Interactive Q&A and Giveaway with Stacia Kane

Saffie

Oooh liking the sound of these! I’m interested to know why Cockney guard demons?!

Llehn

Do you have any superstition when it comes to writing?

Melissa

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

When it comes to writing, are you the sort of person that won’t let anyone read your work before your done or do you like to run ideas past others to gauge their opinions?

Look forward to reading Unholy Ghosts!

John J.

The premise of this series seems very interesting, definitely more than your average demon-slayer novel. How did you come up with the concept of “personal demons” and translate that into this series?

hagelrat

I loved the first book and am really looking forward to getting into the others.
My question is do you think personal demons are easier to deal with when they are hanging out in your home or when they are just in your head?

Synde

Howdy Stacia-
just stopping by to say HI and ask a little question. When you write do you listen to music or must it be completely silent?
Thanks for being here…

Jackie (Literary Escapism)

Wow…another great series I really need to check out. So many great questions to, let’s see if I can come up with a good one.

Can we learn more about some of your supporting characters? Which ones were your favorite ones to write?

Also, I love asking this question: Which authors do you read and/or think “Damn! I wish I had thought of that”? Who would you love to sit down with and discuss fantasy literature with?

Amanda Isabel

Was the inspiration of your books taken from your stint as a call-in psychic? Also, what was that like? And more – do you think that the paranormal genre’s rise is linked to the rise in female readership and what are your thoughts on that?
Thanks – can’t wait to read these! 😀

Stacia Kane

Hi Mel!

Oh, gosh, where don’t I find inspiration? I find visual art very inspiring. I’m no good at it at all myself, but images often give me ideas and help me set moods/atmospheres. An artist I know told me once that in ancient Egypt, writers and artists were required to spend time with each other, the theory being that the writers would be inspired by the visual art and the artists would be inspired by the writing, and I think that still works. I’ve been lucky enough to make friends with a few amazing visual artists and always find their work gives me new ideas.

Ha, Llehn, I certainly do. 🙂 I like to start new projects between the new moon and the full moon. I don’t like to discuss my ideas publicly before the book is finished. I like to read a sample of my published work before I start a new project, the idea being that it will spread the luck into the new project. And I never, ever talk about getting the WIP published until it’s finished, for fear I’ll jinx it.

Stacia Kane

Hi Bianca! Oooh, good questions!

Hmm. Generally when I’m stuck I may take a look back at some of the visual images I collected when I was thinking about the work. Sometimes I make word lists to help as well, and look at those. Generally, though, I try to think of what the Next Logical Step might be for the characters, both heroes and villains. If the situation is X, and they need to find Y, what might they try next? Where might they go? What clue would be a good one to find? That sort of thing. And I go on from there.

Oh, gosh, I enjoy tons of bands! 🙂 The Downside books have a lot of music in them and I’m planning on creating playlists and even a radio station for them on my website. Some of my favorites are the Clash, the Supersuckers, the Devil Dogs, Radio Birdman, Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers, Chuck Berry, the Lazy Cowgirls…and of course I do love the classic stuff too, like Zeppelin and the Stones and CCR (who are especially great for inspiration, I find).

As for characters…while I do love to write villains and tough people and funny people, I think what I tend toward the most and do the best with are broken people.

Stacia Kane

Hi Melissa!

Yeah, I pretty much always wanted to be a writer. I remember when I was a kid spending hours sitting in front of a typewriter, mostly copying entire pages–entire chapters–from published books in an effort to both improve my speed and try to imagine that I’d written them, and how it must have felt for the author to have written them, and to figure out how it was done. So it was always there, but it wasn’t until I hit my late twenties that I decided to actually do something about it.

I’m definitely a read-and-brainstorm-as-we-go person, at least with close friends and people whose opinions I really respect. I’m never entirely sure about an idea when I’ve just started it, so it helps me a lot to have people I trust encourage me. I may stop sending them stuff to read after the first few chapters, but I always always want feedback on those first three. 🙂

Thanks, I hope you like it!

Thanks Stephanie! I actually have a YA project I’m working on at the moment; well, I’ve been working on it for about a year, because although I love the characters and world I decided when I was about 45k in that the story just wasn’t strong enough, and so scrapped most of it. So we’ll see. I have a few other adult projects in the pipeline as well.

