TOG: Primer (Abilities and Characters)

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In the world of Touch of Gray, psychics are termed Psycepts and classified into different categories based on certain genetic markers and their general abilities. I always struggle with how to explain the world. I don't wish to overwhelm the reader with everything I know about the world; I want to parse out only the information necessary for the story. Though I have written four books in the series to date, I am not going into the different abilities unless a character or plot requires in-depth exploration. However, I have created a primer of abilities which is placed at the end of Out of Touch. I have also created a Cast of Characters list. SWACon stands for Southwest Alliance Conservatorship. Eleven conservatorships make up the country of The Greater Tribal Council of the Americas, or GT for short. Gray lives on SWACon, in the city of Albuquerque, where OOT takes place. I'll detail more about the geography and countries of Touch of Gray closer to the second novella, Invisible Touch, being published.
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PSYCEPT CATEGORIES
PsyMovers = able to manipulate objects
      PsyKinetics = telekinetics
      PsyPorters = transport objects
      Weather Guides = manipulate weather
PsySapients = natural interpreter
      Flora = plant, tree, flower
      Fauna = animal
      Terra = land and mineral
PsyWitch = body influencer
PsySentients = mind perception
      PsyPath = telepath or empath

Variegated = miscellaneous; Seekers, Asomatous, etc
PreCog = precognition, prophecy
Touch Clairvoyant (TouchVoyant) = tactile sensor
      PsyChometrist = object reader
      Bone Sage = read bones
      Blood Sage = read blood
      PsyMemori (pl.), PsyMemore (sing.) = memory path




CHARACTERS
Psycepts:
MT (Gray) Graham - TouchVoyant / PsyMemore
Wednesday (Wendy) Randolph - PsyWitch. Gray’s best friend and twin sister of Sully
Kyle Ngo - fauna PsySapient, husband of Soon Yee

Police:
Sulien (Sully) Randolph - Gray’s primary detective with Psycept unit
Detective Tamez - Gray’s secondary case handler
Liaison Lowell - supervisor of the civilian and police Psycept case divisions, father of Dani
Sheriff Helki - sub-chief of Bosque Police region. Liaison Lowell’s boss
Chief Yanaba - Chief of Police of SWACon. Sheriff Helki’s boss

Gray’s Agency: Gray’s virtual assistant business
Sheridan (Dani) Lowell - office manager, worked with Gray for one year
Soon Yee Ngo - virtual assistant, worked with Gray for five years
Rhea Morningsong - virtual assistant, worked with Gray for three years

Others:
Tommie - sister of Gray, PreCog
Kai - brother of Gray, Seeker
O’Ke - assistant of Sheriff Helki
Mark - assistant to Liaison Lowell
Araceli - interior and office designer, girlfriend of Dani
Chief Quanah - War Chief of SWACon
Head Chief Tala - senior leader of SWACon; head of the SWACon Counsel
Ranger Pallaton - military ranger from PlateauCon
Detective Wakiza - detective from PlateauCon

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Both the category and character lists are updated with each subsequent novel or story. Do you appreciate when an author provides these details or do you prefer them to convey this information solely within the story? You can reply to this post, submit a response on my Contact Me page, or feel free to reach me on Twitter.

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