Five Shadow World Things…
1 ~ The Countdown Continues!
Only 36 days until the official release of Shadowflame! I'll be doing one last ARC giveaway this week, and after that you guys are on your own until the book comes out. *laugh* Well, that's not entirely true – since I'm currently way too broke to have a big launch party/benefit, I was thinking I might put a signed copy or two up for auction to benefit RAINN. (I suppose if I was being smart I'd do it to benefit the "Keep Sylvan in Frou-Frou Coffee Beverages So She Can Finish Shadow's Fall Before Her Unemployment Benefits Run Out" fund. We'll see.)
2 ~ A Conspiracy of Cartographers
Since I'm working on the aforementioned third book fast and furiously, I haven't had time to come up with any fun new Shadow World extras, but I did just post something I made back when I was working on Queen of Shadows – a map of the US Signet territories. I needed a reference so I'd know who had what state and where the Havens are located, and since I know people love maps, I thought I'd share it. I don't have a worldwide Signet map yet, though I'm working on it for Shadow's Fall, when you'll get to meet the entire Council.
Here, have a look if you like. Click on the pic to see the details (it's rather large).
3 ~ A Categorical Caveat
I feel like I should say, before Shadowflame comes out, that if you're going into it expecting another romance like Queen of Shadows, well…sorry. There's a reason QoS was labeled Urban Fantasy even though it was obviously a romantic story; Shadowflame has a faster pace and more action, though it definitely packs its own emotional wallop. The series as a whole begins with Miranda and David's courtship, but things aren't always rosy in the land of Primes and Queens. Mistakes will be made – huge ones – and evil of all kinds will try to tear our Pair apart, but I can promise you this: no matter what happens, Miranda and David are mated in soul, and the only thing that can end their relationship is death. They're stuck with each other's flaws and fuckups until the day they die. That doesn't mean their relationship won't evolve and change as they mature together, and it doesn't mean there won't be pain or loss, but it does mean that the foundation, their love for each other and their equal partnership, is forever. I don't write idyllic romances where everything is neat and tidy ever after. Not only is that kind of thing unrealistic, it's boring.
4 ~ Continuation and Commitment
For those who have asked, ideally (purely hypothetical at this point) the series will be somewhere around eight books long. This is totally subject to change depending on a) how the story goes and b) what my publisher decides it wants from me. There is a lot of story to tell, and it gets pretty freaking epic in scale; there's also another aspect of the Shadow World I could quite easily dive into and get another series out of. But that's way, way in the future; for now, I'm concentrating on the storyline of books 1-4. (#4 hasn't sold yet, but unless Ace wants to be very, very cruel to you all, hopefully they'll take it.)
5 ~ Caught on Camera
If you're interested in seeing some of the visual inspiration for the books, check out my Shadow World Pinboard; when I come across faces, places, and other things that help shape a character's appearance or a scene setting in my mind, I Pin them for later perusal. It has everything from what I envision the Signets looking like (sort of) to t-shirts David wears to the various animals and Austin landmarks that appear in the books. I'm thinking that just for fun I might do a Google Map sometime of the actual places mentioned in Queen of Shadows – not all of them are real, but quite a few do exist, and if you're ever in our fair city, you should visit them (and eat their ice cream, because OMG).
