A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2)

by V.E. Schwab

Delilah Bard had a way of finding trouble.

One of my quirks is remembering exactly where I was when I wrote a specific scene. The opening chapters in particular. For instance, I wrote the entirety of THIEF AT SEA while sitting on the floor of a tiny cottage at the edge of a French farm in Normandy. This opening is made all the more particular because when I write, I break my book down into episodes, structuring each as a miniature story arc, and THIEF AT SEA is the example I always give of this specific structure. It's the most self-contained arc in the series (followed closely by the following section, PRINCE AT LARGE).