GUEST BLOG: Steven Harper on Havoc In The Family

Can you keep a secret?  I totally based one of the characters from
THE HAVOC MACHINE on a real person.  Truth!



They tell you at Author School never to do that.  It results in
hurt feelings or even lawsuits.  Kathryn Stockett, author of THE
HELP, was embroiled in a legal battle over this very issue, in
fact.  But me--I'll get away with it.



The character in question is Nikolai, a boy of about nine years,
and the person he's based on is my son Maksim.



I first met Maksim at an orphanage in Ukraine nearly nine years
ago.  He was three, but looked two.  My wife and I talked to him
and played with him every day for two weeks, and he always cried
silently when it was time for us to leave.  That soundless weeping
was a dagger in my heart every time.  One of the greatest joys of
my life was when we told him he was saying good-bye to everyone
else and coming home with us.



Maksim did everything firmly.  When you asked him a yes-no
question, he nodded his head once, firmly, or shook his head once,
firmly.  He ran firmly.  He pointed firmly.  When he learned
enough English to make himself understood, he had firm ideas about
what a family should be like, and he voiced them firmly.



"We need to do a family activity," he would say.  "We have to go
to the park."  Or, "A papa is supposed to show his son how to ride
a bike," or "Brothers are supposed to help each other."


Maksim wrapped me around all ten of his fingers.  I would do
anything he said, and the slightest hint



In some ways, being a father to Maksim was easy--he was perfectly
willing to tell me exactly what he needed and when.  On the other
hand, the ferocious attachment between us complicated a number of
things.  Sometimes a parent has to say no, and a child does have
to learn independence.



Maksim has handed me a number of surprises over the years, and I
don't mean the "Guess what I found in the woods, I have it in this
box" sort of surprise.  Like many orphanage children, he turned
out to have a penchant for hoarding--including a stash of ice
cream sandwiches in his toy box.  He was violently afraid of
thunderstorms and of bathing, but swam through deep water like an
eel and learned to ride a bike in ten minutes.  He recognized the
McDonald's sign but hated french fries.  He struggled with math
for years, then suddenly tore through it like Einstein.



One of the main themes from THE HAVOC MACHINE is father-son
relationships, and how such relationships never quite turn out the
way you expect.  Thad, the protagonist, doesn't want to be a
father, but the boy Nikolai forces him into it.  Even before I
started writing about him, I knew that Nikolai would be quite a
lot like Maksim and his relationship with Thad would be firm and
filled with surprises.  And I knew that as the book progressed,
Thad would be forced to confront what it means to be a father,
whether he wanted to or not.



And Nikolai tells him what it means to be a father.  Firmly.



Maksim, now eleven, has so far shown no interest in reading my
books.  I'm wondering if, one day, he'll pick up THE HAVOC MACHINE
and say, "Wait . . . "  Or if I'll hear from his lawyer.



Don't tell him yet.





THE HAVOC MACHINE, by Steven Harper, is the fourth novel in the
Clockwork Empire series. 





In a world riddled with the destruction of men and machines alike,
Thaddeus Sharpe takes to the streets of St. Petersburg, geared
toward the hunt of his life….



Thaddeus Sharpe’s life is dedicated to the hunting and killing of
clockworkers. When a mysterious young woman named Sofiya Ekk
approaches him with a proposition from a powerful employer, he
cannot refuse. A man who calls himself Mr. Griffin seeks Thad’s
help with mad clockwork scientist Lord Havoc, who has molded a
dangerous machine. Mr. Griffin cares little if the evil Lord lives
or dies; all he desires is Havoc’s invention.



Upon Thad’s arrival at Havoc’s laboratory, he is met with a
chilling discovery. Havoc is not only concealing his precious
machine; he has been using a young child by the name of Nikolai
for cruel experiments. Locked into a clockwork web of intrigue,
Thad must decipher the dangerous truth surrounding Nikolai and the
chaos contraption before havoc reigns….





of tears sent me back to
those days in the orphanage and turned me into a helpless blob of
protoplasm.  It was hell keeping this fact from him.