Welcome back to the Hammer and Anvil author commentary. I’m digging deep into the story to give you some behind the scenes tidbits. SPOILER WARNING is in effect!

Eddie Domingo

I have to be honest: I was scared out of my mind about writing Eddie Domingo’s story.

There are certain expectations when it comes to Greystone. Most stem from me, and I take full responsibility for their inclusion or exclusion from the series.

Gangsters were never part of the Greystone universe before this story. I mean, I guess they probably existed, but they were never discussed, never hinted at, never dealt with in the confines of a story. Greystone focused on the bizarre, the myths and the legends of the world, coming to life in Portents.

Not some Goodfellas wannabes.

I liked it that way. But when it came time to write this book, the Domingo family forced their way into the narrative. I could have chosen any average bum off the street to wield Hephaestus’ hammer. Average guy turned master forger. It would have worked perfectly fine.

I wanted a redemptive story though. My plan was to mirror Soriya’s arc of trying to prove herself to Mentor, by introducing this inept crook who wanted nothing more than to be worthy of his family name.

Eddie Domingo as an idiot didn’t cut it though…

He couldn’t just be a moron. He couldn’t be a dick who cared nothing for the world. Why would he bother to help anyone, then?

That’s where Tony came in. Tony, the cousin, was the bastard of the pair only so that the audience could see Eddie in a fairer light. When bad things happened they were never truly Eddie’s fault.

Did he take them that way? Absolutely! What decent human being doesn’t shower some personal guilt over every situation that goes poorly? (I might be projecting here…)

Tony – and by extension, Frank – were the lens through which the reader could relate to Eddie and his predicament.

Revisionist history

A lot of his redemption arc came in revision. Eddie Domingo wasn’t the nice guy. Hell, he was pretty selfish through and through. The prose brought out the aspects of Eddie to make him a likable guy. The background info about his time in college to give him the background necessary to wield the hammer by the end, his desire to change, everything came through later in the process to make his story click.

Bringing his story to a close

Eddie was truly meant as a guest-star to the series. His role, while instrumental to this book, was never meant to go further. By the end, Eddie – now as Edward Smith – is in a good place with a good job.

The End. Thanks for stopping by.

It would be perfectly fine leaving it there. But there was an itch in the back of my head, another arc for him to travel in my eyes.

So, because of the potential those revisions created for the character, Eddie is coming back in The Final Gauntlet. What is his role? Where does the story take him? You’ll have to find out in October.

One more thought about gangsters

This was the first project without Greg Loren in a leading role. I was nervous about that and wanted to maintain the connection to the main series in some way. By using this crime figure, Frank Domingo, and having that investigative connection to the Central Precinct, it made it that much easier to work Loren into the narrative without it feeling forced.

It also allowed for that nice moment where Loren thanks his guardian angel for taking down Frank Domingo. That was a great bit I was happy fit the scene nicely.

Next time:

Making the hammer work for the story wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be…