The Josh Manely Mystery Characterizations Series

Dalton Millen - A Complicated Person

Dalton Millen is the principal contagonist in Orphans Inc., a Young Adult/New Adult - mystery/crime series. The contagonist is an archetypic character as defined in Dramatica Theory (DRAMATICA: A New Theory of Story by Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley). Dalton plays a unique role as a character who creates obstacles for the main character to overcome in pursuit of his goal and whose actions and decisions also drive parts of the plot. This is Dalton's backstory, and my way of getting to know the contagonist of my novel, his approach to life, his mental state, and how he deals with problems.

NOTE: You were introduced to the main character and protagonist in Orphans Inc., Josh Manely, through an essay he wrote for his Grade 12 English class just before graduation.

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Dalton Millen - A Complicated Person

Dalton celebrated his 29th birthday with younger brother Callum and sister Minah at the Boathouse Restaurant in New West. The Millen family always went there for special occasions as far back as each of them could remember. They still enjoyed watching the tugs and other commercial vessels that plied the Fraser River glide past the restaurant. Their parents died in a freak auto accident ten years before, so it has just been the three of them since then.

After the accident, in addition to being a big brother to his siblings, Dalton became father and mother to them as well. He did an excellent job raising Callum and Minah despite concerns from the Child and Family Services case worker assigned to monitor the family until Dalton turned twenty-one.

Dale took over the family business, Millen and Sons Forwarding, and managed it by himself. Once Callum graduated high school he would work in the business full time. Now, Cal worked with him fulltime. Since Minah was still in high school, she only worked in the office on weekends and in the summer. Dalton rebranded the business and renamed it, Millen Brothers Forwarding and Expediting. He worked hard to live up to the Millen family's civic image and their reputation as business owners. Dal was nineteen when the responsibilities for family and business were placed on his shoulders.

The cause of the accident which took the lives of George and Alice Millen, was identified as brake failure. They were returning from a business trip to Kamloops when he lost control of their car. They were travelling on the section of the Coquihalla Highway in the middle of a steep thirty-five kilometer long section of road. That stretch of road has of nearly half of it descent, the most severe grade on the Coquihalla Highway.

The investigator suspected, George had attempted to direct his car up a runaway lane, to stop trucks from careening out of control if their brakes fail on that part of the road. He must have entered the runaway lane at high speed, on the edge of control, causing their car to flip and role violently, killing George and Alice.

The forensic investigation concluded there had been a slow leak of brake fluid, which finally caused the brakes to fail. Foul play was ruled out, but there were rumors someone deliberately tinkered with the breaks on their car.

Dalton was relieved at the findings of the investigators. He knew he dodged a bullet this time, but the risk of discovery was worth the result. He was sorry his mother died in the crash. She was not expected to go on the trip with his father, but she changed her mind at the last minute. Anyway, she was just as responsible for the situation that led to his actions as was his father. Se la vie!

Dalton had planned and plotted his father's demise for the past six months. George was up to his old tricks again. This time, the object of his particular perversion was Minah, and she was only seven years old at the time. George had abused his brother Callum and himself in the same way, but Minah was a girl and he feared the worst. George Millen liked to photograph young children when each was between the ages of six and eight years, and used his own children as subjects. He also collected, traded, and sold photographs of children that could only be considered pornographic. No one knew about his hobby until Dalton stumbled across some files that were stored on the computer at Millen and Sons Forwarding.