Author’s (Second ;) ) Note
This has to be the most difficult part of a very difficult book for me to write. I really struggled with The Serpent’s Mate. Not because I don’t love Nahash and Cass (because I absolutely do!), but because a situation arose (again!) where the story had the potential to take a different direction, and I wrestled with indecision on whether it should or not and what it would mean for the series and how I’d set it up.
When I drafted The Scorpion’s Mate—the first book in the series—I wrote it in third person and added some scenes told from Ilyan’s point of view. During those scenes, the reader would have learned about Halian, the traitor, through conversations Ilyan had with Lania. I cut those scenes from The Scorpion’s Mate, because I felt like the story should be written in first person to give readers the same claustrophobic feeling that Thrax and Claire had to endure. I wanted there to be mystery behind everything that was happening to them, and I wanted questions to remain about what the Iriduans were truly like, so I kept the point of view very narrow and focused only on Thrax and Claire.
Unfortunately, that meant the only mention of Halian came from Nemon, who had an idealized view of his “father” and couldn’t be an entirely reliable narrator when it came to Halian. In that first book, I wasn’t able to get into how important Halian was to the series—being the first of the Iriduan scientists to listen to his conscience.
In The Kraken’s Mate, I again chose first person point of view, which again limited my ability to explain Halian’s side of the story. I felt like that POV worked really well for that story, as it allowed me to focus on Nemon’s loyalty and devotion and also explore Joanie’s struggles with her personal trauma.
The Kraken’s Mate could have turned out differently, but I made a difficult choice (for me) not to take it in the direction I’d initially felt it going in. I like to think of those points where more than one possible ending emerges as the potentials in the flux that the Lusians talk about. :D I had my reasons for my decision, (quite a few of them), and ultimately decided that other storyline wasn’t a good fit for the series as a whole and would require multiple books in order to do it justice, which wasn’t my plan for the Iriduan Test Subjects series where I wanted each book to be a complete, standalone romance between a different couple.
Halian’s behavior in that book may have caused some confusion, because again, the limited point of view meant readers only knew what Joanie knew. Adding Halian’s POV would have completely changed the expectations for the direction the book was going, so I kept the mystery of his odd behavior to myself.
By the time I’d finished The Kraken’s Mate, I’d already plotted out The Serpent’s Mate, and I’m going to confess right now that it started life as a reverse harem story—the only one in the series. The nature of the Iriduans and the concept I had for Cass’s “rescue” by them made it a perfect scenario for multiple partners, and Halian would have again been introduced as a betrayer, but also as a mate.
That story would have worked for Cass, whose compassionate character wouldn’t allow her to force her other mates into a celibate life just so she could remain exclusive to Nahash. She would have made an effort to open her heart to all of them. Nahash, on the other hand, completely surprised me. I expected his character to be understanding of reverse harems, since he started his life as an Iriduan, but when I actually sat down and started writing the story, his character immediately began showing possessiveness and jealousy of other males.
I realized after only a few of his scenes with Cass that I had to replot the story without the other mates I’d intended. (There’s a reason I didn’t name the leader of Nahash’s team in the final version of the story. ;) )
Nahash wasn’t going to stand for sharing Cass, so I narrowed the focus and removed any mention of romance with other characters early on, but I still had to deal with Halian being in the story. His role was too important, not just to their story arc, but also to the larger story going on in the Cosmic Syndicate. So I kept his part in the story, introducing him as I’d originally intended—a plant put in place by the antagonist.
Like Cass, I kept Nahash in mind every time I felt tempted to stray. There were times when I really wanted to change the story to be at least multiple partner, if not reverse harem, but that meant getting Nahash on board with sharing, and I feared that would take a completely separate book to make such a transformation in his character possible, especially since I also still had to deal with Halian’s issues—he has many, which is one reason I personally find him such a compelling character—to me he represents a lot of the internal conflict that’s destroying the Iriduans.
The Iriduans ended up becoming much more to me than the primary antagonists of the series. I’ll admit, my initial concept of them was “the beautiful bad guys.” They were intended to serve as a contrast to the “monstrous” appearance of the good guys, proving (perhaps unsubtly) that physical looks should not be used to judge character (a theme that runs through all of my alien romances and which I can say without hesitation that I feel pretty strongly about. :D).
I ended up changing my own feelings about the Iriduans pretty early on in the first book as I added a purpose to their evil and further developed their backstory, culture, and biology (most of which I took out of the first two books because of the limited POV). I don’t like one-dimensional villains, and I never want to write a villain who is evil just for the sake of being evil. There must always be an underlying reason for their choices.
I also initially added the instant mate bond Iriduan males have in an attempt to subvert the “bonded mate” trope that holds such an important role in romance, especially paranormal and alien romances, where it’s often a physical as well as spiritual bond. My original concept was to show how “bonded mating” could go wrong, and how males who instantly bonded to females might grow to resent that on a societal level.
I love the mate-bond concept, and it works so well for alien romance particularly, but every time I read an HEA with bonded mates, I wonder about those situations where the bonding could have gone badly, because I’m always looking for ways to twist the expected outcome.
Halian’s character developed from those two initial concepts. He was the “beautiful bad guy” who suffered an attack of conscience because they aren’t all evil and some even believe they’re doing the right thing. He’s also one of those males who feared bonding to a fated mate, because he’d been raised to see it as a bad thing.
Sometimes, characters take on a life of their own. As an author, I can dictate the plot however I want, and I can make the characters do whatever I want them to do to fit that plot, but that doesn’t always fit their character. In the case of The Serpent’s Mate, I didn’t set out to make Nahash jealous or possessive, but those traits felt “right” to me as I further developed his backstory.
Halian also developed in a way I hadn’t anticipated when I’d first created him. Through the three books, he’s suffered intense torment and conflict—as well as one of those subverted mate bonds I wanted to do ;)—so he became the symbol of how love and bonding—which is supposed to heal all things—could all go so wrong. His situation also allowed me to parallel Nahash’s fracturing and show the difference between having a healthy mate bond, and not having one (which hopefully explained why the Iriduans do some of the things they do). I left much of Halian’s character unexplored in this book because I worried it could’ve ended up taking some of the focus away from Nahash and Cass, and this was their book. I wanted them to be the focus of it.
I usually don’t use the Author’s Note to discuss these things or justify my choices for the story, as I’ll often post such topics on my blog, but this one was filled with spoilers, so I felt like the best place for this discussion was at the end of the third book in the trilogy. Plus, I wanted to explain why this book was so difficult to write and revise. One moment, I felt completely confident about the direction of the story and I was excited about it, then I went back and changed everything because I worried that it wasn’t going to work for the series or characters.
I suspect that no matter what choice I made, introducing Halian in such a way means I’ll probably displease some readers. I want to assure those readers who’d like to see Halian finally get his HEA, I am definitely planning to write his book. For those readers who don’t like Halian or are on the fence about him, I hope I’ll be able to convince you to find him as compelling as I do when he gets his own book.
As for what’s next, I am hoping to release Minotaur’s Curse by the end of this year (my last release for 2018, if I can get it done on time). It will be the third book in my Into the Dead Fall series, which starts with Into the Dead Fall, released as part of a two-book set with The Scorpion’s Mate. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s a multiple-partner romance without ménage. The second book, Key to the Dead Fall, is a MFM with ménage. Both books feature alien heroes who definitely don’t look human, but I think you’ll love them anyway. From honor-bound warriors and epic heroes to a powerful Lusian trapped in another dimension, they each offer something different to their heroines. (And I mean really different in some cases!)
Minotaur’s Curse continues the story of the Dead Fall, but features a third heroine and a character introduced in the second book.
After that, I’m not entirely sure which book will get my attention next. The Serpent’s Mate was supposed to finish up the Iriduan Test Subjects series, which I’d always intended to be a trilogy. Now, I’m not sure if I want to continue that series with Halian’s story, or write his story as part of a spin-off series I’ve been considering involving the Iriduans in the hero roles (some books in that series will be reverse harem, though I still haven’t decided on Halian’s story).
I also have Tirel’s story, which I intended to split off from the Iriduan Test Subject series because he isn’t a test subject and is only peripherally related to the series, however, I’m still struggling with that, since events outside the individual romances of each book in the series set up a larger story arc that Tirel’s story will also be a part of, just as Halian’s will. Whatever I choose to do with regards to their series titles, the books themselves are already planned.
I have considered Ava’s story as well, since it was one I really wanted to do, especially after writing Key to the Dead Fall. I’m just not sure how much interest there will be in that story, since Roswell grays aren’t generally considered… sexy. ;) It’s one of those books I will probably eventually write, even if only because I want it for myself, but getting a manuscript to a state where I feel confident publishing it for other readers takes a lot of time and effort, so it may be one that remains in my own personal library if there isn’t much interest in it.
I’m also in the planning stages for another book in my Shadows in Sanctuary series. I had initially planned to release Uriale’s Redemption next—this year, in fact. I even had an awesome cover made for it. However, after several failed attempts to write his story, I realized that the events of that world weren’t ready for his story yet. Other things had to happen first, which means a different story with a different hero. I have several I’d already planned and hinted at, and the one that is most likely to happen next in that world’s timeline involves the executioner from the Jessabelle’s Beast, which will probably be the next book in that series. However, I don’t want to make any firm promises yet, as plotting out his story could change my direction entirely.
If anyone is wondering about Hunter—and probably asking themselves if even I would try to make a hero like that sexy XD—I don’t actually have a book planned for him, but I have considered the possibility. The Menops have the ability to naturally integrate alien DNA into their own genetic code, changing their physical form through repeated metamorphosis in order to adapt to different worlds, which means Hunter does not have to remain looking as he does at the moment. I don’t want to say much more on that here, as I’ve tried to leave Menops biology relatively mysterious for the moment.
Generally, the next project I choose to publish depends on how much interest it generates from my readers. I like to focus my efforts on those stories my readers are really asking to read—which is one reason the Shadows series has been placed on the back-burner while I work on my other two romance series. All the positive reviews, feedback, and requests let me know where to focus my time and efforts. This doesn’t mean I won’t write other books that don’t get as much feedback—as I feel compelled to write certain stories regardless of whether they’re marketable. It just determines when or even if I’ll publish them.
I want to thank you for taking the time to read my books, and add another heartfelt thank-you if you’ve left a review or shared my books on social media or recommended them to others. Word of mouth truly makes a difference!
This author’s note ended up being a lot longer than I intended, so if you’ve stuck with me to the end, I heartily thank you, and I hope that I’ve answered any questions or concerns you may have about whether there will be more to the story, though obviously, some things just have to remain a mystery until it’s time to tell that story. ;)
I love to hear from my readers! I try to spend a little time on Facebook each week, but I’m not as active on social media as I probably should be. However, I do update my Facebook page, , whenever I have information about a new release and I check it frequently to read comments and respond to questions. Also please check out my blog: where I also post announcements and other fun stuff when I’m taking a break from my writing. You can also send me an email at .