Switching Gears

There's always a bit of an adjustment period when you move from one project to another, but this time is maybe the biggest mental shift I've had to make since I started writing.

If you've read Without Words, you know that one of the main characters, Zifa, has a limited vocabulary and finds expressing herself in spoken words difficult. If you've read the From the Ashes of Victory books, you know that Victoria Ravenwood has exactly the opposite relationship to language. She has a bigger vocabulary than I do! Switching from one to the other is a process I'm still in the middle of, and requires a lot of submersion back into that world by re-reading the previous book and all of my notes.

In the process, I have fallen in love with these characters and this world all over again. The Ashes books are very hard to write, and it makes getting back into them intimidating. Every single time I think that I can't do it, that I'll never find that voice again. I thought it especially before Colours of Dawn, but now that I've had some time away from it (and how difficult it was), I absolutely adore that book. Reminding myself where I left off makes me want to jump right back in and continue that story, and I'm more eager than ever to do just that. I needed the break from them, but now I'm ready to go again. As we close in on the end of the series, I'm getting to check off more and more of my bucket list I had for it, and there is a unique kind of satisfaction in that that only adds more momentum.

Victoria, Katya, Millie and the rest of EVE are coming back, and I can't wait to show you what they've been up to.