Friday, June 18, 2010

Behind the Series

So Dark Obsession released this week. *happy dance*

And now that I've got that off my chest... :)

When I started Unbreakable, the first book in my Shadow Destroyers series, I hadn't planned on it being the first in a series at all. The idea for that book simmered in the back of my mind for a long while, and the first time I saw Gage and Jordan in my head actually turned out to be very different than how things went when I started writing the book.

I originally glimpsed them standing opposite each other in a morgue. Jordan was a doctor I think and Gage a demon slayer pretending to be a cop, and she thought he was a dead ringer for the guy she loved and lost five years before. But when I started writing the prologue things changed. Those who read the book know Jordan and Gage were both cops, partners, before a demon encounter changed everything for them.

Something else I hadn't anticipated when I started out was how big of a role Gage's team would take in Unbreakable. By the second chapter I'd met Braxton and Quinn (the hero and heroine from Book 2) and the three of them had discussed their boss, Rae. The moment they started talking about how she'd want a new sword over jewelry for her birthday, I knew I couldn't wait to get to know her better.

Rae made an appearance at the end of Unbreakable and throughout Stripped Away. By Book 3, Storm Warning, she was playing a more prominent role and readers were introduced to Parker Walsh. It was clear the two had some history and a boatload of tension to complicate their already strained working relationship. But not until Dark Obsession did I get to peel back Rae's layers and really get to see the sparks fly between her and Parker.

I wrote Unbreakable in 2006 and had to wait four years to get to tell Rae's story, but she was so worth the wait. And I hope readers think so to.

4 comments:

PG Forte said...

Cool post, Syd. I love hearing the behind the scenes details on how stories get written, how they change along the way, how some characters sneak up on you...

Waiting years for the right time to tell a character's story (or to read a character's story!) is hard.

I've got Dark Obsession sitting on my desktop. I can't wait to read it!

Meg Benjamin said...

Funny how those characters just keep clamoring to have their own books! Congrats on your release, Syd.

Debra St. John said...

Series can be fun!

When I first sat down to write "This Time for Always", I had it in the back of my mind to write a series of three books based on characters introduced in the first book. The second in the series, "This Can't Be Love", comes out in November. Now I just need to write (and sell!) the third one and my dream will have become a reality!

Sydney Somers said...

Thanks guys! And good luck on finishing the third book, Debra.