Okay, I’ve gotten numerous questions about Ms. Prosperina, as in how did you come up with that character? I admit, Ms. Prosperina is a seriously nasty ‘it’, because she is not a ‘she’, but rather a ‘Chimera’. A what?
Let me explain, there is the reality – Chimeric Genetics and the mythology – Chimera.
I’ll use Wikipedia, because it’s an easy source, but there are numerous other sources roaming about the internet, it’s all rather common information.
Chimeric Genetics: “Chimeric genes (literally, made of parts from different sources) form through the combination of portions of one or more coding sequences to produce new genes. These mutations are distinct from fusion genes which merge whole gene sequences into a single reading frame and often retain their original functions.”
Mythology, Chimera: “The Chimæa (/kɨˈmɪərə/ or /kaɪˈmɪərə/, also Chimaera, Chimæra; Greek: Χίμαιρα Chímaira) was, according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of three animals — a lion, a snake and a goat.”
Ms. Prosperina was formed from Professor Quan’s ‘genetic starter’. If you are a baker, or make your own pizza dough, you’ll understand what a ‘starter’ is, which is another method to form dough, versus using a commercial ‘yeast’. You’ll have to read the novel to understand what’s in the ‘starter’, but rest assured, it is a NASTY collection of DNA.
And just to answer another question, why did I name the character Prosperina? “an ancient Greek goddess, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, abducted by Hades to be queen of the underworld. the Free Dictionary.com”.
As the author, I decided if I’m going to make a nasty character, why not go to the source? I thought something that lived in ‘Hades’ for most of the year would be a good option. Well, I’ll not give anything else away from the story, but her ability to shape shift, is actually related to religious symbolism.
Let me know what you think.
NS
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