Character Study: Vince Mott

This is the first in a series of character introductions associated with my book, My New-Found Land.

Vince leads a small gang in the ruins of Albuquerque. He and his sister Sara were orphaned in their early teens when their parents died in one of the pandemics sweeping the post-collapse world. Vince vowed to take care of his little sister and started trading in drugs and stolen goods so she could stay in school and become a nurse.

Once Sara finished her nursing training (which didn't take forever like it does in our era because the needs of the post-petroleum era are so dire), she thought she would use her salary to pay for Vince to re-train in something respectable. But Vince was having too good a time to quit. He was leading his own gang by now, working as a middleman for larger gangs that needed a job done or goods moved without bringing heat down on themselves.

Vince can be vicious and doesn't hesitate kill a rival or even turn a gun on one of his own gang members if they're disobedient and endangering the rest of group. But he's also loyal, generous, and the first to jump into a fight or cover the rest of his team's escape. Although he's always coming into money, he's usually broke because he gives it away to his team, his sister, his latest girlfriend, or some random stranger, and only later remembers he might owe someone money. Oh well. Just let them try and get it from him, especially if he's armed and has his half-insane lieutenant, Speedball, covering his back.

Vince always has a new girlfriend or two, but he's no sneak. He genuinely likes and respects women. All of them. He's honest about his intentions and never lies about his philandering ways. And if a girl is as straight with him as he is with her, she's got a loyal friend for life. Even years later, if an ex-girlfriend is having trouble with her new man or needs morphine for her dying mother, or just needs a loan, Vince will do what he can to help. Come to think of it, Vince doesn't give loans. He gives what he's got and forgets about it. Try and pay him back and he'll look at you like you've lost your mind and invite you to some shady bar for a shot of cheap whiskey, instead.

Someday he'll die in a gun or knife fight, but he doesn't care. Life in post-collapse America is dirty, dangerous, and never certain. So why not live it while you're here, since there may not be a tomorrow, anyway?

REMINDER: My New-Found Land is available in print or download at my Lulu Storefront. If you buy in September, let me know so I can enter you in a drawing for promotional giveaways. One of the prizes is the necklace Vince gave Diana when she left Albuquerque.