Hello again everyone!

Well I started to write this blog in the middle of the month when I was not sure when exactly my book was coming out but as of September 24 it is available! But since that is still pretty recent, I did not want to delve into the specific characters or setting just yet in my blog but next month I plan to introduce Eileen in more detail!

For this blog I am going to focus on writing, specifically some of the background behind the Cardinal War and what my writing process is in general. I considered the timing recently, and I believe I actually wrote the bulk of The Cardinal War when I was the same age as Eileen, twenty-two; I am twenty-nine now. At the time of writing, I was studying at Grant MacEwan in the Arts and although I was writing many essays for school, I still found time to write for pleasure as well. I wanted a character that I related with in terms of age and I had recently finished reading a book in which the characters had wings. I immediately knew with The Cardinal War, I wanted my characters to have wings as well. I did not have all the details if they would be able to fly or what color of wings they would have, but I knew that was one feature I wanted to emphasize. Upon finishing the first draft of The Cardinal War, I did not know I would want to publish this book at some point, but I did know as I was writing it, that it was my favorite story I had written to date.

I had only just before that started out in longer stories, previously stories had only been a couple pages, but another story called Elvera, had reached 30 typed pages. Reaching this milestone and having the ability to flush out the plot and characters largely inspired me to write longer stories. The words for The Cardinal War just kept flowing and I wanted to develop some of the relationships and characters in the story. Ironically, at this point I find it difficult to write short stories and I think all my stories going forward will be at least the length Elvera was if not the length of The Cardinal War or even longer!

As much as I say I am going to talk about my current writing process, I do not actually have a strict process that I follow. By that, I mean I do not tend to sit down at a certain time every day and write a set amount of words. I tend to simply write when I feel inspired and keep writing until my inspiration stops for that particular section. When starting a new book, I do begin with creating an outline so I at least know my goals for the story and roughly, what I want chapters to cover. I then tend to write the ending, so no one should ever go through my notes unless you want spoilers. Writing the ending first helps me know what my goals are and how I need to lead the characters and plot throughout the story. At that point, I tend to write a chapter that inspires me. This may be one heavier in action/plot that I am more in the mood to write at the time or it may be a more relaxed conversational chapter. I find if I try to write in a specific order I hit writers block more frequently so to avoid this I write what my feelings connect with. This has also resulted in me having multiple stories being written at the same time but overall I tend to focus on only one or two at a time so I do not confuse any of the details. BONUS Information: I am currently working on a prequel that centers around Daithi and a story with new characters that takes place in Strongwater, another city within the Frythiel Empire.

Going through the editing process of this book was a wonderful and information filled experience. I had reviewed and edited as much as I could but it was far different having another set of experienced eyes looking at it. It was also someone who does not know me so they were able to give honest feedback but also very helpful feedback. I was able to see areas where I could expand my story telling and describing visuals as well as ensuring I vary up my language. I hope that you will find not all my characters smile softly now. The editing process also gave me ideas and ways to expand future stories before I even get to the editing stage. I am hoping future stories will be longer and more detailed which will hopefully add more enjoyment and I will be able to get even more out of the editing process when I go through it again, not just on my own but with the experience set of eyes as well.

That’s all for this blog but stay tuned for next month where we will learn more about Eileen!