My trilogy, the Celestial Spheres, was a blast to write. I already had a book and a novelette published prior to it, but FYR was the book that broke me into the industry with some success. It was also the first epis fantasy I had written--well, finished to be honest. It is a fantasy romance suitable for late teens to adults who like mild romantic spiciness...
At seventeen, Toury arrives in Fyr, where magic is power, a prince’s love is deadly, and female autonomy is a dream. Formerly a loner and burden to her adoptive parents, she ruins her chances of a fresh start by offending an ogler who just happens to be the prince.
Alex, the Prince of Fyr, is no novice when it comes to pressure. He has to face his father’s ailing health, the expectation to marry soon, and the hidden necromancers trying to take over the realm by exploiting his dark curse. At least there’s hope in a cheeky savior, but Earth girls aren’t so easy.
Toury and Alex learn that the strongest magic cannot be conjured but must be earned. They must risk their lives, hearts, and futures to save the land from a darkness of apocalyptic proportions. But can they trust each other enough to save Fyr? Or will everything they hold dear turn to ash?
The only regret I had when ending the trilogy was not giving Mary's story justice. Celestial Spheres is told in limited third person, so readers are only in the heads of Alex and Toury. There was no way to bring Mary's love story about unless my characters saw every moment of it. I was not going to force that, and it would've taken away from Alex and Toury's love story.
The answer to this lingering issue? I wrote a companion novel.
When brainstorming WUNDOR, I wanted to start with Mary being young and being presented to society. I wanted to present a Mary who was insecure and not quite yet the sassy sidekick sister we see in FYR, or the confidant and friend to Toury. However, the big issue was that to reach the courtship stage with Cobalt, her story would need to span years.
I decided to focus on key events and scenes by making the book Mary's journal, a diary. This structure of a book is called epistolary, or normally seen as literature that is in the form of letters. Epistolary novels are easy to write in a sense but difficult to make interesting. Some notable classics that were done well are Dracula, The Woman in White, and The Color Purple. As you can see, they span different genres. Mary's tale is a coming-of-age romantasy novel. I start out on Mary's thirteenth birthday where Alex gifted her a journal to write in.
To make it more interesting than just reading a girl's thoughts, I've included he recalling live action scenes to make it flow more like a regular novel would. To enhance it, I have included letters and snippets of gossip newspaper articles (I confess, inspired by Bridgerton's Lady Whistledown). The journal follows Mary through events before, during, and after the trilogy, giving Mary's perspective on events without retelling them in too much detail.
In short, I'm pleased with the way it came out and proud to master another form and genre. I seem to want to challenge myself by taking on new ones, although I think fantasy will always be my niche.
Stay tuned for release information.