Vanquished Commentary Chapter Four!

Welcome to the commentary for Vanquished, the final book in the Crusade trilogy! If you haven’t snagged your copy yet click here to see your buying options and get yours so you can read along!

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Now, chapter four!

Here we get to see more of Skye’s struggle which I think is crucial not only to her character but also to the entire story. I love the line “But there were things worth fighting for, things worth dying for, and things worth killing for.” I truly believe in that.

In our original concept for the series, Skye was actually going to be a distant cousin to the Cahors witches from Wicked. This was one of the things we ended up changing.

One of the quotes from World War II that has haunted me ever since I heard it provided the foundation for this scene where Skye is confronting the Circuit about whether or not they need to intervene to save the humans if vampires haven’t declared war on witches. The quote is:

“First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.”

- Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945

The scene between Aurora and Lucifer is crucial here because it reveals more about both characters. One of the fastest ways to show that a character is evil and terrifying is to take someone that the reader already knows well as evil and terrifying and make that character afraid of the one you’re trying to really introduce. I did the same thing in my Kiss books. Raphael was well established as a very formidable and frightening vampire so when he is practically frozen with terror at the appearance of his sire Gabriel it’s a clue to the reader about just how impressive Gabriel is without me having to show him doing anything at the first meeting.