This post contains minor spoilers for The Breacher*

This is going to be my last post in this character analysis series. Beyond the characters I have already covered, I think the supporting "cast" would be done better justice if their focus posts were written after book two was published. Their roles can be more fully explored at that time. However, one of the most important characters in The Breacher can't be forgotten: Jon Northborn.

Now, I consider Jon to be a unique character when compared to the others - not necessarily in terms of personality but rather in significance. Jon is the catalyst for the entire trilogy. His injury is the event that sets Nathan into motion, Nathan's motion sets the other elements of the plot into motion, and ultimately Nathan's actions allow Jon to become involved in the underground world of the Lows. All of the events of the trilogy can be traced back to this one moment. In this way, I consider Jon to be one of the most important characters in the story, regardless of how much "screen time" he was given in the first book.

But this significance bred a bit of worry in me. For most of book one, Jon was in serious peril of becoming a plot device. When a character is seen by the writer as merely a tool by which the plot can be propelled, aspects of personality, relatability, and depth are lost completely. In fact, Jon was one of the few characters with whom I had real difficulty entering mentally. With Seth, Porter, Lawrence, and even Eve, I can imagine myself as them and thus unearth their attitudes and motives. With Jon, however, I always felt barred from the thoughts swirling around in his head.

This, I believe, may be due in part to his relationship with Nathan. As the writer, I embrace and view the story through the eyes of Nathan Hardline. Everything and everyone within The Breacher is, in a sense, tinted by Nathan's perspective. And so, with Jon, I find myself struggling to fully understand what's going through his mind. Since beginning The Breacher, I saw this as a problem. Now, though, I have learned to hone this disability into a narrative blessing.

See, although Nathan and Jon are incredibly close, they remain fundamentally different. In fact, Nathan would better understand Councilor Eve's thought processes than his own brother's. As the trilogy will elaborate upon, this is a crucial element to their story as brothers caught in the storm. Therefore, this gap, this lapse of understanding between Nathan and Jon has been more fully cultivated by my own understanding - or lack thereof - of Jon Northborn. While I am aware of his motivations, his goals, and his views, Jon as a person remains out of reach. In the end, this contributes to the sense within the narrative that Nathan and Jon are doomed to forever stand on either halves of a great chasm, two brothers separated at their cores.

This, I would claim, is the essence of Jon Northborn. He is that nagging frustration in the back of Nathan's mind, that beloved brother destined to remain a stranger.


Creed

With this character analysis, I’m on to one of the most objectively likable characters in The Breacher – Seth. Out of all the friends and family who I ran the book by, almost across the board, Seth was always a favorite. There’s an element of warmth and amiability to him that I think appeals to a lot of readers. He provides a lightheartedness to the story and the world that I believe is a vivid contrast to more serious characters like Nathan, Porter, and Desmond. In relation to Nathan – obviously an important relationship with the protagonist – Seth was designed as, essentially, a sidekick. In order to offset Nathan’s generally intense perspective, Seth’s kindness and childlike joy were mandatory. But Seth also manages to be a devoted confidant and ally to Nathan. In essence, Seth is a glue. He maintains Nathan’s connection with Dakota while also maintaining the connections within the team. Without Seth, The Breacher falls apart. With that in mind, it may come as a bit of a surprise that the Seth we know didn’t even exist in the first draft.

When The Breacher was being grown in my mind, I originally imagined Nathan with a close male friend on the team. As the story developed, however, that role was reduced and ultimately abandoned. Instead, Nathan’s closest relationship on Dakota was a girl named Rebecca who he met while she helped TC teach the Rookies. From there, their relationship developed into a romantic one. By the time I finished the first draft, though, I realized very quickly that Nathan’s connection to Rebecca felt extremely forced and weak. She contributed very little to the story, and her personality lacked any flare or originality. I remember watching an Honest Trailer on Youtube, and it was said of one character that she could be replaced with a house plant without changing the plot at all. After this, of course, I knew that Rebecca had to go.

The book would be greatly improved if she was replaced by a male best friend - one of my original ideas. But going through a draft, which at the time was 140 000 words, removing, and replacing an entire character – especially one with a romantic subplot – was an enormous undertaking. In the end, I ignored my laziness and did what I needed to do to make The Breacher the best it could be. Seeing how effective Seth turned out to be, I now understand how crucial this change was. Nathan received his best friend and confidant. Desmond was allowed to embrace a more natural role as a standoffish ally. Notably, Nathan's romantic potential was cleared for the second and third books in the trilogy.

Adding Seth was one of the most necessary and effective changes I ever made to The Breacher. Without him, the entire story would have been robbed of the charm Seth so effortlessly provides.


Creed

*This post contains major spoilers for The Breacher, so if you have not read the book, please be aware.*


In my last two posts, I focused on how I share a lot of similarities with Nathan and Councilor Lawrence. Porter, however, isn't someone I can claim to share a majority of traits with. Instead, he's the one character that I've set as a role model for myself, my work ethic, and my time management in my practical life. During the summer that I spent writing the first draft of The Breacher, I would - however cheesy it seems to me now - actually think to myself in certain situations, "What would Porter do?"

From the time I knew that Nathan would have a Breaching team, I instinctively knew that he had to have a leader. Very early on, I designed Porter as the ideal human being and a fictional embodiment of my ideal self in terms of dedication, strategy, and confidence. Porter is committed, hard-working, loyal, passionate, driven, absolutely confident, independent, and almost mechanistic in his pursuit of personal perfection in himself and those around him. As I age, I still recall Porter on occasion and hold him as a sort of target for my own personal development.

