A to Z Challenge Blog 2024 The letter X

As a writer, I use a variety of literary devices is my work. According to its definition, in literary terms, deus ex machina is a plot device used when a seemingly unsolvable conflict or impossible problem is solved by the sudden appearance of an unexpected person, object, or event. It is also a device I like to use in novels, especially suspense ones, when the characters are struggling with issues and need answers none of the other characters can give them.

Today’s letter is X, and it stands for Xavior, one of my deus ex machina characters in Listen to the Stones.

Jerome Morrison wants Fraser Hall and its standing stones. He also wants the woman he’s dreamed of for years. The one he’s sure was his in the past, but something tore them apart. What? Who?

Xavior is an elderly man in a nursing home whose memory is failing him. When he hears that Lady Fraser has returned to the Isle of Lewis and Harris, he gets upset and claims that she’s in danger and must be warned. One of his caregivers is related to a well-known secondary character, Nathan, who agreess to go and visit the old man and see what he has to say.

We don’t see that interview, but Nathan provides vital information about something that happened twenty-seven years earlier, something responsible for Lady Fraser being removed from the island. We don’t meet Xavier as it were. We hear what he has to say through a conversation between the hero and his best friend. When the hero asks for more information, the friend reports that Xavior dozed off and when they woke him, he didn’t remeber who his vistor was or what they’d discussed. He’d served his purpose.

There are several characters in my contemporary paranormal romance suspense who walk onto the stage, say their pieces, reveal secrets, advance the plot and move on again. Sometimes what they say eases tension. At others, like with Xavior, it increases the hero’s wariness and suspicion. Why is Lady Fraser in danger? What part does he play in this? Will he rescue her or make matters worse. As they say, sometimes a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Will Xavier’s words help Jerome or will they push him farther down the road to self-destruction? You’ll have to read the book to find out! Watch for it later this spring.

Lois, here’s another tune for you.

That’s it for X. Come back Monday for Y. Have a great weekend.

Check out blog posts from other participants here: https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe