Elijah Collins

His pseudonym that all of his novels are published under is "Terrance Pearce".

38

He/Him

Dark Romance Novelist

Esper

September 25th

Cillian Murphy

5 FT 10 IN (1.6m)

Steel Blue

Dark Brown

Eli generally keeps his hair to at least the tops of his ears, to allow for some measure of styling with a 'swoop' how he likes when he's in one of his better moods. He is also known to shave the sides as sometimes it touching his ears bothers him.

None

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Elijah hovers between two extremes: a ruggedly handsome man who knows he is good looking and likes to flaunt it, and a chain smoking binge drinker who looks homeless. His looks depend on both his emotional state and how deeply he is into his writing. If he's in the middle of a book he goes almost manic, forgetting to eat, sleep, shower, change clothes, act anything like a functioning human being, going through two packs of cigarettes a day and an entire handle of Jack Daniels. It takes effort to keep the idiot alive.

If he's finished with his current round of books and is relaxing or taking the book tour circuit, Eli is the definition of a rich playboy. He dresses in smart, expensive suits, with solid gold cufflinks and diamond studded watches, hair slicked back, well kept and stays in shape. He won't smoke, he'll only drink alcohol if it's expensive wines and champagnes. It's like he's a completely different person.

In between novels or if he's 'stuck' on a particular story Eli can swing rapidly between the two extremes depending on the day and the emotional state.

If you look at Tony Stark before he became Iron Man, or Bruce Wayne before he became Batman, that attitude - the suave, charming, rich, smart, womanizing douchebag who cares about no one but himself - describes Eli to a T.

Eli cares about no one but Eli. He has an ego wide enough to cross an ocean. He acts like a spoiled child because he basically is one. He is filthy rich and knows the publishing company would be nowhere without him and he has one of those 'artist' personalities where he treats you like a total asshole in the name of pursuing his craft.

It doesn't help that Eli has a vanity to match his ego and believes he is attractive and will bring home a new person - or a bundle of people - every night when he's in a good mood.

Pansexual

He uses and abuses people, and that can be swung either into fair-weather friends or enemies, depending on how you would like to play it.

While it's not a secret that Terrance Pearce is Eli's pen name to the world at large - he doesn't go around advertising to the general public that Terrance isn't his real name. Most of the general public only know him by his 'stage name' and most fans prefer the pen name to the real name. Eli does answer to both names though and doesn't particular care what he's called if the topic isn't about his work.

Despite all appearances to the contrary, Elijah is actually very close and loving to his parents and dotes on them with his millions. They are settled in a mansion in Florida and never want for anything. They live a quiet life (Elijah has paid handsomely to keep them out of the public eye) and they are not readers of their son's novels, mostly by Eli's choice

He does not have anyone acknowledged as family outside of them, nor has anyone come out of the woodwork over the years claiming to be a family member or an old friend. His past prior to his first sleeper hit is relegated to some cursory footnotes on location and education on his Wikipedia page.

Ethan ;3

September 25th

Somewhere in the New England area

Master's degree in English from a decently well known university

He doesn't claim fluency in anything but English, but has a random assortment of words and common sentences in other languages under his belt from research for novels as well as international fans/books tours.

Meet Eli! He is a famous dark romance/fantasy writer under the pen name 'Terrance Pearce'. He's published dozens of books over the last 15 years and his paperbacks are found everywhere alongside Nora Roberts, Stephen King, and John Patterson. Up until the last year, that is; he has hit a severe case of writer's block, and hasn't written anything new in almost a year.

He has been sent up to Snow Haven in the hopes of both keeping him out of trouble - he tends to get destructive when he's trying to write - and pushing past his writer's block to get him back on track.

Elijah Collins appeared on the literature scene at the age of 26 under the pen name 'Terrance Pearce'. He had graduated with a Master's in English from a decently well known university but had published nothing up until that point. His first novel a dive into a steampunk universe filled with erotica and romance. Several editors and publishing houses turned him down. It was a small, mostly unknown company that took a chance to assign him an editor and publish his work.

Terrance Pearce's debut novel turned out to be a sleeper hit, and Eli turned out to be a master writer. He could pump out four novels in a year, making him a master of his domain alongside the likes of Nora Roberts or James Patterson or Stephen King. And his subject matter was taboo. All his books were considered 18+ and there was a lot of pushback from conservatives and religious groups for the kind of romances Eli wrote. Yet again and again each new release would hit the New York Times bestseller list, no matter the content.

This made both him and his publisher house filthy rich. In five years' time Terrance Pearce was averaging two major releases a year, hundreds of thousands paperback printings of his novels, and both Elijah and the publishing house were becoming household names.

But the one downside of the money was Eli's attitude. He had been somewhat reserved when he was still an unknown, but after he earned his first million and regularly earned major royalty checks, the full 'artist' came out.

Eli was a womanizing asshole. He was extra AF and threw childish tantrums when he didn't get his way. He was a walking dumpster fire when he was in the midst of writing.

And the more novels he pumped out the more the people around him - mostly from the publishing company or other writers, as he didn't have many other friends and seemed to have no one from early in his life - began to notice… similarities.

It is one of the worst kept secrets in the publishing house, but somehow, Eli writes his stories based on the people around him and their deepest fantasies. Things a person could not breathe aloud in polite company. Things Eli had no way of knowing, and yet… and he did not discriminate on who he took these stories from. It was anyone, of any gender, from the janitor to the Director of Publishing to the CEO. It was well known that if Eli took an interest in you, even if it was a passing remark, you might find your bedroom fantasies in his next novel.

People hate Eli. He seems not to care in the least. But the publishing house puts up with him as he has yet to have anything close to a flop. He's making them billions of dollars a year and they're loathe to ever let go of their cash cow. And Eli knows this. It's a symbiotic relationship. They keep him happy, and he continues to pump out bestsellers for them to rake in the cash. It's a win/win for them both.

Up until a year ago, that is. Eli normally wrote on a three month rotating schedule, and he was supposed to complete a minimum of two novels a year. He usually has four or five going at one time and editors can just pick the ones they want, so he can take longer breaks as he needs. A year ago, he wrapped up the two novels he was working on, took his usual 3 month break, and then… did not return to writing. He… had hit writer's block. He had hit burnout.

This was fine for awhile, because he had a couple he had finished a time back and they could substitute these in while they waited for his 'spark' to return. But three months stretched into six months into nine months, and still Eli had nothing to show for it. He had hopped around the country as was usual for him, but in a restless way, and any time the editor or agent tried to ask about his progress he blew them off. Not even his assistant could pry anything out of him. The publishing house got nervous and desperate.

They were officially out of any fresh content from Eli. Their entire backlog had been emptied. So, in a last ditch effort, they decided to send Eli and his assistant up to the Frozen North of Snow Haven, Alaska, hoping to keep him isolated and busy enough not to be distracted, but enough to get him writing again.

Esper, with his primary and most prominent power being in Telepathy

Born an Esper, so has always had some level of awareness.

While Eli has a smattering of other Esper abilities, his most powerful and most pronounced is his telepathy. He is a mind reader, though not in a conventional sense; though he can read and project thoughts he prefers to speak because he likes the sound of his own voice. No, his mind reading is about delving deep into a person's subconscious mind and learning all there is to know about a person. Most specifically, their darkest secrets and their deepest fantasies.

Eli makes his living on this power. His novels are praised for being hyper realistic into the human condition, and his dark romances are gobbled up by readers because they're all based on reality. Though no one in his inner circle can prove it or accuse him out loud due to the explicit nature of his writings, Eli often lifts fantasies and stories straight from the people around him.

(From an OOC perspective, this ability would only be used after discussion with the other writer. Eli is easily bored and doesn't always read everyone so we can easily work around this if you're not comfortable with it!)