- Sandra (Sandy) Tillman – 32-year-old real estate agent – Quite ordinary, unassuming, and happy to not be in a relationship beyond that shared with her best friend, Melissa Merriweather. Sandy had no grand plan beyond hosting a Halloween party at the Hawthorne House, willed to Melissa when her grandfather died three years earlier. The party was on track, anticipation building until she ran across an ancient tome titled Mirror Mirror, found in the library on a pre-party planning visit. She became deeply haunted by an unknown power by possessing a book that ultimately possessed her. She should never have selected that book. Her comfortable, ordinary life was no longer in her hands, and she would soon be launched into extraordinary adventures beyond the boundaries of her known world.
- Melissa (Mel) Merriweather – Sandy’s longtime friend and roommate who would do anything for her friend and willingly ran interference to protect her from law enforcement. They had an intimate relationship that represented a very strong bond. Some readers felt the two of them should have been in a lesbian relationship. As an author, I could see that as a possibility. Still, I avoid using labels like that when an intimate love was something deeper emotionally than sexual… and that could easily have become another story… likely a distraction that had no value-add for their shared story of an unbreakable friendship, nor the one I chose to write about.
- Phillip (Fantastic Phil) McCorkle – A self-indulgent, self-absorbed 29-year-old narcissistic prick who attempted to assault Sandy previously on their final date, where Sandy’s plan was to break it off. She filed charges, and he promised revenge. This tale opens with a phone conversation where he shares his plan to finish the assault at the party because he felt she owed him that satisfaction. At the party, he was appropriately dressed as the devil. Phil died a fantastic death the instant he laid hands on Sandy. I may have enjoyed that moment a little too much.
- William (Wil) Jameson – a follower of Phil, and was dressed as the Grim Reaper at the party. Wil was the kind of man who needed a leader to think for him, no matter how derelict the man he chose to follow. Wil was the epitome of a sheep but every bit as evil as Phillip and died as he followed Phillip, much to my satisfaction.
- The Entity from the 11th Dimension – Eventually became Paul at Sandy’s request. The Entity was the relationship Sandy did not want, nor did Paul, for that matter, but it grew gradually from a borderline hatred to an undeniable partnership sparked by the bizarre circumstances they experienced together. Paul was pure energy in his dimension with no physical form, but manifested as a man when interacting with Sandy through the mirror… any mirror, as it turned out. He was in her mind, and showed up as a man for Sandy’s benefit when she first saw him in the dressing mirror.As part of his backstory, he didn’t want a relationship because an earlier possession of a human crashed and burned when the human fell deeply in love with him, ending very badly. Sandy accused him of being gay, but learned Paul had manifested as a female in the earlier situation. When I learned that about him/her, my mind thought shape-shifter, but I decided to save that stunt for “Puye Prophecy.”Paul was reluctant to accept Sandy’s request to take a name because of that history, and accepting her request to have a name felt like the beginning of something he hoped to avoid… until he could not… and accepted the name Paul, who was the name of her brother who died years ago and her favorite Apostle, born Saul of Tarsus, renamed Paul by Jesus.
- Marcus T. Hawthorne III – Mel’s grandfather, who willed the centuries-old Hawthorne estate to her, was a recluse, disliked by almost everyone, and rumored to be unscrupulous. He died under mysterious circumstances three years earlier, found dead in a secret room adjacent to the main library with a hole in his chest. His death remained unsolved. Mel refused to go into the library for the potential confrontation with the spirit of a horrible man. Sandy had no fear of ghosts, so she explored the library, and as fate would have it, picked up that damn book, Mirror Mirror.
- Other Marcus T. Hawthorne III – Was alive and well in Sandy’s initial time travel experience to retrieve the book that had been impounded by law enforcement as evidence. Her exchange with the Other Marcus proved the concept of things appearing to be the same… until they weren’t… especially when things were on a different timeline six months earlier in a parallel universe. She got away with the book when she escaped by falling into the mirror portal, falling wherever one falls when they travel in time.
