Meet Virginia

With the Fireflies and Zeroes release date less than two months out(!!!) I think it's officially time to start introducing my lovable band of disaster children. I'm so excited for the world to meet the voices that have been arguing in my head for the better part of a decade. Without further ado, let's meet the Generation:

Max: bass and vocals

Max is my superstar, a born performer with a flair for the dramatic and a lifelong obsession with making his bass the center of attention. He's never caught without a literary or musical reference, or without a next brilliant song of his own.

But being a performer means he's always cultivating a persona, an outward-facing version of himself that he chooses to share with his legions of fans... and that can cover up a much more introverted, insecure inner self. When he feels that inner self getting too close to the surface, Max tends to panic and withdraw from the world. As the story opens, he's coming off of his most extreme retreat into solitude, one that leaves his best friend (see below) unsure of how to pick up the pieces.

Jason: guitar

If ever Max has an idea, Jason is unquestionably along for the ride. Loyal to a fault, Jase is his best friend's number one fan, his ride-or-die, his partner in crime (literally, if necessary -- he's never caught without his Swiss army knife). He's comfortable in his spotlight-adjacent role, and thrives when he's feeding off of Max's creative energy.

So, naturally, Jason tends to go off the rails without Max. When he senses that his best friend needs him, his one-track mind and anxious, reckless determination kick in, sometimes in surprisingly productive ways.

Tara: drums

Tara is the only member of the Generation not to grow up in Charlottesville, which is fine by her, since she's used to being the only one. As a Black woman in a genre dominated by white men, being ever so slightly on the outside of a shared understanding (in this case, of home) is just par for the course.

She has a chip on her shoulder and a strong set of defenses ready to go at a moment's notice, but under that prickly exterior, Tara loves her bandmates. Things may get heated between her and Jason in stressful situations, but only because of how deeply they both care. Her resistance to his most outlandish schemes is often just the reality check he (begrudgingly) needs.

Alex: behind the scenes

Alex, Max's younger brother, isn't a member of the Generation per se, but he's certainly been there for most of the highlights. Fame has never appealed to Alex, but family is extremely important to him, and he's always prepared to support his brother. He becomes almost a sibling to the rest of the band, too, and offers a steady voice of reason and practical knowledge without which Jason and Tara would be completely lost. That is, when Jason remembers he exists...

Charlottesville, VA: home

My partner and I have a running joke that everything about Charlottesville can be summed up by the fact that you can invoke the phrase "this f***ing town" in any tone of voice from loving laughter to all-out rage, and it's true. (Especially while driving. There is no "best way" to get from point A to point B, always three nonsensically divergent options that somehow take the exact same amount of time?)

If the past several years of headlines haven't made it clear, Charlottesville is not a simple place, and not without an ugly past whose traces linger to this day. But it's also a beautiful place, nestled in some of the most gorgeous countryside on earth, filled with brilliant, creative, and passionate people. Maybe it's simplest to say that Charlottesville is a case study in contradictions, or a microcosm of the US's slow reckoning with its own history. Here, though, it's one of the places that made me and my characters who we are, and whether we're cursing, laughing, or swelling with pride at that fact, it is, above all else, home.