Hello readers!
As promised, today I am writing about how I came to write Fallen Desire—the second book in the Fallen series. I will talk about how I came up with Roshika and Archdemon Tim—two characters based on my Kickstarter backers! I will also talk about my editing experience and how I changed some of the scenes.
Roshika and Tim: Two very different people
Roshika is a witch: a very old, very wise witch. She’s been around since the year 2000, and since the book is set in 2520, that makes her five hundred years old. She is originally from India, but has lived in Europe and the US. Roshika’s motivations are simple: protect the world from Lucifer and his progeny.
Roshika’s character is based on Jeanne Smith, Great Demon backer extraordinaire. Of course, what exactly the two have in common may not be immediately obvious—Jeanne is certainly eccentric, but she’s not exactly a five hundred year old witch. (Or is she?)
One of the main characteristics they share is their love for animals. Roshika has a pet cat, a raven friend, and two snakes. Jeanne also owns cats, a couple of snakes, and a dog. She does not own an intelligent raven (who kinda of talks!) but you can’t have everything in life can you?
Tim, on the other hand, is a more exact match with his namesake. They share the same name, obviously. Moreover, Archdemon Tim somewhat resembles a younger version of my superfan: he’s very gay, naturally, and loves having fun. He has a nihilistic and ironic approach to life—you only live once, so you better make the best of it. When it comes to his enemies, he is merciless.
It’s strange how my fictional characters are so much more ruthless than their real-life counterparts. We should appreciate the fact that civilisation allows us to be nice to each other.
What’s it like working with an editor?
Robert, my editor at Terran Empire publishing, is actually not the first editor I have ever worked with. I have worked with two editors before him: Matrice, who read the Ark, the precursor story to the Fallen series; and Annie Nybo, who worked with me on Fallen Love, but only for the first few chapters. (Editors are expensive!)
Robert is the first editor I have worked with who was along for the “full ride” if you will. He’s read the series; he knows the story and the characters well. He gets it.
Robert’s responsibilities boil down to the following:
- Tell me what works and doesn’t work in the story. His feedback led me to add two great new scenes to the story—a scene where Mark visits a museum, in which Lucifer has decided to showcase all the people he turned to stone. (Yes, it’s dark!) In another scene, Mark has an in-depth conversation with Lucifer about who he is, where he came from, and what he wants. This part of the story replaced a very weak and redundant scene.
- Find typographic errors: mispellings, grammar mistakes, and missing/wrong words.
- He knows my audience and what they will appreciate (or not appreciate).
If there’s one thing I wished Robert did more of, it’s be more critical. Editors are not there to be nice, or to pamper you (excessively): they are there to make your story better.
Want to know more?
Head over to my Patreon page where I will be sharing more detailed accounts of how I write my stories, as I write them. You will also get to see snippets of new books as they are written, long before the rest of the world even knows they exist.
