Character Interview with Officer Stanford Runstom from Jason LaPier's 'Unexpected Rain'

We’re thrilled to be talking to Officer Stanford Runstom from Jason LaPier's Unexpected Rain. It is a pleasure to have him with us today at Pimp That Character!

Thank you for your interview, Stanford Runstom. How old are you and what do you do for a living?

I'm a thirty-seven year old officer of Modern Policing and Peacekeeping. The human race has populated a handful of systems, and in most places, people want a peaceful, crime-free life, but they think their civilization has evolved beyond the need for law

enforcement. The interstellar company I work for helps them achieve that balance by providing an outsourced police force. We only show up when we're needed.

Can you tell us about one of your most distinguishable features?

I'm pretty average. Average height, average build. Short hair. Well groomed, hygienic. Oh right, and I have ... well, a tint. A greenish tint to my skin. It's not really green, more like ... olive. Like a green olive. It has something to do with being born onboard a spaceship. The way the radiation filters work - something about them is different than a natural atmosphere - and it played havoc with my skin pigmentation. So yeah, I guess that's distinguishable. Thanks for asking.

Where do you go when you are angry?

For a walk. Especially if I feel like punching someone. Then I definitely go for a walk, try to clear my head. Unfortunately, the outpost I'm stationed at doesn't have much in the way of peaceful walking - there are no parks or green rooms or anything - so usually my walks are just laps around the perimeter. If I feel like I need to distract myself, take my mind off something, then I go to the precinct library. Studying old case files is kind of an escape for me.

What is the trait you most not like about yourself?

I'm an officer. I should be a detective. I'm good enough, and loyal enough, definitely dedicated enough, driven enough. But something - or someone - keeps holding me back from a promotion. I don't want to talk about it.

What is your idea of a perfect day?

Right now, a good day is spent in the precinct library. I love to lose myself in old cases. Top it off with a win for my favorite bombball team, the Poligart Pioneers, who I'm pretty sure are destined for the Sirius Series this season. But that's all just a day around the precinct. I'd much rather be working on an actual case, but those are few and far between. A real case, a real big one. That would be perfect. A chance to make a difference.

If you could change one physical thing about yourself, what would that be?

I'd take the green tint out of my skin, so that people would stop asking me about it. I could just be plain and pale like the domers. Or maybe a more normal color like people from Terroneous or Poligart, or even Earth.

Okay, I'm lying, I probably wouldn't change that.

Who is your best friend?

Best friend? Um, I guess that would be George Halsey. He's another officer at my precinct. To be honest, I'm not overly fond of him. If we weren't stuck working together, I probably wouldn't ever talk to him. But if I were pressed, I would call him a friend. Everyone else I work with is either an idiot or an asshole, but Halsey is tolerable, if not a little lazy. So I guess that makes Halsey my only friend. Technically, that makes him my best friend. But also my worst friend.

What is your favorite weather?

Any weather is my favorite weather. Between remote outposts, space stations, and domes - these places are so tightly environmentally controlled, they have no weather. Well, no natural weather anyway. Artificial weather. So on those rare cases where I get dispatched to a planet or moon with its own atmosphere, I relish the weather. Pouring rain, freezing snow, pounding hail, clear skies ... I'll take any of it.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Before I was born, my mother was a detective who went undercover. I guess that's why I've always wanted to be a cop. When I was a kid, I thought I wanted to go undercover. But these days, I'd settle for just making detective.

What is your most treasured possession?

I don't have much in the way of possessions. My uniform. A set of off-duty clothes. My standard-issue pistol. All of that fits into the footlocker in my quarters at the precinct. There's a holovid there as well, but I don't own that. Oh, and my notepads. I take them everywhere. My colleagues think I'm some kind of idiot because I use pen and paper to take notes, but I can't help it. I guess it helps me think differently about a case if I can physically write things down. Most of the time, I don't know what's important and what's not, but I write it all down. Once in a while, there's a detail that I've captured that I'm thankful for.

About the Author:

Born and raised in upstate New York, Jason LaPier lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and their dachshund. In past lives he has been a guitar player for a metal band, a drum-n-bass DJ, a record store owner, a game developer, and an IT consultant. These days he divides his time between writing fiction and developing software, and doing Oregonian things like gardening, hiking, and drinking microbrew. He is always in search of the perfect Italian sandwich.

His latest book is the space age noir murder mystery, Unexpected Rain.

For More Information

• Visit Jason LaPier’s website.
• Connect with Jason on Facebook and Twitter.
• Find out more about Jason at Goodreads.
• Contact Jason.

About the Book:

Title: Unexpected Rain
Author: Jason LaPier
Publisher: HarperCollins (HarperVoyager)
Pages: 350
Genre: SciFi
Format: Paperback/Kindle/Nook

In a domed city on a planet orbiting Barnard's Star, a recently hired maintenance man named Kane has just committed murder.

Minutes later, the airlocks on the neighbourhood block are opened and the murderer is asphyxiated along with thirty-one innocent residents.

Jax, the lowly dome operator on duty at the time, is accused of mass homicide and faced with a mound of impossible evidence against him.

His only ally is Runstom, the rogue police officer charged with transporting him to a secure off-world facility. The pair must risk everything to prove Jax didn’t commit the atrocity and uncover the truth before they both wind up dead.

For More Information

• Unexpected Rain is available at Amazon.
• Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
• Read an excerpt here.
• Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.