With Hell we Raise | ✔

| Fun Facts |

As always we are back with another fun fact post for my newest completed story, With Hell We Raise! Hopefully you'll enjoy these little tid-bits about the process! :)

1) When I first began planning/writing With Hell We Raise, I anticipated that it would be a short story/novella but boy was I wrong... (And I'm glad I was)

2) Seth and Orion's dynamic was really meant to be more fire and ice. There are definitely moments when you see that but I feel like sometimes Orion especially is very mature. I think that might be something I change when I edit/rewrite.

3) Speaking of Orion and her personality traits, she started out so curious and lost that a little bit which I'm not happy with but it was so interesting to see her come into her own.

4) Seth's name was originally Ezra, but I ended up changing it to Seth. (I believe) the name Seth has connotations of destruction and violence which is a struggle that Seth grapples with within himself a lot. It just connected with him so much better.

5) Seth is my first Male protagonist to be a POC! I don't know why, but I try to always pick different places to originate all my characters and I've just realised I need more men of colour!!

6) Seth actually has a lot of behaviours/mannerisms that resemble PTSD and Anxiety. Whilst I won't say he has either, he very clearly does struggle with his mental health. I mean with his backstory it makes so much sense. That tiny element is something that became SO important to me throughout since advocating for mental health is something I try to be active about. I feel like especially men's mental health isn't talked about enough so I think it was so crucial that I did include that small bit of representation.

 
7) Seth and Orion seem to have the slowest relationship so far out of all the Werewolf/human pairings I've written so far. It might be a stretch to say its a slow-burn, but they do take their time. They also aren't as physical with each other, and all of this  is really because of their backstory and their age gap I really wanted them to take their time so that it couldn't be said that their relationship was inappropriate.

 
8) Leading on from the last point, the dynamic that they built obviously changes a lot. Seth goes from being a protector/ carer for Orion to something far more. They needed more time to settle into that new relationship dynamic and just enjoy it for a while which is partly why by the end they don't get married, and they don't have kids.

 
9) I knew before I even started writing that Seth and Orion weren't going to have any kids, or get married by the end. I was a no brainer for me, they lived in the wild, I don't think that marriage was something that Orion understood and I don't think it meant anything to either of them anyway. 

As for kids, Orion is still new to the world that she finds, and Seth even though he has accepted their relationship they're still growing together and learning to be with each other so I don't think it would have worked. Besides, I'm all about representing different types of people, and lives, and it was nice to have something different.

10) I'm kind of upset Spiraea didn't feature so much in this story. We saw in their own book that she doesn't like to be anywhere near the big decisions that Vincent makes; her idea of being a Luna is having that emotional bond with her pack (which is part of why she cares for the babies). Her and Orion couldn't be more different, but I kind of wished they had a few more moments together.

 
11) Orion getting her hair done becomes such grounding moments, and tender moments. They were some of my favourite parts to write- especially the first time with Mama D'leau. 

I think it was important to include that Seth learns to do it for her out of love, and whenever he does he always does it with love and reverence because a) she's his mate and he loves and respects her above all else. However the bigger reason is because I know that Hair, especially for black women, has been (and still is) where one of the biggest forms of discrimination occur within our society. Even though its not something these two encounter in this story, I still think that its important- its definitely a nuanced symbolic way that represented Orion's trust, Seth's respect and the intimacy of their relationship. Hopefully this was something BIPOC felt/ recognised whilst reading.