As you may have heard already, I just finished writing She Who Brought Death, and it was . . . an odd experience. I felt so many emotions. Excitement and joy that Nevia Bylilly, the main female lead’s, story has come to a close, and that my debut romantasy duology is now complete. Relief that I have such a complex story finally written, that I can sit back and relax a minute before delving into the long, arduous process of editing this first draft until it becomes a masterpiece. And, finally, sadness, realizing that this is it: the story that made me an author is done.
It’s never easy for anything to come to an end, but, for me, ending a series is oddly complex. I wanted to share enough context so that readers know what happened to the characters once the main conflict resolved itself, but I also didn’t want to overshare, instead leaving some interpretation up to readers. I also didn’t want to write fifteen chapters of an epilogue of “what came next” (even if that does sound like fun . . . ! Bonus material? Do I get a resounding “YES”???). I think I’m satisfied with the closure that I gave all the characters, but I’m going to be rereading it next month and see how it sits with me then. I’m too connected to the story right now to be able to properly do that.
Nevia Bylilly is a character that I shall truly miss writing. I poured so much of myself into her, so many of her struggles, likes, and dislikes. I can sympathize with her in some areas, empathize in others, and I love how she is a minority in her world setting. For a while I couldn’t quite decide where I wanted her story to end up. Ultimately, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to give her a happy ending, what truly made her happy, or if I wanted to give her a power stance. In the end, I decided to have Nevia true to her heart, and I’m pleased. I think she made the right choice, though I do hope that I’m conveying a positive message for minorities in doing so. I think so. Being a minority myself, I support her.
Qirin was particularly challenging to write in this book. He was my absolute favorite in She Who Chose War, and throughout a lot of this upcoming book he is often at war with himself. I wanted to make his struggles relatable and believable, and I had to genuinely ask myself: what would a young king do, suddenly thrust into power with all of these innovative ideas and desires? While I feel confident that Nevia made the right choices throughout the book, I’m not so sure about Qirin just yet. He baffled me a lot . . . so I will need to reread it later and see how I still feel about his decisions.
As for Ardan, oh, he was an interesting one! I was shocked by a eureka moment while writing the ending, finding a very interesting twist to throw in there. But I love it; I think it’s perfect, and I think most Ardan fans will agree with me.
The epilogue is something that I was so eager to write since the beginning. I knew the message that I wanted it to convey, and the final line of the series. It was so moving to me, and I wanted to instill a powerful message to my readers: hope. Always maintain hope, even in the face of extreme darkness. The main theme of this book is maintaining hope when all seems to be lost. It is my sincere hope that this message can transcend the world of fantasy and impact the lives of my readers in any small way, to bring a little more hope into their lives and hearts even when things don’t look optimistic.
Something I found myself questioning was: do we ever know when a story is finished? Or, if we do, what is the benchmark or indicator that we should look for? I don’t think the answer is simple. Mostly, I believe an author should trust their instincts, trust in the process, in the journey, in the spot where they can sit back and say “yeah, that’s nice. I’d be satisfied with this ending.” And to remember: you can never cover everything you want to, but covering enough to leave yourself and your readers pleased–that’s the important thing.
She Who Brought Death, the conclusion to the Legends of Danaeca duology, releases on the Winter Solstice of this year. You can preorder it now in eBook format, and also get the first chapter way ahead of release by signing up for my newsletter!