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 I know some readers don’t enjoy reading the historical content, but I started this series for me, and I will continue to write characters and stories that move me and make me want to read it. I always hope people will love it as much as I do, but everyone has different tastes and I respect that.
As the years have passed since I finished Resurrection, I’ve had this little voice in the back of my head wondering if there was a way to flip the script. A twist. What if both characters didn’t die together? It’s fair to say that Masse and Kolsten’s story is the start of my desire to change things and see what would happen. I hadn’t yet come up with the idea of a parallel universe series, but Blaze of Eternity laid the groundwork for it.
Kolsten and Masse are very different characters from Drystan and Conley, so while there is this nod to Resurrection of the Fallen, everything felt new and unique. I wrote this book last year before Lich Reaper’s Lament was published. In fact, I rewrote the scene where Masse first appears in the series about a dozen times. I played with the idea of putting his name in there. However, at the last minute, I removed it. I didn’t want a spoiler for Blaze of Eternity.
I know it’s not an easy read, and it’s not for everyone. The editing process forces me to reread every book many, many times. This one still breaks my heart, and I don’t make it through without tears. But I can’t stop myself from returning to the story again and again.
Now that I’ve told you a bit about the most recent release, let’s get to what I’m working on. I started the first Twisted Tales of D’Vaire book, but about a third of the way in, I had to stop and spend nearly a week attending to all the pesky things that pile up for a writer – beta note adjustments, final edits, marketing, etc.
While I was on my little mini-break, I made the mistake of allowing other characters to play in my head. I was tinkering with the idea of another MMM to solve the Worth dilemma when two guys planted themselves in my brain and would not leave. They weren’t waiting for anything. For a while this year I feared that I was burned out of the entire D'Vaire series, so it was a relief to have a couple hound me and it didn't take much to convince me to switch projects. It’s nearly forty thousand words now, so it’s moving along.
As soon as I finish that, I will return to the Twisted book and complete it. Then I get to dive into a D’Vaire short story which thanks to my amazing Ruffians in my Facebook group, will feature a visit to a theme park and I’m going to do my best to catch up with some couples we haven’t heard from in a while.
We have two releases left in 2023. One is a novel that features an old character who lives at D’Vaire while his mate is new to the series. You’ll get the first picture hint tomorrow in my readers' group and the blurb will be revealed on Monday. The other release is a short story for the holidays, and we’ll learn more about that as we get closer to December.
Comments
Post a Comment