The Unwilling Queen

Thank you readers!

Author's note:

"How does it feel to be finished?"

Honestly, I don't know if I expected fireworks or a Hallelujah chorus, but really I just stared at the screen and thought, I guess that's it.

Thank you for coming on this journey with me, in particular these last few chapters that I wrote and posted very raw. I'm already regretting some decisions I made in there, but I just needed to get the story out. Normally,  you would never see an author's first draft, and most published authors would die of embarrassment if their first drafts ever leaked. I'm sure I will look back on this one day and cringe. But since you have made it this far in the story you deserve an ending. Please enjoy it for what it is and forgive the sloppy writing.

Some things you might find interesting:

I'm going to split this book into two. Book 3 "The Unwilling Queen" and then book 4 "The Unsung Heroes". I played around with this about when Avery and Rena arrive at Treetops, but gave up and moved on with the story. I also didn't want to mess up subscriptions for those of you who were getting updates.

I also need to dissect some of the pretty weak character arcs in there. For starters, maybe Roedin shouldn't be a spymaster. He kind of sucks at it. I mean, how many times did Avery go missing and he couldn't find her? I thought he was supposed to be able to hear the wind or something?

I've also been accused of making Avery a Marysue. Now I had never even heard of that term, but I can see what they mean. I just wanted a character who would fight back with her wits and intellect, rather than fists and superpowers. But yeah, her character development is a little flat.

Also the 'magic' system is fairly vague. I did such a poor job of setting it up that I struggled through the final battle scene where "magic flew around the air." Readers would ask me what I was going to do and I'd answer, "You know, magic." Weak. But it wasn't until I got to the end of the story that I figured out what I needed the magic system to be. Now I can fix it.

I could go on but you get the point: I see a lot of the problems you may have noticed and am excited to try to make it better.

For now I'm letting it rest, reading some books on writing, participating in webinars, and collecting ideas and suggestions from people. So thank you for your patience as I stumbled my way through this, and for your support. Knowing you were out there reading really motivated me to keep going.

Add a comment or send me a DM! I'd love to hear from you.

Z