By CAITLIN HOFEN, Features Editor
Lean muscles cling to his tall, stout frame.
His dark, tan skin is a sign of his heritage and homeland, Samoa.
The trauma of being a black-ops agent runs his everyday life, down to living off the barter system to pay for necessities.
A private detective in Kansas City, he refuses to investigate any type of personal cases — until a 12-year-old girl is brought to him, beaten and bloody.
He learns his target is trafficking children, thrusting him into a deeply personal case.
This man is Rami, the protagonist of English assistant professor Dawn Allen’s latest manuscript.
A lifelong writer and educator, Allen teaches classes such as composition, advanced writing theory and creative writing.
She is a published author of numerous novels and short stories, with her specialty being crime fiction.
“I always start my stories with a character,” Allen said. “Some people start with the plot of the story and then add characters. I want to know my character first, then figure out what I want to do to them.”
As a writer, Allen said she prioritizes research and journaling to develop her characters into the complex individuals who live within her stories.
“I’ll spend months researching information about my characters,” she said.
“With Rami, I had to learn all about the Samoan culture and beliefs. Then I journaled for weeks to figure out the things that I couldn’t research.
“I wanted to figure out what made him who he was and why.”
Allen said she finds her inspiration in the people she sees every day.
“People are so fascinating,” Allen said. “All my characters come from real people I’ve met in real life, even if it was 20 years ago — in particular, my students, because they’re who I’ve spent the most of my adult time with.”