Skip to main content

Nikolai finally gets his happily ever after

With the recent release of The Vampyr’s Husband, the question that keeps popping up is who shot James? Since the humans remain uncooperative and the crime scene was horribly muddied, the sentinels have no suspects. Whether we discover the culprit in a future novel is uncertain, but there are several people close to James who aren’t content with the mystery. 

As far as the animosity that exists between humans and the Council, there is no easy fix. The Council remains uninterested in investing time and resources in what they see as an unsolvable issue and the humans barely acknowledge that sorcerers and shifters exist. We’ll have to wait to see if any bridges can be built to narrow the large chasms that separate them.

James and Nikolai were a treat to write. It’s ironic how things work out sometimes. Nikolai was a foundation character who pre-dates much of the series. The first version of him had him as the nephew of the vampiric leaders who were pretty horrible people. His relationship with Sebastian was a contentious and complicated affair, and Nikolai and James never left DC. 

But everything morphed when Grigori appeared ready to be mated to Delaney. Nikolai had zero siblings at that point, so Grigori stunned me. His personality and how he related to his parents morphed everything about the vampires and Nikolai. Grigori’s bright presence had profound effects on Nikolai’s situation and helped crystalize his brother’s formerly convoluted story. Originally, there were so many twists and turns that it probably would’ve taken three books to get it all in.

I’m happy that James and Nikolai kept the core of their personalities when they fit together properly in the D’Vaire universe. I don’t think I would’ve remained interested in them if Nikolai wasn’t the smooth, romantic vampire dedicated to his mate and James lost any of his human skepticism about the Council and the entire mate business.

When I sat down to write James and Nikolai’s story, the next project was slated to be a short story. My plan was to tie it into the vampires and take a journey back to when Tigglesworth met Charlie. Unfortunately, by the time I wrapped up The Vampyr’s Husband, the couple refused to cooperate with me and I had to scrap the plan. That doesn’t mean the story won’t be written, I’m very fond of Tigglesworth and Charlie and would love to share their romance. Hopefully, they’ll allow me to do that in the future.

It left me scrambling for a short story and, luckily, a couple who’d been hanging around since before I wrote my first book hopped into the driver’s seat to tell their tale. That couple is next up and their short story will be released in late October. One character is a dead guy you’ve met, and the other belongs to a race mentioned in the series, but they're mostly a mystery to us. I can't wait to hear your guesses about who you think might be in it!

I recently wrapped up the thirty-first book in the series which will be published later next year. After finishing, I started a new novel featuring two characters you’ll get to meet soon. It’s slow going because my schedule is a bit too hectic right now. The next three months are busier than my characters would like, but I hope to wrap up the entire book list for next year by the end of December. Wish me luck!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This one is a bit short...

Five weeks ago, I sprained my finger and unfortunately, the tears in my collateral ligaments are still healing. I’m back at the orthopedist at the end of the month to check on it and with some luck, I’ll get to stop wearing the straps anchoring it soon. As you can imagine, it’s limiting my time on the computer. But I'm squeezing in as much writing and editing as I can. It was great to finally return to the D’Vaire household with Scales and Stone, and we’ll be there again for the next edition to the series, which is a holiday story. In my Facebook group, I’ll reveal the first hint about what to expect from the D’Vaires and their loved ones tomorrow morning. Although I’d hoped to be finished with a book by now, I’m still plugging away at it. The characters are being patient with me, which I appreciate. Like Scales and Stone, it takes place at the D’Vaire mansion, and it’s been fun to hang out with some of my favorite people. At this point, I’m still paranoid about whether these...
Post a Comment
Read more

The series returns to the D'Vaire mansion soon!

Caution: If you haven't read Blaze of Eternity yet, there are spoilers ahead! Resurrection of the Fallen was a book that, despite its length, I completed in less than three weeks. As fast as Conley drives, it’s not much of a surprise that he had to make sure his story was told swiftly. I worked from morning until night, and that book remains one of my favorite stories. The only slow day was the day I had to write the death scene. It took me a few hours to brace myself to write it, but it was otherwise a wonderful experience. One thing I love is the format, but I didn’t want to replicate unless the right project demanded it. While historical romances are something I adore and getting to play in around in the past is always fun for me, I figured Resurrection would be completely unique in that way. I know some readers don’t enjoy reading the historical content, but I started this series for me, and I will continue to write characters and stories that move me and make me want to read...
Post a Comment
Read more

Twists and turns

Shadowy Illusions was a fun, but emotional project, and I'm thrilled that Amaury was so insistent on telling his story. He definitely deserves a happily ever after, and so do his mates. After spending a few months hanging out with the Gennevioses, I enjoyed them, but I was ready to move on.  I’ve spoken several times now in my Facebook group about how many of the books this year contain characters that came into my head long before the D’Vaire series planted its roots in my brain. I'm not sure why they chose now to demand things, but I was happy to oblige. The next book is the last of those…at least for now, because I have a ton of old stories, and I certainly can’t predict who is going to jump in and request a story next.  Unlike Matebond Dance and Deliciously Enchanted , where the stories paralleled their original tales, the couple coming next barely resemble their foundational characters. Their story has edged its way near the top of the list of books I love most. It featu...
Post a Comment
Read more