The Story Behind The Stories
Leopold - Evolution of Story
Believe it or not, I have been working on this for over a decade! Not consistently, mind you. About once or twice a year I’d bring it out and look through it again. The last two years saw my greatest push to polish it up and set a release date.
Red Sun - Ace Romance
One of my intentions or goals for this story was to feature an ace romance with little-to-no sexy times. For anyone familiar with my work, you know I love sexy times. This created an interesting challenge, to foster a growing romance between my leads with little to no sexual desire. That forced me to spend more time on their growing trust and friendship. While they were certainly attracted to the other, that came later, after a bond had formed.
Red Sun - Evolution of Story
So how did I come up with the storyline for Red Sun? Glad you asked. The seeds of it started decades ago when I was still a newb and unpublished. I had the outline for a werewolf series that never got off the ground, and it is unrecognizable to the finished story of today. In fact, I found that outline the other day and was amused at my ambitiousness so early in my writing career.
Legacy - Hardest Part of Writing the Story
I have to say that the hardest part of writing this book was the risk and self-doubt that plagued me from beginning to end. I am a huge believer in the quote, “Write the story that needs to be written,” as well as the one, “There is no book so great that someone won’t hate it and no book so awful that someone won’t love it.”
Healing Lance - Writing the Story
The final version of this story was not an easy thing to achieve. The first draft was decent but minimal. It was short and straight to the point. Then I wrote the second book and realized what I needed to add to the first. So I went back and tweaked. Then I wrote the third book and realized I had even more to add to the first. So, really, “Healing Lance” wasn’t done until I’d finished “Avenging Lance.”
Healing Lance - Quick Facts
I wanted to write a story about forgiveness, redemption, and compassion. I wanted to create a story about finding oneself and understanding one’s purpose. Lance’s life sort of gets a “reset” after he breaks out of the numb funk he’d lived in for most of his life. Now he has to confront all he’s done and atone.
Red Sun - Religion in Story
Now, I’m not a religious person myself. I consider myself an agnostic (though, for a hot second in high school, I was a goth wiccan), and so I know little about the rituals and core believes of many of the Christian sects. I know the broad strokes but none of the finer details. That is why I made Raphael’s father a bit more of a progressive Catholic, which helped Raphael be more open with being gay when he reunites with his father.
Red Sun - Character Profile - Gregor
I think this book has the most time spent in his point of view as he chases Raphael and Ahmes, determined to collect Raphael’s blood for a spell that Arcas needs to cast. I took my time with his scenes, wanting to add more depth to him but also display the quiet madness of his devotion. He believes with all his heart that what he’s doing is right and that Arcas will be victorious in the end. I pity him, actually. His mind has been so warped by Arcas that pleasing him is Gregor’s only purpose in life.
Red Sun - Character Profile - Ahmes
When I set out to write this story, Ahmes took time to develop. I think I had a draft written that I ended up discarding and rewriting. I needed Ahmes to have opposite and complementary elements to Raphael. Opposite in his age, maturity, and peace with how and what he is, a cat shifter, and complementary in his gentle and protective nature, and easy-going attitude. He was supportive of Raphael from the very start and never wavered in his determination to set his friend on the right path.
Red Sun - Character Profile - Raphael
So… Raphael. Sweet, sweet Raphael. He’s gone through quite the transformation since I first envisioned the series and knew I wanted to write about an “unusual” wolf shifter. And the changes I made to him, in turn, changed the story. For the better. He started out as an older man haunted by the beast within him and became a young man struggling to find his identity. I think this might be the closest to a “coming of age” story that I’ve written so far. That wasn’t intentional but considering the structure of the story, it was a natural fit.