Preen

Preen, the teenage protagonist of Final Chance, is a character who seems to inspire strong feelings in readers. Either they love her, or they don’t “get” her at all. She’s stubborn, wilful, determined, brave, and also very naive and sometimes downright stupid. Her conviction that she can rescue her husband, Rama, and bring him back to enjoy the life of peace they never really had, leads her to take risks that hurt her and her loved ones.

I really wanted to write her story, and I felt it had to be told the way I chose to tell it, but I didn’t find Final Chance as easy or enjoyable to write as some of my other stories. When I would sit down with my computer and a cup of tea I wouldn’t say, “Ahhh, now I get to write!” I felt like more of a challenge than a relaxing activity.

At the time the story begins, the city of Dor has been engulfed in civil war for over two years. Rama had sent Preen and their daughter away when things first began to get bad, while he stayed to fight…for the losing side. When Rayad, the Tur faction, is crushed, the victorious White Horse party doesn’t stop, but sets out to systematically destroy the Tur community in Dor. Eventually, the European League intervenes to stop the violence and occupies Sevia.

When Preen and Rama reunite in Dor, they both have very different ideas of what the new peace will mean for them. Rama wants to get revenge for his dead friends, but Preen is sure she can make him forgive, forget and go home. And, as is generally the case when someone sets out to force a change on someone who doesn’t want to change, things don’t go as she hopes. In the end, Preen realizes that she needs a second chance just as much as Rama does.