Hi John J.! Thanks! The idea actually came from a comment someone made online about being tired of seeing the phrase “…must battle their own personal demons…” in query letters and blurbs. I started thinking about what fun implications that phrase had and what could be done with it. Psychological counseling seemed like the obvious career for a protagonist to have; originally Megan was a therapist who had written a book, but I really didn’t want to write a character who would actually use the “slay your personal demons” line in all seriousness. So it became a radio show she’d gotten kind of roped into doing, and that gave me a much better idea of what sort of person she was, and then came Malleus, Maleficarum, and Spud, and I was ready to go. 🙂

I really liked the idea of a character who is exposed to a new world and forced to find her place in it, and of a character who does a caring job but also keeps her distance from humanity. megan is sort of forced to stop worrying about other people and start worrying about herself, and to join a new world when she’d never really done so with the old one, and I liked that (not to mention the fun conflict inherent in a counselor who leads a family of misery-causing demons).

Thanks Tynga! My demons have kind of a unique cosmology; they’re not entirely beings of evil but have assimilated into human society quite a bit. They all have unique powers, or rather, each “breed” has a different type of power, though there is some overlap. In this world what we think of as demons, the beings who live in Hell, were wiped out centuries ago, so really the demons who still exist were the ones who looked human enough to “pass.” So you may know a demon and not realize you do. 🙂 Hell doesn’t really exist anymore and there really isn’t a big Biblical issue or conflict in the series, so I was able to really play with the concepts of good and evil and what makes one human and what people are like under the surface and all of that fun stuff. 🙂

Stacia Kane

Hi Hagelrat! Lol, I think they’re definitely easier when they’re just hanging out at your house and you can tell them to go the hell away! It’s extremely difficult if not impossible to completely rid yourself of those horrible feelings. At least in my experience.

Hi Liz! {{hug}} Oh, I miss the UK loads, too, and definitely want to be back this summer; we’re working on it!!

I’m a pantser all the way. If I write too detailed a synopsis or plan the book too thoroughly, I lose the element of surprise and the book feel “written,” even though it isn’t. I need to keep some mystery in it myself.

And I’d love to write YA, and am (slowly) working on one now, so let’s hope it works. 🙂

Hey Synde! I listen to music very rarely when I work, but I don’t require silence either. I usually have the TV on in the background; just something to fill the silence and give me something to look at when I pause for whatever reason. 🙂

GSM

Stacia–
What kind of music do you listen to while writing, and is it different than what you play loud in the car? (And do you sing in the car with that loud music?) Congrats on the series–sounds great. Thanks for visiting.

Stacia Kane

Hi Heather! Ha, well, I do and I don’t, really. I think it would be difficult to write without including qualities of people you’ve met, simply because there are a finite–albeit very large–number of qualities for people to have. But in general the characters come out of my head fully formed, and without calculation; I don’t decide to base them on people and they don’t, as whole people, remind me of anyone I knew, although Character A might react to a situation the way Person A might have, or Character C might have a quirk that Person C had. Do you know what I mean?

Hey, thanks Jackie! Oh, gosh, which are my favorites? I guess it wouldn’t be fair to say “All of them,” would it? Even though it’s true?

I hate when writers refer to their books as their babies; I’ve written books and I have two kids, and it’s a very different thing (I wouldn’t die to save my book’s life, you know?). But in a sense my characters are like my children in that it’s very hard to have a favorite or to elevate one over another; they all have qualities that I love. I love Malleus, Maleficarum, and Spud simply because they are and always have been just so much fun to write. I love Greyson Dante because he’s just so smooth and sexy, in addition to being handsome and rich and all those fantasy things. 🙂 In the Downside books I love my big, bad greaser, Terrible, because he’s so scary and tough and complex and smart; I love my Asian criminal, Lex, because he’s funny and sexy and just so cool all the time. Really, I love all of them, they all have different qualities that make them special to me, you know?
As for which of them gives me the most trouble…oh, gosh. Tera the witch is always trying to make everything about her, but that might be in part because she was originally the heroine of her own book. Terrible in the Downside books originally had a much smaller role but he just fascinated me to the point where I couldn’t stop writing him.

And who do I read and think “Damn, I wish I’d thought of that!”? Neil Gaiman. Garth Ennis. Alan Moore. Caitlin Kittredge and Richelle Mead and Mark Henry. 🙂 And I’ll talk to anybody about books, lol.

