Know the Novel Part One Part Two

So, here we are again.

I'm unsure if it can really be counted as a writing project if I don't make at least one change to my plans... 

Or I suppose this could technically just be called an adjustment in plans, since I'm changing nothing about what I said about my first two projects. I'm just adding a third project into the mix. The Gods Created Monsters.

I was really hoping to have this one done before the FallFicFrenzy started, but then I got back the edits from Rage Like the Gods and I've spent the past several weeks consumed with working on the final draft of that. Which really wouldn't be that hard, since I'm only really reading through it to make certain that it all sounds good and fits with continuity, except this book is like 900 pages long.

So, anyway, I have not been able to get this story finished up. Which is why I am now adding it to my FallFicFrenzy challenge, because, yeah, I need to finish this. After RLtG, this is the next book that I'm releasing. I'm already 38,000 words into it so hopefully that puts me at about halfway done. My current goal is to focus on finishing TGCM and starting Of Dawn and Fire in October and then in November I would like to finish Of Dawn and Fire and get at least halfway through Savage Gods and Spellbooks.

With all of that said, let's get to know this novel.

1. What first sparked the idea for this novel?

Once again, this story was inspired by a video game. It's set in Ruskhazar after all. This one is actually not at all influenced by Skyrim though. It's actually inspired by the game Dragon Age: Origins

If you've never played it then all you really know is that it is a messy complicated game about doomed heroes trying to save the world and it has my favorite fictional boyfriend Alistair Therin

he is the perfect man
(also image from Pinterest)

... and this game basically sets you up to NOT get a happy ending with Alistair unless you're willing to do a lot of really, really, really, really sketchy things. So anyway, your girl needed a happy ending so she decided to write it herself.

And that's how this story was born.

2. Share a blurb (or just an overall summary)!

The gods created the monsters…now it is up to the mortals to kill them.

Alya has always dreamed of adventure, but as a noble lady she knows that the only thing her future holds in store for her is marriage. However, when her engagement to the crown prince leads to her family’s murder, Alya loses herself to her need for revenge. She wants the future king dead and she is willing to do whatever she must to ensure his doom. Even if it means becoming a commissioned monster hunter and slaying as many undead as it takes to forestall the end of the world.

She is joined in her quest by the disillusioned guardsman who saved her life, a criminal who doesn’t want to do penance, a disgraced magicker who just wants everything to go back to the way was, and her cat. If they want to survive the dangerous duty of holding the line against the monsters then these outcasts are going to have to learn how to trust each other, ignore their selfish impulses, and do something right for a change. Because the world is ending and alone, they are not powerful enough to stop it.

Slay the monsters, defend the innocents, find the source of the rising dead… and don’t kill each other in the process. It shouldn’t be too difficult, right?

A band of novice monster slayers go up against creatures that have not been seen for a thousand years in this adult high fantasy series set in the world of Ruskhazar. It is perfect for fans of Michael J. Sullivan, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Witcher Saga.

3. Where does the story take place? What are some of your favorite aspects of the setting?

As I already mentioned, this story is set in the world of Ruskhazar, my high fantasy world home of men and elves, sorcerers and magickers, vampires and werewolves, the living and the dead... I have a ton of books set in this world (the current tally is 30 novels and novellas all divided into seven series and a single standalone). So, one of my favorite aspects of Ruskhazar is just how vast it is. There are so many moving parts and chaotic characters and events that it needs 30 books, seven series, and one standalone just to be able to tell its story. At this point, Ruskhazar almost feels like a character all its own and while each of the series (and standalone) can be read alone, in order to get the whole of Ruskhazar itself's story all of these books are necessary to unfold the drama.

Some of the aspects of Ruskhazar that this book explores that the others don't as much are...

The royalty, my other books set in this world are about regular townsfolk: the poor, the rich, and the criminal. But this book has a lot about at least the Lesser King line the Vadimovas (there are two kings in Ruskhazar, but the High King is a figurehead and doesn't do much). Only one other book in all the 30 set in Ruskhazar has a focus on the Vadimovas and that book is set two hundred years before this one and tells the story of how they came into power.

Monster hunting. I have monster hunters in other books ste in Ruskhazar, but they are oftentimes only temporarily monster hunters, villains, or both. And with Ruskhazar in the unique situation that it is (meaning that it is going to be destroyed by the undead) monster hunters are sort of a very important part of society. One that is oftentimes overlooked both by me and by the people of Ruskhazar themselves. So, I thought it would be nice to write a story about these unsung heroes.

The connection between the classes and clans. Ruskhazar is comprised of two clans of men and two clans of elves and none of them really get along due to the kingdom's sordid history. This is a key part of all the Ruskazar books, but one of the things that I decided to do in writing this book was have each member of the monster hunting band be from a different one of these clans. Two separate types of elves, and two separate types of humans.

