Sable Grace Guest Post & Giveaway: Dark Breed choices

Thank you Chelsea for having us at the Vampire Book Club and thank your readers for joining us as we talk about our Dark Breed Novels.

We thought we’d take the opportunity to explain why you might see writers wandering around, their hair sticking up, talking to themselves…. It’s because stuff like this is usually going on in our heads at any given moment….

When we first started Ascension, book one in the Dark Breed Novels, the book was supposed to have a different heroine and a completely different storyline. Then Kyana walked on stage. She’s such a strong character that she demanded that we rewrite the idea to fit her storyline. And we listened.

However, when we started Bedeviled, we realized that we had more than a few holy crud moments and panic kicked into overdrive.

Firstly, Kyana’s entire character changed. What if the reader isn’t prepared for a new and improved Kyana? What if they don’t like her at all and the improved part is left out altogether? And OMG! there’s still book three to write, what do we do if we have to force her to change against her will to please the readers and then the storyline doesn’t work anymore—or worse, the reader hates Kyana completely now because she isn’t who or what she was in book one?

Let’s not forget about Ryker. He adores Kyana and is so good to her. We wanted to give him his reward of her love and their happily ever after, but Kyana refuses to be pushed into a corner and commit with only half of her heart. He’s waited ten years for Kyana. Is he willing to keep waiting or is it time for him to listen to her and cut their ties and walk away?

There’s a little more time for some humorous moments in Bedeviled. We’re always terrified that when something strikes us as funny, other people won’t see it that way. We crack each other up, but we both have this dry, sarcastic type of humor that we get. What if no one else out there laughs when they’re supposed to? Or worse, what if mixing humor into a story with so many life threatening moments doesn’t read the way we think it does?

Oh, and let’s not forget the burning question of how much it too much? We’d never written a series before so the constant concern that we were either going to inundate those who’d read book one with so much backstory that they’d never want to read book three. Or, on the other hand, put in so little that new readers would be lost, and instead of capturing their interest enough for them to want to find book one, we’d turn them off completely. More than a few nights sleep was lost trying to figure this one out.

In the end, we followed our instincts and put our trust in the readers and in our characters. We had to believe in Kyana and Ryker. It’s their story the reader is returning to and it’s our hope that the paths they take will lead the reader on a memorable journey—even if it isn’t always the one they’re expecting.

There’s a reason writers are seen as neurotic. It’s because we are!

GIVEAWAY: ASCENSION BY SABLE GRACE

We have one copy of Ascension to giveaway. The contest is open to U.S. addresses only, and closes Feb. 15. Fill out the form below for your chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway