The Unspoken Promise to my Readers

I am currently writing my next series, a quadrilogy based on Norse mythology. If everything goes to plan, the first book will be published in the first half of 2025 with the second arriving before Christmas. It has been an enlightening experience, and I’ve learnt a lot about the myths which there is surprisingly little written evidence of, despite the popularity of comics and films depicting them.

I have a love/hate relationship with the series. As a reader, I hate waiting around for them to finish, so I generally buy all the books but only read them when the series is complete. I got caught out by Terry Brooks when he brought out the Heritage of Shanara series. I avidly read them after buying the Elf Queen, only to discover there were four books, not three. I couldn’t wait for the normal size paperback to come out, so bought the larger one, which sticks out like a sore thumb on my bookshelf.

I made another mistake with GOT. I really enjoyed the books and was desperate to continue reading them. George RR Martin, however, is still yet to finish the series and, at this point in time, I doubt he ever will. It has left a bad taste in my mouth, and I have since donated all my copies to the local charity shop in disgust. If he ever DOES finish it, I won’t be buying them.

In my view, writers have a duty to give their readers satisfaction and that means ending a series, not leaving them hanging. Because of this, I always draft out all the books in a series before starting to publish. It’s good practise because you can foreshadow crucial plot points in earlier books as well as making sure the narrative flows seamlessly over the entire storyline.

In Master and Apprentice, for example, Vrainnan Hamevna was named as the first Master of Green Magic. She became the main character in my prequel, Mage Wars, I also changed the name of a geological feature to Baddon’s Gorge after creating my antagonist in The Last Mage. I had originally planned for Verrin to be Reez’s final adversary, but that changed after writing book 2. I found myself giving his character a rather tragic arc which culminated in his demise in Secrets of the Towers. I wasn’t sure whether to write another book in between or leave it as a duology until Baddon Nox entered the picture, giving me a great overall arc for Reez’s character as he finally meets someone who is far superior in magical knowledge and ability.

You’ll be pleased to know that all four books of the Saga of the Nine Realms have been drafted. I will be typing up book 4 in December before looking at the last edits needing to be done to the first book, The Charred Blade, which will take on the feedback given by my beta readers. After drafting book 4, there are several plot points that need to be added to the previous books to tighten the narrative and create the magical effect of me being very clever!

Should the unthinkable happen and I am unable to finish refining all four books (or HBO pays me a ridiculous amount of money to serialise it), my readers will still be able to find satisfaction in finishing the story, even if it is in a raw state. Personally, I hope to be writing for a long while yet! I have another great character rattling around in my head, desperate to have her own tales told, plus a cosy murder mystery or two and a collection of short stories to finish.

Interestingly, both the new character and the cosy series will be a collection of standalones. Each story will be self-contained, so can be read in any order. Obviously, there will be character development along the way, so the best experience will be to read them in order, but if someone picks up a later book, they should still be able to follow the story without needing to know anything from before.

Will I write another series? Who knows! I do have one more trilogy under my belt. I started it in 1984 after finishing training as a nurse. Free from the need to study for exams, I was daydreaming and gazing at the clouds outside. One of them resembled an owl sat in a tree. I began to wonder what he was looking at, and the bare bones of a story began to form. I started writing the first book on my typewriter – yes, I am THAT old! – but life returned with a job, marriage and new son, and it remains unfinished in a folder on my desk. If I did revisit it, I would start from scratch as the original is a mess, but the idea is there in the back of my mind.

Perhaps one day, Marijah. One day.