Writing Wednesday - A visit with Taro & Rafe

Hello everyone!  Welcome to this week's Writing Wednesday post.  Now that we've seen my rather skewed way of world building - and believe me, I KNOW it's weird - I wanted to do something a little different.  And different is what we have.  Today we have an interview with Taro and Rafe, the stars of KD Sarge's books Knight Errant (which is out now) and His Faithful Squire (which is out in August).


Taro, Rafe, tell us a little bit about yourselves.  There are those out there who haven't been as lucky as I have been to meet you through the story, so why not give us a teensy bit of background?

Rafe:  Hi! I'm Rafe. Rafael Rylie Ballard, at your service. He's Taro--Kentaro Hibiki-Marcori. I had to talk him into this, so you can expect him to be grumpy. We're...well, the slang term is knock-abouts. We're working our way somewhat randomly around the galaxy, looking for a place that suits us. I used to be a joy-boy and he used to be a pickpocket, but his sister Eve Marcori made us both sort-of respectable. As much as anyone could, anyway. She's a Marine, or she used to be, or--hell, I don't know how you say it. They say once a Marine always a Marine, but she's not in the Corps now. Anyway, I call her God's Gift to the Galaxy because she is, and she tends to rescue people and then be grouchy about it.

Rafe, since you've gotten yourself onto Eve's ship, what have you been up to to keep yourself out of her hair?

Rafe: I hide a lot. With the babies is a good place. She won't yell at me in front of the little ones.

Taro, what do you want to do with your life?  How does that compare to what Eve wants you to do with your life?

Taro:  Hell, I don't know. Eve wants me to be respectable, but how am I going to do that? I've got all I can handle keeping this goof from getting himself killed.

Rafe, what first attracted you to Taro?

Rafe:  Mmm... Do you know martial artists make the best lovers? Flexible, strong, great stamina, creative...not to mention he's so damn cute. But I really fell for him when he glared at me for kissing his sister.

Taro, similar question.  Why did you decide you were attracted to Rafe?

Taro:  Pity.
Rafe:  Liar.
Taro: He--Rafe makes everything more fun. And he--well, he plays dumb, but he's not. He's smart and interesting and...and just good. Like Ben. Only more fun.

Taro, aside from Rafe, if you had to evacuate the ship, what would you most want to take with you?

Taro: ...the rest of the crew.
Rafe: She means things, my love.
Taro: My swords.

Rafe, aside from Taro, if you had to evacuate the ship, what would you most want to take with you?


Rafe: Taro's swords. I gave them to him, and it's actually my job to carry them. He'd probably be carrying three babies and kicking our way through bulkheads anyway, so I'd carry the swords.

Rafe, the first book was Taro's story.  It looks like the second is yours.  What can you tell us about it?

Rafe: It's about me! I mean...well, that's awesome, right? It starts when Taro and I leave the Pendragon's Dream, when Cori finally lets us go and we're completely on our own. It's...well, it was damned scary the first time we got in trouble and I realized that Taro might be taking on more than he could handle and Cori wasn't around to watch his back. It was just me to help, and I'm no good at fighting or looming or anything. So His Faithful Squire is pretty much about me figuring out how to hold up my end of our partnership.

You two are a gorgeous couple.  I really enjoy hearing about your exploits.  Aside from what we saw (or will see, for those who haven't read KNIGHT ERRANT yet), have you had any other problems because you're a couple?  Let's face it, there are a lot of people out there who aren't in favor of same sex pairings.

Rafe: There's always jerks. Taro likes to push their faces in. I like to watch. He's so sexy when he's all sweaty and hyper.

That's another good point.  Do you two have any words of wisdom for those who have chosen a similar relationship?

Rafe: Sex. Lots and lots of sex to combat the negative.

Now, I have read Knight Errant so I know all your dirty little secrets.  Well, all that KD Sarge was kind enough to share with us.  Anything else you'd care to share?

Rafe: Actually, I should probably stop talking, thanks. Grumpy martial artists aren't fun to sleep with.

Well, I appreciate your time, my dears.  One last question: Will you come visit my blog again?  I'd love the company. *grin*

Rafe: We'd love to! It's been fun.
Taro: Not. But if you grill Eve, I'll come.
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Taro and Rafe are the charming boys created by KD Sarge (@KDSarge on Twitter).  It was with her much appreciated help that this post was created.  It's very hard to coordinate a guest post like this when you live on two completely different sleep cycles! Please support a very hardworking independent author and purchase Knight Errant here.

See you next week when maybe, just maybe, we might convince Eve Marcori and a crew member or two to stop by and visit.