Where Does The Pretverse Go From Here?

So a comment over on a guest blog I did for the Unleash The Moon blog tour has got me thinking about how well I communicate to my readers with regards to exactly “what is going on” with this world.

The problem is… it’s a BIG world. And when I say “The Preternaturals Series is over and Unleash the Moon is the final book in the series”… I think what readers hear is: “I am done with these characters and this world.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. By the time I’m finished, Zoe Winters and the word “Pretverse” will be synonymous. (And hopefully people will actually know and care what that even means.)

If it helps, you can think of The Preternaturals as the prologue to this world. It’s the BIG picture stuff. It’s sweeping broad brush strokes creating a big world with many different factions and dimensions. It’s introducing many of the “power players” of the world. But it’s not… we’re done with these characters now, C-ya!

It’s more like… “all my friends moving away”. The gang won’t really be together as “the gang” going forward.(Which makes me sad in my heart) But that’s because we are going to start laser-focusing in on things as I further develop this world.

Something I’ve learned from my other pen name is that where I really excel is in focusing in very closely on a smaller cast of characters. Managing 15 or 16 “major” characters in a book is just madness, and it’s hard to do them justice. I’m not an epic fantasy writer. I am not George R.R. Martin.

I’m Zoe Winters.

It doesn’t mean I can’t create big worlds or don’t love doing it (I do love it!) But it does mean that I’m most in my zone when I’m laser focusing on a few people at a time within a world.

And that’s where we’re going from here. The new upcoming paranormal serial is going to follow ONE main heroine through the dystopian world you’re introduced to in Unleash The Moon. There may be brief cameos of past characters, and a few things you clearly recognize, but it’s a different character in this big world.

BUT… in the future I have plans for a trilogy featuring Z and Fiona (and where they are AFTER the events of Unleash The Moon). I might also do a stand alone of things that happen in their life between The Catalyst and Unleash The Moon.

I have plans for a side novella or novel of a VERY minor character from Unleash The Moon whose backstory interests me and you have no idea about yet.

I have plans for more Hadrian and Angeline.

I have plans for more Cain and Tam in the demon dimension.

Bottom line… I ultimately have more plans for everybody and everything.

When I say I am not done with this world, I mean it. I’m in it for the long haul. I’m in it to win it.

Considering the way I’m building this world, and also the fact that I am not a BIG NAME AUTHOR… I cannot go about this in the way a BNA would do it. I can’t write a series with 32 books or more in it going straight in a row because people want to read things “in order” (And in some ways my world doesn’t really work that way, but it’s too hard to explain it in a sound byte, so I don’t even try). Additionally, while I don’t think Blood Lust is “bad” in any way, I’ve grown significantly as an author since I wrote it.

It’s not strong enough to lead readers through a commitment to a bazillionty books. And I know that.

So instead the plan is this… build this GIANT sandbox and this huge world to play in… release series (like The Preternaturals), serials (like the one coming this spring), stand alones with well-known and loved characters, trilogies, etc. All linking up together in the same world.

The readers who really commit to this series and to me, over the long haul will see the connections building and forming and how this links to that.

I appreciate all the trust my readers have placed in me. And I take it seriously. Everything is a trust-building exercise with readers. Finishing this first series is a big one. I will NOT leave you hanging. I will not abandon you. And if you read a book and think something “tragic” just happened that you’ll never forgive me for… remember where we’ve been and trust me on where we’re going. I will get you there.

Buckle in… we’re just getting started.

Filed under: General Writing