A sentinel and his dagger.

In my last blog, I talked about how D’Vaire was created. The first book was Dra’Kaedan and Brogan and I can’t wait for you to see their tale retold but let’s talk about what happened after the original story was completed. When I started the novel, I didn’t have an outline or anything. I wrote it by the seat of my pants and not even I knew how it would end. D’Vaire was supposed to be designed so that each one was a standalone title but when I was done there were so many things I didn’t have room to include. They would have to wait for the second which turned out to be Sentinel’s Dagger.

Gavrael was the beginning of the sentinels. In fact, when I first started crafting his tale there was no Lich Sentinel. It was Gavrael (with Gedeon at his side) who was going to approach the Council to change the way the sentinels functioned within it. But I got sidetracked before his story could be completed by Chander and so things changed. (We’ll get to all that in a future post!) The thing you learn first about Gavrael is how he struggles with being trapped in his own mind. That idea stemmed from my husband. He has Asperger’s Syndrome and if you are unfamiliar with it it’s on the autism spectrum. One aspect of Asperger’s is having an impaired ability to navigate the social world.

I have often wondered how frustrating it must be to not be able to relate as others do and be unable to articulate exactly why you differ. So, I created a character who doesn’t have Asperger’s but is often stymied by how to communicate effectively. It creates an obstacle between him and his mate that they both must figure out how to overcome. Their book took me an extraordinary long time to write. The longest of any I’ve attempted so far. Partly because I started with no plan and I was also forced to tie up loose ends from Book 1 that frustrated the heck out of me as I was writing. It was the last story I wrote where I didn’t have the plot already designed before I began. My routine has morphed from having some notes to now having a detailed outline for each couple.

Ironically, I created a character named Gavrael years ago in the game I play often before I sat down and forced myself to be productive where books were concerned. (D’Vaire was born a good decade before I finished Book 1.) This Gavrael is a fun class to play but has also given me fits of complete despair. I’ve often lamented that Gavrael is sucking away my soul and he and Gedeon definitely stole a piece of it by the time Sentinel’s Dagger was completed. (Don’t worry, there’s a Gedeon counterpart in the game, I wouldn’t leave Gavrael without his mate! We won’t talk about the female goblin named Dra’Kaedan who doesn’t have a Brogan and isn’t even max level.)

So, what kind of songs helped me keep my sanity while I was writing Sentinel’s Dagger? “Frozen” by Within Temptation. It’s the song that’s referenced in Chapter 12 when Gavrael has his own headphones on and is connecting with the lyrics. I found that song long after the concept of these guys was born but it could have been written for Gavrael. It may be hard to believe but they don’t have any other songs that exclusive to them. I do have what I consider sentinel songs, the quintessential being “Unstoppable” by E.S. Posthumus. I have a specific playlist when I’m trying to imagine any sentinel brandishing their daggers and it includes: “Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino Variation)” by Rob Dougan and several songs by The Prodigy “Voodoo People”, “Rat Poison”, “No Good”, and “Speedway”. There’s some guest songs when they are teaching other specific people their tricks, but I will save those for when I give you the lists of the other couples, so it has context.