There was a time, though, when Porter presented a few complications in the first few drafts of The Breacher. For one, I had risen him to prominence in the portion of the story where he was active. So intense was my focus on him that my parents feared he had overshadowed Nathan entirely. As a result, his role was made more efficient and concise through the reduction and complete removal of a number of subplots I had intended for him. In the end, however, I think both his story and Nathan's benefited from those changes, and I may still recycle some of Porter's scraps in future plots.

But then came the time for Porter to meet his end. As anyone who has already read The Breacher will know, Porter sacrifices himself for the only cause he deems worthy of his life: saving his family. Unlike a death like Keaton's, I was quite sad to see Porter go. He was a character I had grown quite attached to over my many, many months with him. He was the first substantial death in my writing career - a death I will always remember. Although I often consider how the trilogy would have played out had Porter survived, I acknowledge Porter's demise as being a necessary loss. His presence would have hindered many of the paths I intended to take Dakota on in books two and three. So, one could say that Porter not only gave his life for his friends but also for the betterment of the trilogy.

As I reflect on Porter, I find myself missing his presence in my writing. His mind was such an intriguing one to delve into, shaped by a complex morality, almost superhuman resolve, and a hidden vulnerability. Although Porter is gone, he is perhaps one of the few characters who I find myself carrying with me into my everyday life. Porter is exemplary as a role model, a beacon of sturdiness and determination that I am currently toiling toward in my own personal growth. But I also realize that in a sense, I suppose, Porter was born of my mind. I created his virtues, which means that, perhaps, these qualities are not so far from my reach.


Creed

*This post contains minor spoilers for The Breacher, so if you have not read the book, please be aware.*


Councilor Lawrence is easily my favorite character from The Breacher. While I claimed in my previous post "Nathan Hardline" that Nathan as a character was initially quite similar to me, I would dare to say that Councilor Lawrence is even more so. I felt that Nathan needed to be differentiated from me, so he was changed in some ways from his first incarnation. But with Lawrence, I was more than happy leaving him the way he was: a very potent and complex reflection of myself.

See, Councilor Lawrence has two sides to his character. One is the friendly, amiable persona that he presents to the people he interacts with - especially his fellow Councilors who will politically ravage anyone they see as a direct threat. This is the man that Nathan encounters in many of their dialogue scenes. However, this is not to say that Lawrence in some way fakes his friendly social demeanor. On the contrary, he genuinely enjoys (assuming the company is composed of more than just pompous aristocrats) socialization and conversation. Much like myself, though, he would not claim that he is the most "like himself" in these moments when he is not in solitude.

This leads us to his second side, which is more like his - and my own - true side. Behind closed doors, Lawrence is perpetually engulfed in philosophical and ethical ruminations that drive and mold his motives and goals. He tends toward the darker aspects of human nature and the perceived atrocities inflicted upon the human race by itself and the physical world. He keeps these reflections absolutely private for reasons he also keeps private. However, due to this secrecy, the structure of the plot, and, of course, the narration being Nathan's, you, as readers, can only catch glimpses of Lawrence's very complex inner world in the first book. But I guarantee that his complexities and motivations will be brought to light throughout the trilogy. I have big things planned for his character.

In the meantime, though, I like to think of the relationship he and Nathan share as a special one. While Michael is a faint memory to Nathan, and Richard is a simple man with straightforward motivations, Councilor Lawrence is someone who Nathan really connects with on a philosophical and mental level. However, their bond can be summed up like this: Nathan feels an intellectual draw toward concepts of morality and human nature, and Councilor Lawrence is someone who is fluent in those topics. Not only does Nathan find in him a man with extensive relevant knowledge, Lawrence also finds in Nathan a boy who is capable of comprehending many of the things that plague his mind. Ultimately, the bond they share is one of understanding and comprehension.

As a matter of fact, intellectual comprehension is a major part of Lawrence's character. There's a reason why I chose to name his seat on the Council the Animus seat. In Latin, Animus translates to "mind", "purpose", "understanding", and "soul as thinking". These, in my mind, describe what separates Lawrence from the rest of the characters in The Breacher. As the trilogy progresses, the hidden aspects of Lawrence's character will be revealed, and you may find that his motivations and philosophies are more important than you initially thought.


Creed

Nathan Hardline. That name has a special significance to me. He's my first main character from my first novel. He's someone that I'll carry with me through the rest of my writing career - the rest of my life, really! So, in a sense, I'm glad he turned out the way he did: an archetype of heroism. But, actually, he and I were on less than favorable terms for a while.

As I wrote my first draft, I narrated from Nathan's mind as I would from my own. Because of this, he ended up inheriting a lot of characteristics from my own personality. While we may differ in terms of the time we spend focusing on physical surroundings rather than thoughts, we have a similar outlook on the world around us. Nathan may not spend as much time pondering abstract concepts and philosophy as I do, but when he slows down in the chaos to take a breath, our two minds seem to overlap. We both see the beauty in the small, happy things in others' lives. We both hunt for the underlying causes and principles that form our society. We both have our hearts vested in the future and the grand scheme of things.

The fact that Nathan originated on paper as a boy so similar to myself was an idea that I ignored for the first few drafts. But I soon realized that when I looked at him, I didn't see a distinct human being. I saw a vessel through which the story was told. Of course, this was the result of my inexperience, as I wrote the story as if I was the main character. When the writer is the main character, a first-person narration can sometimes lean too close to a third-person narration. So, in later drafts, I separated the two of us by improving Nathan's own characteristics, reducing our similarities, and adding more introspection on his part. Since then, I've been able to see him as his own character.

But that mirror-like relationship we once shared is still very much alive beneath all of Nathan's layers. In a way, I suppose that's the best outcome with my first protagonist. I'll always be able to look back at the start of my career, at the character who predated all others - the grandfather of my future leads - and see my sixteen-year-old self somewhere deep in the heart of Nathan Hardline.


Creed