Meet the Character -- Lexi

Name: Alexia Lyall, "Lexi"
Age: 26 Sex: Female
Family: None or unknown
Infection Level: Immune / OFAR 'hunter' Gene
Race: Caucasian / Strong Russian Height: 5'1"
Eyes: Mulled-Cider Brown with deep-set, hooded eyes
Face: Pointy, rather thin nose, well groomed eyebrows, cupid-shaped mouth, high cheek bones and a well-defined jaw.
Hair: Ashen brown (probably dyed), long thick and straight hair, normally pulled back in a ponytail
Body: Small chest, muscula physique typical of those with the tracker gene, especially fond of her muscular calves

Lexi is a new recruit to the FLI unit, as noticed by Ranulf almost exclusively calling her 'Rookie.' She went through the Alabama police academy before deciding to take a tougher career turn and applying for the required genetic testing to be in the FLI. She is very gung-ho and sticks to her training to the letter. However, she is also wet behind the ears, and lacks the experience to deal with a lot of the real-world problems that differ greatly from her training. She is Ranulf's new partner, replacing Lupe, who recently went into semi-retirement. Ranulf is loathe to admit it, but he finds her sometimes overwhelming enthusiasm refreshing and a bit addictive. And he appreciates early on the speed with which she acts. In the first chapter, it was Lexi that downed the third werewolf, by tazing it from behind immediately upon arriving in the squad car.

The biggest thing Lexi has in her favor so far is being so obviously new. Even the lycanthropes underestimate her ability. In chapter three, she gets to register her first werewolf, Boxer, before questioning him about the attack on Lyka and Lowell. Lexi quickly sets Boxer straight on a few things, much to his chagrin. I don't want to give anything away, but I really liked writing the registration scene.

Her call name, Lexi, is a shortened form of a Greek name meaning defender of men. I think this is appropriate for a newly recruited FLI officer. New recruits tend to be the most tenacious in abiding the letter of the law. Her name, Alexia, means defender of mankind. It is a little variation on my wolf-themed names, but I thought the meaning was appropriate for what I envision for her character. As for Lexi's last name, that has gone through many changes. I firstly wanted it to be a solid Russian name, but instead have opted for Lyall, which is Scottish for shield wolf. As a defender of men, she would be a shield between them and the lycanthropes.

A Word or Two on Names

As I worked on writing chapter three of Moonlit, I noticed something I never really saw before. I have and awful lot of people whose names begin with "L." First we meet Lyka and Lowell Theron. Not too much of a stretch there to imagine twins with names beginning with the same letter. Alf also has an "L" name, as his call sign is his initials - A.L.F. But, we don't know what his middle name is at this time. Then we hear about Lupe, a retired FLI agent, who lives near Lyka. Lupe's real name is Lorelai, adding two more "L's" to the mix. Next there is my current favorite, Alexia "Lexi" Lyall, her name chock-a-block with "L's." Even one of the bad guys has an "L" name. Boris's last name is Lyulf.

In fact, as I am going over all the names of the (mostly) good guys in this story, the only one without an "L" somewhere in his name is Duncan MacCoinin, a character only mentioned so far as a FLI officer who is good with codes. I don't know if it really bothers me that there are so many "L's" in this story, but I thought it was noteworthy. So I looked into the (mostly) baddies in the story. The only ones with names so far are: Boris Lyulf, Arnulf Boxer, and Kendra Kenley. Not too uniform there, but I am going for a theme with the bad guys. I am not quite ready to reveal that yet, because it may not work out the way I hope.

Bottom line: I have obviously decided to put a lot of thought into the names of my characters, and strangely enough a lot of them are "L" words. If you keep track of the names, it will become more and more obvious which side you should root for and which ones you should anxiously await their defeat scenes. Happy hunting!