the parallel lives of an author and his protagonist, Quinn Cozens. In the foreground, two nearly identical men stand back to back on a fog-covered ridge at dawn—one in modern casual clothes holding a laptop and notebook, the other wearing rugged civilian survival gear (hooded jacket, worn jeans, and a backpack) while gripping a weathered hunting rifle engraved with faint glowing Norse runes. A faint, ethereal Venn diagram of blue light connects them, symbolizing their shared identity. Below, the world splits in two: on the left, a tranquil Midwestern town under a golden sunrise; on the right, a dystopian, partially ruined city skyline under crimson skies. Subtle pagan runes shimmer through the mist between both worlds. The mood should feel introspective, mythic, and cinematic, highlighting the blurred line between author and creation.

How much of Quinn Cozens’ backstory aligns with my own?

ByTC Marti

Quinn Cozens’ backstory overlaps with mine like a Venn diagram—many shared circles, but a few clear edges of fiction. Let’s break them down.

There’s hardly a character I based more on myself than Quinn Cozens, who holds the starring role in my dystopian survival trilogy, Beyond the Lost. He’s almost a stand-in, but not completely. So, when you break things down and look at our backstories, there are a lot of similarities, but more than a few differences.

How much ‘alike’ are me and Quinn? Keep reading and you’ll find out what’s real between this author and his main protagonist, and what I fabricated exclusively to enhance Quinn’s backstory.

Where mine and Quinn Cozens’ backstories collide

I’m open about some of this in my Author’s Note following Beyond the Lost Horizon, as one of the biggest similarities came with the nostalgic scenes. Frequent visits to Quinn’s grandparents’ place when he was younger and the events shown in the text mirror my own to a T, with little-to-no deviation.

Also like Quinn, I spurned my family with my ambitions in mind. I even went as far as isolating myself at family functions, and that was if I even attended them so I could focus on “making it” in my chosen field.

Quinn embraces Germanic Paganism the same way I do, and critiques Christianity. He and I are both unapologetic libertarians and are quick to call out the State and its legitimacy. We’re also revisionists.

We’re sports fans by nature, even if writing about libertarianism, philosophy, and what capitalism really is as opposed to what it’s painted as are our higher ambitions.

Me and Quinn are also from the same area, which is the eastern Ohio, southwest Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia Tri-State area. A place where you can be in three states within five minutes AND where you can stand in one state and look into two other states.

Even our nationalities match for the most part, with heavy Scandinavian, Northern European, and Italian traits, along with a few others.

Where they differ

For starters, I don’t have an estranged sister. I have one brother, and we’re not estranged. That said, we share differences in political views and sports preferences.

Speaking of sports, Quinn makes his living as an NFL writer, while I focus on the NHL. In Beyond the Lost Horizon’s earliest drafts, Quinn was also a hockey writer. But when I added the nostalgic scenes, it made more sense from a reader’s perspective to change Quinn’s profession from NHL writer to NFL writer.

Quinn also never spent all day fantasizing about K-pop idols, since he hated the genre. While I’m not so ambitious as to fantasize, I’m more into the genre than most.

We share the same birthday—Apr. 27—but were born a decade apart. I was born in 1991; Quinn in 2001. Quinn was originally born in 1991, but I changed it when I decided on the ‘year’ this book was taking place, which was July 2030.

All of Quinn’s grandparents were also gone when the trilogy’s events rolled around. When I was 29 (Quinn’s age), I still had all four of them, and only one had passed by the time I’d gotten the ARC up.

Meet Quinn Cozens

Beyond the Lost Horizon by TC MartiDid you find Quinn Cozens’ backstory (and my own) interesting? Regardless, you’ll probably find a Red Dawn-like attack on the U.S. that ends up with Quinn stumbling upon the K-pop idol Yui Kikuchi to escape the ensuing carnage way more fun.

Especially since, you know, the staunch libertarian in Quinn is bound to clash with the conformist Yui. You got two people who naturally wouldn’t care for one another, but they’re strung together and they’re also smart enough to realize that there’s no chance they can survive without the other.

It makes for a tense dynamic, but one that’ll require both of their brains if they plan on circumventing terrorists who overran the U.S. How will they fare? You’ll find it out in Beyond the Lost Horizon. Check it out now and see how far they get.

Similar Posts