The Saga is Complete...The Author Looks Back
How did Blood Omen begin?
I was living near Barcelona in Spain, working as an English teacher in the city. I was traveling to and from work every day by train- it was nearly a 1-hour journey door-to-door. One night I woke from a dream to hear the church bells ringing outside the window and an image strong in my mind's eye: Elias (at that moment called Eric), sitting at the window of my childhood bedroom. It was a Saturday so I grabbed a cup of tea and started the computer. I wrote down what I had seen. Then I imagined what was said between he and I (who then became Clea- later Dea), what happened next, and on and on...then I imagined what had happened before. I bought a small notepad and started making notes as I sat on the train speeding along the coastline looking out to sea. The notepad was soon full so I transferred the ideas to the computer and bought another notepad. By month 3, my ex-husband saw I had too much story in me to be away from the computer for long (teaching was interrupting my flow!), so he supported me to give up teaching for a while. 6 months after I started, I had two books. I knew I needed to write five to finish Dea's story (how I knew, I have no idea!). Then I started trying to get the agents in the UK and US interested...
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| Difficult times... |
There was a five-year gap between finishing Book 2 and Book 3. What happened?
Life! I moved from Spain to New Zealand, got divorced, moved to the UK then Georgia, had 2 children... and also I lost the right direction for the story. I was writing the way I wanted the story to go (more between Dea and Stuart!) but it felt wrong and I couldn't sleep or concentrate well and the scenes were getting confused. It was a very uncomfortable time. Then one day I realised that it was impossible for Dea to be so much with Stuart in the Temple because her heart belonged to Santi. And Stuart could not soften in his feelings because of his training, his beliefs and because if he did, I would be turning him into a "better, harder" Santi. So I made him colder and harder again- stopped him flirting with Dea, deleted the "love" scenes. And I felt immediately better for it- and my characters were happier, too- we were back on track, heading in the right direction!
Tell us about some of the best and worst moments while writing the Saga
That mess-up within Book 3 was definitely the worst and most challenging. Also bad was finding a number of editing mistakes after I'd uploaded. It's not easy being your own editor (and it can be expensive to outsource). Also horrible was getting rejected by agents. Self-publishing was one of the highs- seeing my books on the "global shelf." Even better was seeing my books on real book store shelves in hard copy when they were published in Georgia. As for writing, the best moment is the remembering- that I can be walking down the street and hear, see or smell something and be instantly taken in my mind to a part in the book- a bike ride with Santi, a dialogue with Stuart, a fight with Takeshi, dancing with Ana... as if I lived it and they are my memories. And I know the fans I have also get the same experience of "it was me!" And the fans! The reception I'm getting from the teens in Georgia blows me away- with some comparing what I've written to works by Stephanie Meyer and L.J Smith. It's a real honour for me to be grouped with such authors! And I love communicating with my fans and running competitions for them to feel like a part of the incredible Blood Omen world!
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| Feeling like a happy kid...but also doubting- can it really be over?! |
Powerful. But although I've been "finishing" Book 5 for around two months (life getting in the way again!) and I knew the end at the beginning of summer, it still hasn't sunk in that it's over. I expected to have a stronger feeling of pride, to have a sense of fulfilment or completion... but I don't. I more have a sense that it's not over and that is kind of worrying. It almost makes me doubt that I have written the last book right- maybe the fans won't be satisfied, or maybe there's a question I left unanswered. But I have decided to upload what I see as the finished version and if I get a sudden lightning strike of "OMG! You gotta change/add that!" then I'll deal with it. I feel a little lost without my vampires- but I have another project to work on, so for a time the only time I'll be thinking about Blood Omen is before a book presentation or while I'm communicating with my fans. It's kind of sad... but the time has come and I do feel I achieved something pretty impressive to have written and published 5 books by the age of 35 (plus having 3 kids and holding down 3 other jobs!) :D
Is there anything you would change if you could?
A few things, but they are part of the story now, and as so many people have the story in their hands or on their devices, I can't change any facts. But it's ok- I've worked around them or let it go.
What next?
- Angels-demons (no title yet), set in Georgia (Republic of, where I live)
- St. Catherine's (a Wattpad chapter-by-chapter construction about angels and demons)
- Blood Omen: Memories - a prequel to Dea's story regarding the Coven and Apophi characters.
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| No time to sleep- more books to write!!! |
