Hello QRI readers, after two months off, I’m blogging again. I was on vacation in June and then July I had to finish 4 books.
*shocked face*
I successfully finished all 4 and now I’m ready to chat again. Or actually, the muse is. Michael has thoughts, so forget about me and allow him to speak.
Michael, you have the floor…
Greetings readers!
Thanks to QRI for having me again after a 2-month hiatus. Shar and I have been very busy finishing several books, including the last installment of Immortals, Mercurio’s Mating.
In all honesty, these books are definitely products of the inmates running the asylum. *grins* What I mean is, I influenced Shar to write a dark romance involving my vampire, Ryland Durand, as well as other immortals we’d had in the N’awlins Exotica world. From the twin’s books to Immortals, you meet characters, old and new. The aforementioned Ryland and his twin brother, Ryder Durand. Their lover Dale, who was recently turned. Ryland’s vampire mentor, Baron Pierre, his demon teacher, Valios, his angel lover Calisto, as well as Zylen, who was a vampire/angel hybrid. All these characters and others obtained a spot in Immortals as part of our new series.
By doing this, it meant worldbuilding was involved. I wanted Shar to create a world where immortal beings, no matter shifter, vampire, demon, and/or fallen angel roamed as if they were normal everyday people. We named the world Nouvelle Terre as in New World that existed on the third plane. The one above hell, meaning it was sort of like purgatory. We made that world similar to our favorite place on earth, New Orleans, with some of the same scenery, to depict how seedy and magical it was. Nouvelle had a language, they had street signs, and a political structure. Nearly everything that’s needed to have a different world, exists in the Immortals book collection.
So why do I say it was a missed opportunity?
Only because more details could’ve been expounded upon. By Shar being a romance writer, we tended to focus more on the relationships, which is fine. However, by doing this, smaller details were overlooked. Not saying we should’ve done an info dump, but certainly more information regarding the Nouvelle Terre world could’ve been explored. What did Valios do to create Rotiflan? Why are the streets only labeled, north, south, east, west with single numbers? Why are Soul Catchers the highest of all immortals in Nouvelle? So many questions that could’ve been interwoven into the fabric of each book. That’s why I’d say it was a missed opportunity. Of course, we live and learn, right? It might be a product of being a panster who allows the characters to move the plot arc forward. Then again, these books focused on key points that made the general idea more cohesive.
Before we started the series, we created a series blurb for Immortals.
In The Realm, immortals and their mortal mates or servants roam what is known as the third plane–the middle connection between heaven, earth, and hell. The son of the Dark Lord and Death rules that plane, recruiting fallens, vampires, shifters, and dragons. In return for their allegiance, Valios includes them in his horde and promises them eternal life as Soul Catchers, the most high of all souled demons who are always prepared to fight the Great War for prominence in the realm.
Although immortal, the beings of this world are not perfect, needing to work towards it as a goal in their eternal existence. In the meantime, beings encounter emotions and feelings similar to that of humans, such as consciousness, remorse, anxieties, fear, and love.
Follow the beings of The Realm and their stories of learning to accept their imperfections as they continue to maintain the life the Dark Lord requires. Even though they’re demons, not all good qualities are forgotten by souled demons on the third plane.
After finishing Mercurio, I read through all the books again to check what imperfections they’d learned to accept. In other words, the lessons and general themes for each pairing. This was what I came up with.
For Demon Be Mine – Eli and Zylen Confidence
For Immortality’s Gift – Ryland, Ryder, and Dale Consciousness
For Anasa’s Awakening – Anasa and Neil Companionship
For Calisto’s Quest – Calisto and Valios Conquest
For Mercurio’s Mating – Mercurio’s Mating Commitment
When I finished, I believe I achieved all those themes, so in that aspect we did well. However, the small details make the story come alive, right? Sure, there are small glimpses , but we didn’t quite get there. These little things with further explanation would’ve added some intrigue.
Oh well, lesson learned. Despite that, I’m happy with the way things turned out for Immortals. We stuck to the idea of making this series focused on the characters and how they fell in love with their mates, while learning something along the way. The MPreg books weren’t expected, but they seemed to fit right in.
Now that Immortals is pretty much done, except for a couple of offshoots, we can focus on our next big adventure. Our first full sci-fi MPreg novel. I do love challenging Sharita, only because I’m quite sure she can come up with some interesting things in that overactive imagination of hers.
Or is it mine?
*laughs*
Thanks for listening. Authors, share your thoughts. Have you noticed something you’ve written that you wished you could do over because of a missed chance like this? Let us know in the comments!
* * * *
Mercurio is with beta readers as we speak. Once it’s edited, it will be released at the end of August. For now, catch up on the Immortals series at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and iTunes.
Demon Be Mine – https://www.books2read.com/u/4AwEOe
Immortality’s Gift – https://www.books2read.com/u/3RoQJY
Anasa’s Awakening – https://www.books2read.com/u/mgrAEX
Calisto’s Quest – https://www.books2read.com/u/bPJYQY