4. Tell us about your protagonist(s).

I have four protagonists in TGCM. Alya, Zarynn, Conan, and Ikor.

Listed in order that they appear in this image:

Alya is a Lowlander noblewoman. Her family was killed by her betrothed the crown prince and now she wants his head. Preferably no longer attached to his body. She is angry and focused and untrusting and quite frankly has lost too much. All she has left are her cat, a brother that she has no idea where he is, and a guardsman who saved her life.

Zarynn is a Higher Elf sorcerer, a flirt, and a hothead. He bears brands on his face, one that identifies him as a sorcerer and one that he gave himself in anger so that no one would be able to ever brand him again. Except when a sorcerer is twice branded, they are executed. And he starts out this story in jail waiting for his death sentence to be fulfilled when he's offered a pardon.

Conan is a Highlander and former guardsman, however he was designated to die defending Alya so that it would look like the crown prince, the very man he has sworn to protect with his life, wasn't the one responsible for the assassination of his fiancé. Fortunately for Conan and Alya, he managed to get them both to safety, but she lost her parents to the attack and he lost many of his former guards and friends. Now he is left wondering at his purpose and if there really is an inherent good in people.

Ikor is a Lower Elf magicker and was once the Scholar of Spells, the person responsible for chronicling every known spell. Unfortunately, he killed someone two hundred years ago to be able to get this position and the truth of his dark deeds has just come out. He has now been removed from his position and cast back into the real world. But he has quite the adjustment to make after existing in a world of academics and books for the past two centuries.

Fluff, Alya's cat also bears mentioning. He is very much like his owner. Grumpy, violent, and fiercely loyal to few.

5. Who (or what) is the antagonist?

While he isn't in it much, the crown prince of the lesser kingly line is quite villainous. He did kill my protagonist's parents after all and try to kill her and Conan as well. However, the main villain of this book is actually a whole town. I don't want to get into too much detail because of spoilers, but essentially, they are villains. And their leader is a very powerful, very creepy vampire lord.

6. What excites you the most about this novel

Found family!

My main characters are all so messed up. I'm looking forward to them being able to find identity and security with each other while they heal from the scars of the past. Especially Alya who is very angry and very hurt and I look forward to her being able to recover enough to start caring again.

This is only the beginning of these four together, but I can't wait until they can go from the strangers who couldn't care less if any of these others live or die to being like "touch my family and you die". It's going to be a long journey and very convoluted, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Also, I would be lying if I didn't admit that I can't wait to delve further into the relationship between Alya and Conan. It's sunshine and the grump only where she is the grump and he the sunshine. But Conan is just so pure! And Alya is so much like a wounded animal. She doesn't care about morality or doing sketchy things and she certainly doesn't care if people get hurt so long as she ends up with what she wants, but Conan does and she cares about him. So, I'm really going to enjoy writing how she goes from the angry stabby person to someone who thinks twice and tries to find a more peaceful solution all because the guy she likes is squeamish when it comes to blood.

Actually, tbh Conan does this to the whole group. I put a Cinnamon Roll in the middle of a group of misfit criminals and murderers and watch him sweeten everything around him.

7. Is this going to be a series? standalone? something else?

It's a four book series, this is book one.

8. Are you plotting? pantsing? plansting?

Plansting. I know a good deal of what needs to happen, but there's definitely some gray area, especially in the middle where I'm currently writing that I'm still trying to figure out.

9. Name a few unique elements in this story.

I don't know if this is unique per se, but the fact that this book is about monster hunters. I know that other stories have done monster hunters, but I personally haven't really written about them myself. Not to the extent that I've wanted to. So, I'm really excited to focus on a book about killing monsters and butt-kickery.

Like there is killing monsters and then there is the death of monsters being your primary goal. Where you actually set out to hunt them down and end their existence. And to me that's an important distinction.

One thing that sets this book apart from my other Ruskhazar books is that it is a large cast of characters who are actually in a group and stick together. For the most part in Ruskhazar, if I have multiple main characters then they are all sort of on their separate paths with some underlying part of the plot connecting them. But they don't really know the other main characters in their books. And they don't necessarily get along. I have some main characters who are literally enemies of each other.

One exception is my main characters in Savage Gods, but I only have two so I don't really consider that a large cast.

But TGCM has four main characters, and the main part of the book is the connection between them as they become allies. And that forced proximity is not something a lot of my other main characters in Ruskhazar books deal with. They are all loners, but the characters in this book are a family.

10. Share some fun “extras” of the story (a song or full playlist, some aesthetics, a collage, a Pinterest board, a map you’ve made, a special theme you’re going to incorporate, ANYTHING you want to share!).

So, here's the map of Ruskhazar again

And here's the cover of the book

I already shared a sketch of my four main characters above, but here is one of Alya and Conan as well

The pre-order link!

And here's the playlist

And Pinterest board