Hi Amanda! Oooh, good question. Hmm. No, the idea really didn’t come from there at all, but I did use the experience of having worked on the phone to help get into Megan’s mindset a bit. 🙂

It was an okay job, really, just like any other. Sometimes it was sad–lonely, scared people who just wanted someone to listen–sometimes it was funny. We actually got a lot of people who called just looking for advice; we got a lot of people who knew it was just a Tarot card reading and weren’t so much interested in the “Tell me my future” experience as they were in just having an impartial ear, and in seeing what the cards said as an adjunct to that. Or they wanted to vent, or they were bored. Some of them were a lot of fun and some of them were just dullards.

Hmm. I think the rise of paranormals and UF is linked to a lot of things. Normal consumer cycles, for one. A generational shift, with lots of us pining for those great SF and fantasy and horror books and films from our childhoods. The uncertainty of the world and people wanting to experience something where it’s not so uncertain. And sure, women drive large parts of the publishing industry, but I don’t think it’s just a “Women like those sexy vampires” thing at all. 🙂

If anything I think it’s that women who grew up with feminism and are now adults aren’t afraid to say they like traditionally “male” things like fantasy or science fiction, so they’re happily switching into a genre where they can get the action and unique worlds and characters in addition to the romance (if they want it, of course, because NOT all urban fantasy has lots of romance and/or sex).

Thanks Jo! Oh, gosh, would they get along? I think Megan and Chess (the Downside books’ heroine) definitely would, yeah, although it might be a bit prickly at first. In fact, I think both Megan and Chess would be fairly well liked in each others’ worlds. But the men…that would probably be a bit awkward at first, definitely!

Rosie Carlo

Hi there, I haven’t had the pleasure of reading your books, but after reading this entry, I’m going to make sure to get them … soon!

Alex

What is your favorite character to write?

Jenn Bennett

I’m curious about your release cycle for the Downside books. Instead the releases being spaced every 6 months- year, the first three are all being released in the U.S. this summer, like a month apart, correct? Though I know your publisher sets this, it’s an intriguing strategy for a new series: readers get hooked, you get more notice on the shelf with multiple books rather than one, etc. What are your thoughts on this becoming more common in UF? Can’t wait to read them, P.S. Thanks!

Stacia Kane

Hi Cindy! Oh, gosh, my favorite books of 2009. Caitlin Kittredge’s STREET MAGIC, definitely. Richard Kadrey’s SANDMAN SLIM is another. THE LIKENESS by Tana French; I love her books. SUCCUBUS HEAT by Richelle Mead.

That’s not a complete list, but it’s the ones that really stand out. 🙂

Hi Donna! Lol, what did I do? I think I danced around for a few minutes and then I made my husband go out to pick up dinner so I didn’t have to cook. 🙂 I got the contract for PERSONAL DEMONS several years ago, so I don’t remember it as well. But it’s always really exciting to get the news that your ms will be a real book; I’ve sold over a dozen books now (I was published in erotic romance at Ellora’s Cave before I started writing urban fantasy) and it never gets old.

The best part of being a writer? Getting to interact with readers! Oh, and not having to get dressed up for work. 🙂

Hi Peta, thanks! Yep, they are a hoot; it’s hard to write them without giggling.

I usually write at night, although if I’m on deadline I write every second I have the chance. I keep a drink right next to the laptop, and I smoke a cigarette before I get started. I also keep a notebook and pen next to me in case I need it; I don’t usually, but it’s still handy. I try to do at least 2k words a day, too, although I don’t always make it (and sometimes I do more). I also like to suck on Drumstick lollies while I work, if at all possible; they’re these chewy raspberry-and-milk flavored lollipops that I became addicted to in England. They last forever.

Hi GSM! Lol, it’s usually the same music–I listed some of the bands above, but there are some others too. I like to hook up my ipod and just put it on Shuffle. And yes, I sing along! LOUD. 🙂 Sometimes when I’m plotting I listen to other stuff; I have some instrumental music, classics and such, that I listen to, or soundtracks. (I like the Buffy “Once More With Feeling,” one, of course, and Sweeney Todd.)

Hi Marie! Yeah, I guess I have, to some degree. It’s all life experience, and life experiences are the building blocks of what we write. The thing about most of the jobs I’ve had is that they all entailed dealing with the public, and when you work with the public you get a chance to observe them. You see a ot when you tend bar. You hear a lot when you are a phone psychic or when you work for a major credit card company; you hear people’s stories and worries and what’s happening in their lives. So it all goes in, but I don’t think I could point to a specific moment in any one of the books and say, “Oh, yeah, that was based on ____.”

