The End of the Beginning

For those of you who have read my last two novellas, The Hidden Monastery and the Last Prophecy, there has been a bit of a build up towards the first book, the Well of Youth and what may potentially happen. I left both these novellas on cliff hangers with characters from the first playing prominent roles in the second novella, and know people have questions regarding how these characters will feature in the first book of the Last Prophecy series.

Which brings me to an interesting tidbit of information for you all, in that these characters have a finite life cycle within my writing. I’ve described this before, but will do so again here in more detail, this series was always about the Last Prophecy, and as such, I will be focusing my writing now on others whose lives will change because of the prophecy, whether they know of it or not.

This isn’t meant to give anyone ideas as to the fates of my main characters in the Well, who’s view have been used in the last two books, no, Kat and Nick are busy with the editor, as well as our new hero, (though he’d glare at me for calling him that), Andy. What happens to them… well you’ll just have to wait and see.

The three have been in my dreams and every waking thought for over two years, and now that the Well of Youth is written, getting ready for final stages before publication, its now all out of my hands, and it is sadly time to say goodbye.

I am by no means revealing their fate, more talking about moving on from their specific lives and on to writing other characters, and this makes me rather despondent.

My sister and self-professed number one fan once told me that writing stories is like having children. In this case, I have watched my characters come to life, evolve, and move beyond my reach. Before long they will journey into the unknown of readership, where I hope everyone loves them as much as I do.

I didn’t think I would be this melancholy letting go of the three that started this journey for me, they have been my constant mental companions, but as I sit to try and focus on the next book in the series, with new characters, and commence writing I find it harder and harder to forget them.

Its not an uncommon theory that we give a part of ourselves away when we create great works, ones we are proud of, and ones we hope the world we see as we do, a small sliver of our souls and who we are. The Well has not left me yet, but the time is coming, and while I am happy with it, there are moments of grief that this part of the journey is over, and my feelings a similar to how I felt when the Fellowship left Gandalf in the mines of Moria.

The story must go on, and there is far more to the quest than these three, so much more to tell, but for now, I have come to the end of the beginning.