Ian Higgs
asked
John Gilstrap:
In book 4 of the Jonathan Grave series I was puzzled by the shortness of narrative concerning Gail. The ending particularly seemed almost an afterthought. What was in your mind here? Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed the book and am already into the next one, but just found this a bit strange.
John Gilstrap
Hi, Ian. I'm a little shocked that you're the first person to ask me this. My original intent was to kill Gail off in DAMAGE CONTROL. I had drawn her character arc poorly, I thought. To me, she'd become whiny and repetitive. Then, in the final edit, I realized that would be a mistake. Not only would it anger a lot of readers, it would also close creative doors for the future. So, with very little time left before my deadline, I reversed course. I'm disappointed that it feels like an afterthought, but it kind of was. And then I was stuck with a new problem because she was pretty badly hurt, and I didn't know how I wanted to handle that. In the next book in the series, HIGH TREASON, she doesn't make an appearance at all. In later books, as she comes back, she has to deal with lingering injuries. That's probably more than you wanted to know, but there it is.
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