Sue R

Hi! The books sound fantastic. They are my kind of reads. Im curious what inspire you to write a psychologist with a radio show? Did you have to do alot of research regarding psychology and radio talk show?

Stacia Kane

Hi Jenn! Yeah, the back-to-back release is pretty exciting; Del Rey is referring to it as “a publishing event,” and I’m just totally thrilled that they’re so excited about the series!

Personally I’d love to see more series start out that way; I know I’m a lot more inclined to buy a first book in a series if I know I can get the second the following month. But it’s a really complex scheduling process and often means delaying the books, too. UNHOLY GHOSTS was originally supposed to be a 10/09 release; they wanted to give the series back-to-back releases but couldn’t find an open slot. Then one suddenly came up, which was/is awesome, but it did require delaying UG until the end of May. So I think that might be part of the reason why it isn’t done more often, is because of the deadline pressures it can put on everyone and the shuffling around that would need to be done. But then, I don’t understand all the logistics of scheduling and everything, either. I just write the books. 🙂

Hi Nicole! Oh, gosh, the weirdest thing? I tended bar at a chain restaurant, so it wasn’t, like, a cool bar or anything. Really, offhand the only thing I can think of–and it’s not even weird–is the night I made the mistake of admitting to a group of sorority girls that I knew how to make a Miami Vice (which is a rum runner and a pina colada together in a glass–but not mixed, the colors have to stay distinct–and topped with a float of blue curacao. You have to make the rum runner and pina colada separately and it’s an enormous pain in the ass). Everyone else in the restaurant saw them with their cool-looking drinks, and they all wanted one, and I ended up mixing pina coladas and rum runners all night and cursing myself for admitting I knew how to make that drink. But like I said, that’s not weird. Sorry!

The first book I ever read was MISS NELSON IS MISSING. It was my favorite story, and I made my mom read it to me so many times I memorized it, and I learned how to read from it–I started to understand what word was what and what each letter sounded like. And I’ve been reading ever since. 🙂

And do I dream of my characters? No, not really. I think about them all the time, and sometimes to help me sleep I’ll imagine what they would do in a boring situation (so I get new insight to their character and manage to bore myself into sleep), lol, but they don’t usually show up in my dreams. At least, I don’t think they do. I very rarely remember my dreams in great detail, so for all I know I have very complex and deep dreams about them every night!

Thanks!

Ava

Are your demons like those in other books?

heatwave16

Hi Stacia!!! I was curious how you decided to make your heroine a psychologist and psychic. Its just an odd/different occupation. I think its a great idea. You can only have so many dectectives from any agency.

Thanks for stopping by. 🙂

van p.

This series sounds great, would love to read it. Thanks for the chances of winning the books! 😀

Tiffany M.

Hi! Thank for you for taking the time to answer questions. What other series do you think your books are most like? For example, when I recommend Ilona Andrews’ Magic Bites for those who like Patricia Briggs’ Moon Called. I’ve seen your books in the romance section in some stores, general fiction, and in sci-fi. Where would you like them?

Also, how did you pick the name Megan Chase? Was it always Megan, or did it go through different spellings? (I have a Chinese-American friend who picked Megan as her name, and is very adamant about correct pronunciation and spelling).

Cybercliper

Hi Stacey – I’ve read some really good reviews about this series and look forward to giving them a try. I’ve always been interested in a Tarot reading but have been kinda chicken about it. Had you previously received any indication from the cards that indicated this would be your path?

Stacia Kane

Hi Mariska! Oh, gosh, my favorite scene in DEMON POSSESSED? Hmm. I have a few. There’s a sex scene I’m quite pleased with, lol, and there’s an argument in an elevator that I like; I think one of the characters’ vulnerabilities comes through nicely in it so I’m proud of it. Actually, there are a couple of argument-y scenes and I like all of them. And the final scene, although in rereading there are always bits we would change a little here and there.

I have collaborated, yes. My critique partner Anna J. Evans and I wrote two erotic romances for Ellora’s Cave (I was writing as December Quinn at the time): AS THE LADY WISHES and DEMON’S TRIAD. Both are m/m/f menages, and DT earned an X rating under EC’s old ratings system; it’s quite a dark little book. We’ve been talking about writing together again but our schedules are just so full these days it’s hard to find the time; Caitlin Kittredge and I have talked about doing something together one day, as have Ann Aguirre and me, but again, time is hard to come by. We all still have hopes that one day it’ll work out, though!

