March 1, 2014
The Birth of The Revelation Series
I thought it might be a fun idea to write three blogs leading up to the release of Revelation that give insight into the series. A ‘behind the scenes’ look, if you will into: the series conception, plot creations, character development and finally some scenes and chapters that are exclusive!
Not to sound cliché, but I thought I would start at the beginning. Every story has one, right?
As a reader, I’ve always started with the last page first. I like knowing how a story ends as I progress through it. Not because I don’t like suspense, twists and surprises, but for the reason that, I like to see the exploration of a plot line. How the characters mature over the course of a storyline, and the thinking behind choices that lead to the outcome. I realize it seems like a great deal of work for a casual read – lol.
I applied my reading philosophy to my writing. I began The Revelation Series by writing the final chapter of the series in 2008. That’s right! Eve and Asher’s fate has been sealed since 2008 and won’t be changing.
Then, I worked backwards and wrote the final chapters to each of the remaining four books. Once each book had an ending, I wrote the first chapter to each of the five books. All in 2008, again, none of which will be changing.
After that, I walked away from the computer. Life went on. I focused on work, friends, family and being a wife and new mom. But the story was still there, under my skin, itching to be heard.
The characters voices were a soft rumbling at first. A line of dialogue, some witty retort and then at times, full-blown scenes of interaction. All of which I wrote down each time I heard them speak to me. I kept sticky notes in every room, just in case. My husband started to worry about the voices in my head, but other than an occasional side-glance, he let me flitter about. Never questioning the little yellow squares all over the house with random crap on them.
Late at night, when my daughter was sleeping I began writing character bios; back stories, personality traits, and anything else that I thought would make my characters come to life. Usually, while sitting in her nursery listening to her breathe.
Fast forward to 2014. When my husband and I decided to move back to Massachusetts from California, I was blessed that my job allowed me to continue to work from the East Coast. Maddison, now five, started school full-time and between the time difference and her school, I found I had more time to explore my writing.
So I did at the encouragement of my husband, friends and family. I kept everything I had written in 2008 and began to write the story in between each of the pervious words.
In less than six months book one, Revelation was born. It went through multiple rounds of editing and changes before I handed it over to a professional editor. Then more changes before being delivered to a beta group, then final changes, and more and more editing. To be honest, some days, it felt like the editing would never stop. But it did, and when it did, it felt amazing.
I picked the title Revelation because it has two meanings, both of which encapsulated my story perfectly. Revelation: (1) a surprising and previously unknown fact, especially one that is made known in a dramatic way and (2) the divine or supernatural disclosure to humans of something relating to human existence or the world.
I like the idea of the book title summarizing a book completely and being used within the context of the material. So each book in the series: Revelation, Restraint, Redemption, Revolution and Resurrection will do just that.
A cover was designed, a title was created, copyrights were filed, a publishing date was chosen and a marketing plan was developed and The Revelation Series was born.
It’s an amazing thing, the power of the written word. Words can impact your emotions, teach you things about yourself, take you to new worlds and expand your knowledge far beyond what we experience day-to-day. Hopefully this series will do that for you.
Get to know the characters next month!
Available Titles
by