Thanks, Eric, for hosting a leg of the DIES IRAE blog tour. Eric asked me to talk a little about the
process of a series—the pros and cons, ins and outs, that sort of thing. My
initial reaction to his request was laughter. Why? Because the series never
started out as such. Not even close.
The world of Celestium and my angels started off as a stand-alone book
called LACRIMOSA. When my beta
readers read it, they all told me it should be a series. But I queried it as a
single title, still not convinced it was worthy of a series. In truth, I wasn’t
convinced I was ready to commit to a series. See, writing a series are hard.
Oftentimes the storyline deteriorates into the world of the cliché. And this is
NOT something I wanted to happen to LACRIMOSA
or that world. So when my friends suggested a series, I really did
ignore them.
Until I sold it.
As a four book series.
EEP!
Looks like I needed to get comfortable with writing a series—and quick!
Where did I start? By figuring out the things I was most worried about
with a series. After brainstorming, talking with some of my friends, and
talking with my loyal teen group, I identified the following areas of concern
with writing a series:
- · Many series have a strong first book, and weaker, cliché, or repetitive follow up books
- · Retelling backstory—over and over and over
- · “Forcing” the storyline beyond what it really is
Then I thought about other options, like companion stories. But, I had a
couple of concerns there as well:
- · Lack of story continuity (and the feedback from readers that this isn’t always a good thing)
- · Switching POVs to a new character or characters
- · Lack of linear storytelling
While neither of these lists are fatal in my opinion, but there are
things I wanted to be aware of as I plotting and planned my series.
So, what did I come up with? Here are the basics (without giving away my
plots, of course):
- · A full storyline that steers clear of the cliché
- · Crafting each story to stand-alone to some degree, without retelling backstory over and over
- · Using novellas and novelettes to bridge between the stories and introduce alternative POVs without losing the continuity of the series.
Man, this is tough. Beyond tough, actually. But I can honestly say I have
enjoyed the process; enjoyed stretching myself as an artist.
Will I be successful? No idea. I guess all of you, my readers, will be
the final judge. I can only hope you do!
About Christine Fonseca
School psychologist by day, critically
acclaimed YA and nonfiction author by night, Christine Fonseca believes that
writing is a great way to explore humanity. Her debut YA Gothic series, The Requiem Series, including DIES IRAE and LACRIMOSA, examines the role of redemption, sacrifice and love. When she’s not writing or spending time with
her family, she can be sipping too many skinny vanilla lattes at her favorite
coffee house or playing around on Facebook and Twitter. Catch her daily thoughts about writing
and life on her blog.
DIES IRAE
Some
sacrifices should never be made—even for love.
Mikayel lives by one rule—obey the orders of the
angelic Council at all costs. But when he and his friends, Azza and Demi, are
sent to Earth as teenagers, following the rules is more difficult than they
expected.
Being human isn’t the only problem facing the three
angels. Unbeknownst to the Council, demonic activity is on the rise,
threatening to break a tenuous peace that has existed for a millennia.
Caught in a struggle for power with unseen demonic
forces, and fighting against his rising emotional, Mikayel must now decide how
many rules he is willing to break to save his friends, a decision that could
reignite an ancient war and will threaten the only thing that matters to the
angels, the survival of humanity.
“Dies
Irae is the perfect introduction to Christine Fonseca’s Requiem series. The
beauty of the words will tempt you, the tragedy of the story will break you,
and the love, woven throughout like music through the trees, will haunt you for
days afterward. Dies Irae promises a tale unlike any you’ve read before.”
~Ali Cross,
Author of BECOME
Availability:
Publisher: COMPASS PRESS
ISBN:
Format: Digital format only - from Amazon, Barnes
and Noble and other retailers. Links not available at present.
LACRIMOSA
As
if casting out demons isn’t hard enough, five-hundred-year-old Nesy has to
masquerade as a teenage girl to do it. Nesy is the best of the warrior
angels called Sentinals. She never makes mistakes, never hesitates, never gets
emotionally involved. Until she meets Aydan.
He is evil incarnate; a fallen angel that feeds off
the souls of others. Everything Nesy is supposed to hate. But she can’t,
because he’s also the love of her former life as a human girl—a life that ended
too soon, tying her to emotions she was never supposed to feel.
Now Nesy must choose between doing her duty—damning Aydan
to the fiery depths of hell—or saving him, and condemning herself.
“LACRIMOSA
reaches out, grabs readers by the heart, and takes them on an emotional journey
from the first page to the last. The last novel you’ll need to read to
understand true sacrifice.”
~Elana Johnson,
Author of POSSESSION
Availability:
Publisher: COMPASS PRESS
ISBN: 0984786368 (ISBN 13: 9780984786367)
Hardback and Digital formats from Amazon, Barnes and
Noble and fine retailers. Links not currently available.
Additional Titles in the series include LIBERA ME
(Nov 2012) and REQUIEM (March 2013). The book trailer can be seen by linking to
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwTQoOFKEZg
For more information about Christine Fonseca or the
series, visit her website – http://christinefonseca.com
or her blog http://christinefonseca.blogspot.com.
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