Every Dark Shadow (Whispers of Dust & Darkness #1)

by Sarah Zimm

I remember writing this scene at the height of so much angst in the world, where everyone was shouting opinions into the void and not many were really listening. So maybe this was me standing up to that feeling of the world telling us what we should or shouldn't think and do. I just remember viscerally seeing Falcon and Ophelia in this muddy alley, him cocksure and spinning a story, her throwing it right back at him with this remark that would launch a nickname readers have slid into my DMs crushing over. This sort of metaphor for him giving her the strength she needs in moments she's faltering, when she doubts herself or the world is shouting she can't be or do something. This was really the moment I knew Falcon and Ophelia were true equals. They were going to challenge each other, push each other, and maybe even wreck each other (or the opposite). Time would tell.

it’s kill or be killed sometimes. Where I’m from… It’s how people like me survive.”

Isn't this true? Falcon is always so loud with his street-smart words of wisdom. There's also probably a deeper layer in these words that I didn't intend at first, notes of heartbreak and a past that wasn't kind. I knew pretty much from here that we were going to get to see so much more of Falcon's story in subsequent books.

You’re not a girl who needs coddling or saving, you hear me?

There are these moments in a story where we have what the character believes and what he does, or in this case says. I just love playing in the space between those two things - and there is a lot of space between what Falcon thinks is his motivation and end game and what he says/does.

Ophelia can make Rune’s heart beat a lot of ways.

That feeling of being 20 and so in love it's hard to breathe. It's a feeling I pull out sometimes, like tenderly unpacking an old dress to run your fingers along the fabric, and that ache comes with it. The wanting for someone lost or past. This is the headspace I always seemed to find myself in with Rune.I remember just sitting on my floor with this deep ache in my heart as he has this moment of thinking the woman he's let himself fall so in the deep for might be in real trouble.

“Do you feel that, Ophelia?” His sharp face lifts just so, and he parts his lips. “We’re two of the same. You feel me because god calls to god.

Okay, this is probably spoilers...Stop reading now if you haven't read Every Dark Shadow. Seriously, scroll away....All right, so when I started writing the book, there actually was no Darkwielder. I had two villainous characters in mind. One, the king of Magus. The other, Jasper Salt. And then something happened about halfway through writing; the Darkwielder started talking. It changed the trajectory of the entire series and opened up entire plot lines I hadn't considered. This is the way of writing, despite outlines. But this is one of the first things I heard him say. In the book, it doesn't come until early the end, and that really launches us into the rest of the series.