The Beginnings and Story of Writing Unknown
Well, this story begins very long along, in a distant land … just kidding. It does seem like a very long time ago when I first started writing Unknown back in late 2018. I’d just come off of writing a trilogy of Civil War books (what I consider my first “real” and finished books.) For some reason, I decided I wanted a change of pace and chose to write something in a modern setting.
And then somehow, I decided to set it in Russia. And why’s that?
I wish I had the answer! I think it was a combination of things – a semi-obsession with spies (I really need to get off of that kick … I think maybe I’ve escaped, but all of the Civil War books also had spies. *sigh*) And what better place for a spy than Russia, right? 
Also, at that point in my life, I was becoming a serious armwrestling fan, and that sport is really big over in Russia and Eastern Europe.
So it all came together.
Or not.
Originally, my male protagonist, Gabe, was going to be a spy. The thought of that is incredibly laughable at this point, because that man would not be a good spy. Like never. I’m glad that didn’t come to pass … yet the whole spy thing didn’t disappear completely (mini-spoiler for the following books in the Grace Sufficient series.)
Sofia, my female protagonist, was always a ballerina, and at some point, Gabe became the son of missionaries to Russia. A bit of a change, there, huh? No more spying for that guy. I’m pretty sure that was Kristina’s suggestion, so she gets the credit here. (Side note: she gets a lot of credit, because she’s patiently listened to my ramblings about writing for so many years. She’s the best. )
So that’s how it began in 2018, and I merrily wrote the story, never knowing it’d be my first published book—or the drastic changes that would come about at a later date.
When I decided to publish (more on that here), I realized Unknown needed major help. The plot was convoluted, the characters not as established as I’d like, and there were myriads of writing issues. I didn’t know how to write a modern-day book (or really any book at the point I’d written it), and everything just sounded so weird and awkward in my attempt to sound “cool” or something. Yeah, it was bad.
So then came the major edits – basically a rewrite. Poor Gabe became way less angelic, Sofia became a much more hardened ballerina, the plot was tightened up, and the writing (hopefully) stopped sounding awful. I added in a sub-plot to tie in with another plot, deleted sappy scenes, and changed orders of events. I changed several character’s names – even poor Sofia’s name from Sophie (though a remnant of that clings on in the book) to Sofia to make her sound more authentically Russian.
So there were many, many changes to this book until it became what it is today. Originally, this book was meant to be a stand-alone novel. And then it became two, then three … and I still couldn’t stop writing about my beloved Russian friends.
More on that in a bit.
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I think a missionary-kid-cum-spy would be quite intriguing. But then, I've always had a thing for spies, too.
Jayna wrote: "I think a missionary-kid-cum-spy would be quite intriguing. But then, I've always had a thing for spies, too."True ... guess it's too late for that, hahahaha. :) And that poor character would've failed at spying.
Its always interesting to see how the story does a complete 180 from start to finish. Things you never expect to happen do just that. Writing is sort of magical that way.
It's always fun to look back and consider what a book could've been. Definitely the Lord's guiding Hand even in the general mayhem of writing. :)
Vanessa wrote: "It's always fun to look back and consider what a book could've been. Definitely the Lord's guiding Hand even in the general mayhem of writing. :)" Absolutely!!
