Goodreads asked M.N. Stroh:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

M.N. Stroh That's a fun one. Man of Sorrows is a prequel to the Tale of the Clans series. Originally, I began the story back in 2008 in an attempt to better acquaint myself with some of the secondary characters in my series. While researching for the book, I came across an old Irish account of a nun who left her holy orders to marry a man. She was later pressed by the church to abandon her husband and return to the abbey. Her husband followed her the entire journey, pleading with her to stay with him, but she denied him, citing that she committed adultery against God by breaking her vows and taking on an earthly husband.

I found the story tragic and it sparked in me a desire to put my own twist on a similar tale, which eventually became the foundational plot for Man of Sorrows. However, I had to lay the story aside in 2009 because of illness during pregnancy. I didn't pick the story back up again until 2019 when my publisher requested I write a prequel novella to Tale of the Clans.

God works in wondrous ways.

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