A-to-Z Challenge Day 21: The Letter U

Udon

The Dark Side of Space

Space Corps Book 1

Udon Thani is a city in Thailand, and the location of a U.S. military base where my father was stationed during the Vietnam War.  Udon is a central character in Dark Side of Space, who took on this name after many unsatisfactory previous attempts to come up with an acceptable, distinctive name to begin with the letter "u."  It should be understood that unlike Qatar (you met him on Q Day), Udon's name and presence in the Space Corps saga was well-established well before the Challenge.  He showed up in the original Seven Thunders writing sessions last fall, nicely mirroring how his story ends in Dark Side.  He's the key ally of Jacques Mendez (whom you met on M Day), and also one of the parallels in the entire saga, representative of an alien species with whom he frequently clashes, something that happens in Star Trek a lot (think Worf or T'Pol or even Quark, another topic from Q Day), but I felt could be better integrated into the overall plot given more of a chance.  Udon is a Welborn, the most welcoming of humans in the entire Galactic Alliance, and themselves a relatively recent addition to the fold, yet even their relative stability has problems with that most common of maladies, the ego.  

Aleksander Uteng

Yoshimi and the Assassins Guild

Yoshimi Trilogy Volume 2

I've frequently referenced warrior orphan Yoshimi's whirlwind tour of the world, and previously discussed Bill's fascination with Angel Jiminez (on J Day).  Well, Aleksander Uteng is Yoshimi's Angel Jiminez.  Sure, she's in the awkward position of romancing Bill, the one-time apparent pupil of Ronan Quinn, the man who she learns murdered her parents, but as they pursue the Assassins Guild, the full-fledged version of Bill's Shadow Clan, they encounter a lot more awkwardness.  Like the entire sequence involving the thirty-six foster homes (which I drafted right out of the manuscript), the tour of the Guild could easily have been expanded to a whole series on its own, but I found it equally fun to explore it through the fairly flippant experience of a fifteen-year-old girl, which is what Yoshimi is aside from everything else.  It's a confusing time for anyone.

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Did the Sox lose big to the A's yesterday?  Oh yeah, 13-0...

The Angels won in extra innings.  Mark Trumbo is at a .316 batting average, Mike Trout at .280, Albert Pujols at .264.  The reports of my expanding this selection of players to follow so that at least one of them continues to look good have been greatly exaggerated.  (But not by much!)

The Cardinals won yesterday.  Isn't Yadier Molina a fun name to say?