Hi Heatwave16! Well, she became a psychologist because I thought that would add another really interesting layer of conflict to the whole concept of the personal demons, and the psychic part was to give her some extra ability to see them, lol. No, actually, it was that in part but it was also to give her an additional vulnerability; being someone who was so used to being able to “read” people to determine their trustworthiness would make it harder for her when dealing with demons she couldn’t read. It also gave me a good way to make her a threat to the personal demons and explain her history. So it all just seemed to fit together, and that made me happy. 🙂

Abigail, I am working on a YA project at the moment, but slowly in between all of my other projects. And of course there’s no guarantee it will sell, either. 🙂 So hopefully in the future!

Lisa B.

Stacia,

I’ve heard your writing packs quite a punch. How would you describe it to make it stand out from all the other authors out there?

Also, you mentioned music. Do you write with music? If so, what kind? Somehow I’m picturing you as a rock and roll girl? Am I close? 🙂

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer all our questions and congrats on the success!

CrystalGB

Hi Stacia. Your books sound great. Do you have a certain time of day/night that you like to write? What is the weirdest/funniest comment you have received from a fan?

Stacia Kane

Hi Lisa B.! Wow, um, where did you hear that? 🙂 That’s really flattering! I think I would definitely say that the Downside books have a much grittier feel and that the writing in it reflects that; I think if I had to describe it I would say it’s sort of like if Andrew Vachss wrote urban fantasy? That’s more the feel I was going for. The books are about drug addicts and dealers and thugs in this sort of punk-rock ghetto, so it’s a different sort of world.

Lol, yes, you are right about that. 🙂 I don’t generally write with music on but I do mention music in the books, and in the next few months I’m hoping to set up an internet radio station on my site to play the music mentioned in them (and stuff that hasn’t been mentioned yet) as well as setting up playlists on itunes and stuff.

Thanks so much!

Hi Kuri, thanks! Um, the biggest difference? Hmm. They’re really such different characters in a lot of ways (but they have some similarities as well). Chess is a drug addict, a former abused foster child. So she really doesn’t trust people and doesn’t really want them around, whereas Megan wanted to have people in her life but never seemed to find the right people. Both have a lot of insecurities and troubles from their past that still haunt them, but Megan does a job where she helps people deal with those same problems whereas Chess has a job that enables her to prove to herself again and again that people lie and cheat and hide things. Megan was happy to have love in her life but Chess freaks out and tries to run away from it.

But both have a lot of strength as well, and a determination to survive. 🙂

Hi CrystalGB! Oh, I prefer to write at night, absolutely, after my husband and children have gone to bed. But when I’m on a deadline or the words are really flowing I’ll write all day, as much as I can.

And hmmm…actually, I can’t say I’ve really gotten any weird comments from fans. The people who email me tend to be really smart, funny people, and it’s a delight to hear from them. I did once see someone complaining about the sex scene in PERSONAL DEMONS, though, because although Greyson…um…(I’m not sure what the adult-content rating is here) “performs an act of oral gratification,” is what I’ll say, on Megan she doesn’t reciprocate in that scene. And of course, that person is entitled to whatever complaints they want to make, but it just seemed to me that a sex scene doesn’t have to be paint-by-numbers and everyone gets a turn like in preschool; especially since I’d already written a scene in the second book where Megan seduces Greyson by doing exactly that. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t do it, she just didn’t do it then; the opportunity didn’t come up, you know?

So it kind of puzzled me, because I didn’t think I was making any sort of statement about that particular act by not including it in that one scene, but it wasn’t a big deal either. 🙂

Thanks for the question, Saffie!

Diana Dang

Seems like a great series!

What is your favourite demon or paranormal movie?

Stella (Ex Libris)

Hi Stacie!

I would like to know how do you write? I’m curious about your writing process: once an idea strikes you and you get enough to start writing the story, do you start by writing the beginning or do you come back later and write the first few chapters when you already know where you want to take the story and give it a perfect introduction?

Thank you,

Stella

Sharli

I have heard great things about these but haven’t gotten around to order them yet 😛

So my question is: Are you a fan of your own characters?? And I mean giggly fan girl type lol

Thanks! I love knowing more about writers 😉

Raelena

Was there a particular author or book that inspired you to become a writer?

