Excepting copy edits and proofreading, the Godblind trilogy is now complete. My editors are happy with the latest round of edits I made to Bloodchild and the main creative process is now over.
The trilogy is over. For me, anyway – for readers, there’s still a bit of a wait.
While I’m really excited for the projects I have in the works, I’m also devastated. Genuinely upset at saying goodbye to Tara and Crys and Dom and Rillirin and Mace – and even Corvus and Lanta and all the supporting cast. These books have been the biggest creative force of the last 16 or so years of my life. That’s the amount of time it takes to grow up (allegedly), and I can safely say I’ve grown during the writing and publishing of these books.
While other stories have come and gone – published and mercifully unpublished – they’ve been my constant. My north star. And now they’re done.
My new book’s with my agent and beta-readers, and while I like it – a LOT – and I really like the characters, I don’t yet have that emotional connection to them. I’m not inside their skins with them yet. That’ll come, I know, but it also throws up a whole host of new anxieties in the interim: is this really just Tara by another name? Is this story too similar? Will anyone like the setting? Will readers follow me into this new territory, or do they want ‘another Godblind’?
It’s funny, after the anxiety and heartbreak of writing, editing and finishing Bloodchild, that I could so soon be worrying about a new book, but that’s the nature of the business. Do I start writing the sequel before the series has sold? Will it sell? Should I focus on short stories for a while? Do something completely different? Should I start looking for a full-time job?
I could say it’s a Brave New World, but I’ve read that book and it didn’t turn out well, so I’ll veer away from that analogy. Maybe it’s just a slightly different world now and, while I’m going to make some family along the way, at the moment we’re more like new friends.
But speaking of family, my second book Darksoul is out in paperback on April 18 and is now available for pre-order, so if you’re so inclined, you can pick up a copy from your retailer of choice.
Currently reading: SNAFU: Resurrection
Currently watching: Star Trek: Disco season 2, Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos 4-parter
Anna Stephens, word seeker 