My Writing | It’s Official, Rose’s Ruin is Happening

*checks Rose’s Wrath’s publication date*

*sees it was March of 2020*

Well, it’s been a while, I’ll admit that. Rose’s Wrath was published to positive feedback and a deep love for many of the characters! Due to many different things, the next book, Rose’s Ruin, has been MIA. I can say, though, that the first draft is *mostly* written and I hope to have editing start sometime in the next month or two!

In the meantime, I’d like to talk about the book I bit.

Rose’s Ruin

A ruthless general

A father without hope

A broken man

Pan, the Queen’s blade

Denthlire is a place of power, magic, and knowledge—a safe haven for all who seek to learn. But not all of Atulau appreciates the influence the kingdom has.

When rumors of war reach Pan, general of the Denthliran forces, he readies the people to fight for their freedom and their land.

But when the enemy doesn’t fight fair and exploits Denthlire’s secrets, the kingdom begins to crumble. Pan must be Queen Viren’s blade—called upon to win the war at all cost, even his own soul.

Now Pan is in the fight for his life to win a war he can’t hope to win but can’t afford to lose.

***

Rose’s Ruin is the prequel novella to Rose’s Wrath, based entirely on the POV of Pan, one of the villains of RW. Rose’s Wrath was published with a lot of the backstory of how things had gotten there still in the dark. Rose’s Ruin was written to both showcase the world of Atulau while delving deeper into Pan’s character. What I hadn’t expected was to adore the character as much as I do. Without spoiling too much, Pan is one of the most resilient characters I’ve written, having so many conflicting loyalties and being forced into so many impossible decisions that it’s a wonder his will hasn’t been broken yet.

As I’ve honed my craft as a writer, I’ve come to realize that families are integral to how I tell stories. In every story I’ve written to date, there is some familial relationship at the heart. An example of this is Aura with her siblings and Verre with Been. Neither character started out that way, but as I write, characters find what makes them family and it’s genuinely one of my favorite things about the way I write.

That being said, Rose’s Ruin is no exception. Along with that, though, it is probably the darkest book I’ve written. While I try to never make anything graphic simply for the sake of the shock value, I do believe in writing the true brutal honesty of how things are. The Mage War discussed in Rose’s Wrath is at the forefront of Rose’s Ruin and as many of us know, war is not pleasant. As a person who considers herself to be honest, if not brutally so, it is outside of my nature to candy coat things. So, while Rose’s Ruin might be too much for sensitive readers, I believe the heavier themes are handled in such a way that it will make the reader grieve without overwhelming them.

While the book features Pan as the protagonist, Madame Rose gets her own fair share of screen time in a way that helps readers to understand who she is as a character instead of simply the shadowy evil figure we don’t see much of in Rose’s Wrath. My ultimate goal is to show characters as people–with flaws, brokenness, and uniqueness. Now, that doesn’t mean I want to blur the lines of good and evil. What it does mean is that I want to show the complexity of who people are and while someone might be evil, there is usually still more to unveil.

All that being said, I’m happy to announce that Rose’s Ruin WILL be published this year! I’m still finalizing bits of the first draft, but given that it’s a novella, the polished & edited version should be all set for publication sometime this year. I have also taken the liberty of having covers made for all three books in the series! Rose’s Ruin will be the first one revealed but don’t worry, Rose’s Wrath will have an updated one too!

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Alright, that’s all for now, folks! I hope you’re as excited for Rose’s Ruin as I am!