Sharon K

Hi Stacia,
you books sound great! Sparked my interest!
My question
Which was the hardest book to write and why?
Thanks for Q/A & contest!

Stacia Kane

Hi Bella! Die Hard is frigging awesome, isn’t it? And it’s not just that it’s so good, it’s such a perfect example of storytelling. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is insignificant. It’s just perfection. 🙂

I actually was a stay-home mom when I really started writing; I gave up tending bar when I was a few months pregnant with my first. So it really wasn’t too much of a change, although I think once I started selling and having deadlines and everything it was a bit of a transition for my family. They didn’t have access to me all the time anymore, and sometimes I’d be busy and they’d have to wait. I mean, they did before I started writing as well, but it took on a new meaning once I started writing. 🙂

Oh, and a Ricardian is someone who believes Richard III was innocent of the murders of the Princes in the Tower and was actually a good King, a victim of slander and propaganda spread by the Tudor usurpers. 🙂 A good place to start if you’re at all interested is by reading Josephine Tey’s THE DAUGHTER OF TIME. It’s fiction, but it provides a decent overview of the facts.

Thanks Stella! Oh, I’m definitely a linear writer; I start at the beginning and don’t stop until I’m done. I do end up going back and rewriting those first chapters or adding completely new first chapters, but in general I have a decent enough idea of where the story is going (even though I don’t know how it ends, really) that I can just keep moving. The only time I ever left a blank spot in a book was when writing PERSONAL DEMONS. After the scene in the park I just had no idea what to do next; I sat on it for a few weeks and finally just decided to skip it and fill it in later, and started writing with the next scene I had in my head, which was the charity ball. So everything in between there was written after the book had an ending. But that’s the only time I’ve ever done that. It felt weird! 🙂

Lol, Sharli, that’s a great question! I admit I have a real weakness for my heroes. They do make me kind of melty and full of sighs. 🙂 I figure if they didn’t they wouldn’t be very good heroes, though, so I don’t get too embarrassed about it (just a little bit embarrassed)!

Hi Mona! I’m definitely a computer girl. Sometimes I make notes in longhand, or will use pen & paper to sketch out some ideas, but in general I don’t write longhand at all. I like to have a bit of background noise when I work, and I can work anywhere, really, although I like to be on the couch in the living room–I like to have everything I need close by, and I like to at least feel like I’m sitting with my family even though they’re watching TV or whatever and I’m in my own little world. 🙂

I keep everything in my head. On very rare occasions I might write something down so I’ll remember it later, but in general it’s all up there; plots, characters, story lines, clues, everything. I keep thinking that one of these days I’ll need to put together some sort of worldbuilding bible, but I never seem to have the time for a project like that and it just seems like such a slog. I’m too lazy!

Oh, gosh, Raelena, all of them! I don’t think I could point to any one specific author or title; it was just something I always wanted to do. I’ve always been a huge reader, and somewhere in there at a very young age I decided that was what I wanted to do for a living. I didn’t get serious about it until my first daughter was almost a year old, but really, every book I ever read, good or bad, inspired me.

Ha ha, Qwill, I wish! If I knew a guy like Greyson I probably wouldn’t be writing, I’d be spending all my time following him around. 😉 No, I don’t base characters on real people; if there’s any person who seems to influence my characters it’s me, really. Like Megan has some of my tastes in food and she’s allergic to peppers just like me. Chess listens to the same music I listen to and, actually, is probably the character who’s the most like me in a lot of ways.

But generally, rather than writing about people I know…I write about people I’d like to know. 🙂

Stacia Kane

Hi Sharon! Oh, wow, that’s a heck of a question. I think it’s probably DEMON POSSESSED. I had a lot going on in my life at the time, some really difficult stuff, and I knew it was probably the last one, and that was hard too; I had to make sure I gave everyone a good send-off and accomplished the things I’d hoped/planned to accomplish, but in less time than I’d originally planned, so…yeah, it was difficult. But hopefully the book is still good and will make people happy!

Thanks jmspettoli! Hmm. Not really, no, because the characters are so different, but there have been a few times where a line of dialogue or exposition has snuck in and when I reread I’m like, “Hey! That’s not something Chess would say, that’s a Megan line!” or vice versa. But it gets easier as time goes on. 🙂