Connor MacNeil
- Linnae Klutchko
- Sep 1
- 7 min read
September Character Interview
Patricia Parrington ~ September 1, 2025
Hello my lovely readers and fellow book-lovers! For those of you who are new here, I, your invention-loving host Patricia Parrington, have the pleasure of interviewing characters from books all over the world.
Today we have here with us Connor MacNeil from the young adult sci-fi fantasy horror book, The Nightmare Schematic by Kyle Bentley. Kyle is a lifelong lover of science fiction and fantasy stories. He’s been telling stories and talking about imaginary worlds basically since he could talk. When Kyle’s not writing, he plays games, both video games and tabletop RPGs and wargames.
Meet Connor
[Patricia sits down and adjusts the bright pink fish hat atop her head.]
Welcome to Fable Features! Don’t mind the fish hat. I lost a bet with my sister.
[She laughs.]
Do you have any siblings?
[Connor doesn’t answer right away, distracted by the hat.]
Oh, sorry. No, I don’t have any siblings. I think one kid was enough trouble for my parents.
That’s fair. It can be a lot of work raising a kid!
What was your favorite thing to do when you were a child?
Pretty much the same as it is now. I loved playing video games when I was a kid. Still do. My best friend Stan comes over every Wednesday night so we can play together in person. We play online sometimes too. Our current favorite is called Knights of Ruin, but I won’t bore you with details about it.
[Patricia leans forward slightly, intrigued.]
I love video games. What’s Knights of Ruin about?
[His eyes light up]
Oh, it’s this really awesome MMO! Basically, you play scavengers in a post-apocalyptic world. You cross the wastes, which are full of all kinds of dangers and opportunities, and then you explore ruins, like destroyed cities and military complexes, to search for loot and blueprints for new gear. There’s a ton of different enemies, from robots to raiders to mutants to some other weirder things that haven’t been explained yet. Probably the coolest thing is your armor, though. You get this fully customizable, modular suit of power armor to build however you want. Your base is a mobile repair bay, so you can build new modules and constantly tweak your loadout between missions. Stan and I have already dumped hundreds of hours into it, and a new expansion just launched. You should try it out!
[Patricia claps her hands together.]
That sounds SO cool. I’m getting this game tonight. Hopefully it’s not too expensive!
[She laughs.]
On the topic of spending, if you were handed $500 at this moment, how would you spend it?
[His enthusiasm dims, becoming reserved again.]
I know it’s boring, but I’d probably stick it in the bank. I live pretty simply and don’t need much besides supplies for my work, so I try to save money when I can. When I start a new project, the bills can get big pretty fast.
That’s very practical and very smart.
If you had to name one thing about you that stands out from others, what would that be?
In a good way or a bad way?
[He laughs, but it sounds forced and nervous.]
Probably my job. I’m an inventor. Before you ask, no, I probably didn’t invent anything you’d know. It’s just been small things, mostly, but the royalties are enough to keep my bills paid. I’ve had a knack for machines since I was a kid, almost like they talk to me, so inventing seemed natural.
That’s such a cool job! Do you have a favorite invention that you’ve made?
[He looks away, seeming almost shy.]
Thanks, I think it is! My inventions are sort of like my kids, so I can’t really pick a favorite. None of them have really gotten big, but one that did alright was my Light Plates. They’re a plug and plate combo that replaces a normal electrical outlet. It’s got a capacitor and a light that turns on when there’s a break in current, so you have some emergency lights if there’s a power failure. The company said people didn’t buy a ton since it took some electrical know-how to install, but the royalties funded the next thing I was working on. I’m really excited about my current project, though. I’m trying to incorporate piezoelectrics into turbines, so the turbine generates extra electricity just from its standard operation. If I can do that, I can increase energy efficiency, maybe drastically!
Wow, that would be amazing!
What vexes you the most?
What vexes me? That’s not a word you hear very often.
[Patricia smiles and shrugs.]