- Yet another Marcus T. Hawthorne III – Was quite dead, his corpse sitting in the chair where he died when Sandy had her second time travel experience in a different timeline to avoid arrest, taking her back three years earlier. As Paul explained, Marcus was a man filled with greed and deception, and was therefore deemed unrighteous, as the inscription stated in the book. Sandy accused Paul of murdering him like he had murdered Phil and Wil. Paul described Marcus’ death as self-inflected by virtue of his unrighteousness that he, Paul, merely reflected back to him as he sat facing the mirror. The hole burned through his chest; removing an evil heart was, as Paul described, a more invasive intervention.
- Sandy’s Other self – who lived a separate and different life in a parallel universe and owned and operated a bookstore called Boundless Bindings. Paul’s warning to avoid making contact with your other self was paramount… until it happened. The real Sandy demonstrated agility and quick thinking that impressed Paul as she used the portal mirror in the secret room to make her escape as her other self closed in.
- Other Mel – who also lived in a parallel universe but was still Other Sandy’s best friend and roommate. During Sandy’s first time-travel experience, they connected by accident, and with Paul’s guidance, Sandy slipped by without questions she had no prayer of explaining.
- Detective Daniel (Danny) Becker – Lead Precinct Homicide Detective – was a hard-charger, a Type A knuckle-dragger ready to kick in any door to make an arrest. His style included sharing unsolicited, half-baked, smart-assed comments during the investigation. He had several opportunities to snatch Sandy, but never got the chance when she “disappeared,” deflating his macho male ego and making him more determined than ever to succeed.
- Francine (Frankie) Hanson – Level 2 Forensics Detective – Very competent and focused, an effective counter-balance paired with Detective Becker. Their exchanges are as humorous as they are cutting and disrespectful, with several middle fingers shared. Between the two of them, Frankie was more level-headed and less dramatic, but could dish out the abuse and sarcasm Becker served up. I liked both of them for different reasons.
- Dr. Martin Talbot – County Coroner – A veteran military medical professional who confirmed the fatal injuries were made by a weapon he had never witnessed during his time as a field surgeon in the Middle East. In his assessment, the weapon, which was not found, had characteristics of generating extremely high heat because the holes in the center of Phil’s and Wil’s chests showed signs of melted rib ends and cauterization. The CSI investigator at the crime scene found no evidence of blood. The weapon was labeled as unknown.
- Sarah Thompson – Public Defender representing Sandy. At first, Sandy had no faith that a court-appointed PD would be strong and capable enough to defend her, only to find out how much moxie Sarah brought to the trial. Sarah was wicked smart, inquisitive, and the bizarreness of Sandy’s circumstances intrigued her. As bizarre as the trial would be, Sarah felt it would be the trial of the decade, and she wanted to be in the middle of it. Sarah was a good advisor and did a decent job of offering a ray of hope for Sandy’s acquittal, but it slipped away despite strong defensive posturing.
- The Honorable Phyliss Patterson – The no-nonsense judge who presided over the trial. She ran a tightly controlled court and wasn’t bashful in the use of her gavel, shutting both prosecution and defense down without hesitation. Reactions by the spectators in the gallery were squelched by her to the point of threatening to clear the court. The trial encouraged outrage in Sandy’s defense, and it took a strong hand and gavel to regain decorum several times.
- Blanche – the Jailor – played dual roles as comic relief and a toxic troll who was as wide as she was tall, had no hips, and held plenty of animosity toward Sandy. Turns out Sandy had a little moxie of her own in their shared dialogs, showing no fear despite Blanche’s reputation for wielding a wicked baton.
- Thurston W. Jenkins – Lead Prosecutor – 300 pounds of very southern, overly dramatic performer, was the kind of man easily disliked. He was very competent, but made a critical unforced error that Sarah caught, and rewarded Thurston with a dirty, sweet smile of gratitude. The battle between their objections, sustained and overruled, drew battle lines that were quite entertaining despite the severity of what was on the line for Sandy.
“Mirror Mirror: Halloween Party of the Century” – https://bit.ly/3C4qWqK
Mirror Mirror Goodreads Reviews – bit.ly/4sSgsn5
Video Trailer – https://bit.ly/3GTztmG
Author Website – Learning by Living – https://learningbyliving.blog
(Search on Mirror Mirror for all related articles and extras
