Preparing for the End
This week I started prepping for the final book in the From the Ashes of Victory series, and it made me feel... weird. There's something about knowing that this is the last time that brings up all kinds of emotions that I don't know how to process quite yet.
I have been living with these characters for almost six years, and getting ready to say good-bye to them is really difficult at the same time it's immensely gratifying. Going back to the previous books to refresh a few things, I see just how far these characters have come, and it's genuinely easy for me to forget that I'm the reason. I did that. WTF? It doesn't feel real. I read things I wrote and wonder how the hell I came up with any of it. It sometimes feels like being deep into a story or a character is like a kind of fugue state that doesn't actually imprint on your memory.
Tough going when you're writing a series! All the old books, all of my notes, they're all going in the cauldron and I'm taking my time in prepping this one. I don't want to leave out anything I may have forgotten that might help make this final book as good as it can be.
Remember, November was my first novel, so I've never finished a series before. It has its own unique challenges (that I am enjoying so far), some I anticipated and others I didn't. I know what I don't want to do, that's for sure, but there's a lot of work yet between here and 'The End' that I do want.
Book 6 is not like other books. It can't be. I know that, and each stage of its creation is going to be different, and special. A lot of blog posts over the next few months are going to be me processing these feelings (good and bad), so I hope you'll bear with me. If you love the Ashes books, you may be feeling a few of the same things, so I hope you'll indulge my presumption that we take the journey together.
Normally I say that I can't wait to show you what happens, but this time I can. Just a little bit.
I have been living with these characters for almost six years, and getting ready to say good-bye to them is really difficult at the same time it's immensely gratifying. Going back to the previous books to refresh a few things, I see just how far these characters have come, and it's genuinely easy for me to forget that I'm the reason. I did that. WTF? It doesn't feel real. I read things I wrote and wonder how the hell I came up with any of it. It sometimes feels like being deep into a story or a character is like a kind of fugue state that doesn't actually imprint on your memory.
Tough going when you're writing a series! All the old books, all of my notes, they're all going in the cauldron and I'm taking my time in prepping this one. I don't want to leave out anything I may have forgotten that might help make this final book as good as it can be.
Remember, November was my first novel, so I've never finished a series before. It has its own unique challenges (that I am enjoying so far), some I anticipated and others I didn't. I know what I don't want to do, that's for sure, but there's a lot of work yet between here and 'The End' that I do want.
Book 6 is not like other books. It can't be. I know that, and each stage of its creation is going to be different, and special. A lot of blog posts over the next few months are going to be me processing these feelings (good and bad), so I hope you'll bear with me. If you love the Ashes books, you may be feeling a few of the same things, so I hope you'll indulge my presumption that we take the journey together.
Normally I say that I can't wait to show you what happens, but this time I can. Just a little bit.
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