Oh, I know. I hear that a lot from my family. My own quirk, I suppose.
[He sighs and his shoulders slump.]
Not to get too dark, but the thing that vexes me the most is the nightmares I’ve had since I was nine. I won’t go into the grisly details, but every night I have these awful, lucid nightmares. I float through an endless void, surrounded by more machines than you can count. They’re all separated into their parts, like in a manual, but I can see how they go together. Whenever I close my eyes, I see them in action. Most of them do horrible, impossible things . . .
[He trails off into silence for a moment, then collects himself.]
The worst part is, I can’t shake this feeling that I could build them, make them work, even though there’s no way they should. I’d never want to, it’s too horrible to think about, but that feeling is always pressing on me. Needless to say nighttime isn’t much fun for me.
[Patricia’s brows pinch in concern.]
That sounds awful. I hope you find a way to get rid of those nightmares.
Thanks. I do too, but I’ve mostly given up hope at this point.
On a lighter note, what’s the best joke or prank you’ve been a part of?
I’ve never been one for jokes or pranks. I try to be funny, but it never really seems to work. I wouldn’t call it a prank, exactly, but there was one time when Stan got his appendix taken out. He was in bed in the hospital and was supposed to be resting, but I snuck in with our laptops and we played together for an hour before a nurse showed up and yelled at me to get out.
[He chuckles a little at the memory.]
She was so mad.
[Patricia chuckles as well and adjusts her hat.]
I bet your friend appreciated you breaking the rules. What game did you end up playing?
He did, and we still laugh about it sometimes. We were in a pretty big Minecraft phase at the time, and we wanted something that didn’t take too much concentration, so we played that. I’m sure you know an hour isn’t too long in Minecraft, so we didn’t get much done before I got kicked out.
Yeah, that’s unfortunate you got kicked off early.
Speaking of people, what living person do you most despise?
Jess, Stan’s sister. I really don’t want to talk about why. I’ll just say my nightmares made school really hard, and she made things even worse. Stan keeps telling me to let it go, but some things stick with you.
That is so true. And I completely understand not wanting to talk about the details.
Thanks.
[Patricia glances at her wrist.]
Hmm, looks like we are almost out of time. Let’s squeeze in one last question! What’s something you would have a super hard time turning down if it were offered to you?
That’s easy. If someone told me they could stop the nightmares, I’d do just about anything. If I could go to bed each night without being terrified, to be free of that needling feeling? I could relax for the first time in almost twenty years. Maybe I could go back to living a normal life and make some more friends . . . I can’t see that happening though. I’ve tried shrinks, medicine, everything, and the dreams haven’t gone away.
I’m so sorry to hear that. That sounds awful.
It is. No matter how hard I try, I could never really get you to understand how horrible it is.
[Patricia is quiet for a moment then she gives him a small smile and stands.]
Thank you so much for chatting with me today, Connor. I hope you find a cure for the nightmares soon.
Thanks, it was nice talking to you. I’m not used to the whole “interview” thing, but it wasn’t like I was afraid it would be. And I hope so too.
End of interview.
Want to Read More?
Connor’s author, Kyle Bentley, can be found on X/Twitter or at his website http://kylerbentley.com/. His books, including The Nightmare Schematic, can be found on Amazon or on his publisher’s site, www.facelesspublishing.com. The Nightmare Schematic is the first book in a series and its sequel, The Price of Progress, is out as well. Book 3, Into Darker Shadows, will be coming soon.
See Ya Next Time
Aaand that's all the time we have today. Thank you, readers, for coming. And thank you, Connor, for letting us get to know you! See y'all next time.
If you would like to submit a character to be interviewed for a future issue of Fable Features, please send an email to linnae.writer@gmail.com with the subject line: Fable Features.
Please note that erotica and content with excessive vulgar language will not be accepted.
If you have questions you'd like Patricia Parrington to ask in a future interview, please submit them to linnae.writer@gmail.com with the subject line: Interview Questions.
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