The Crown Prince of the Fire Fae is looking for a bride, and to find one, he'll invite the most eligible ladies to compete for his hand.
Maren, a humble lady's maid, did not consider herself one of these women--not until she was forced to accept th...
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Winged reader,
Welcome back one more and one final time. As usual, your presence lights up my day. It reminds me of how you traveled through these pages alongside me. How you theorized, questioned, despised, loved, and lost all in one tale. I will say, one of the greatest amusements is reading through every single one of your notifications when I am lucky enough to receive them. Many times, it was your word that kept me chipping away at each chapter.
This reflection, however, is really meant to be my last words to you within the context of A Court of Embers. It is an explanation of how the tale came about, what the characters mean, more about the plot, and my final thoughts. Without further ado, let us begin.
*excuse the different sized gifs
PERSONAL CONTEXT (BEFORE)
As I look back in my notes, I find the very first note that led me to ACoE. The weirdest part is that the date of this note was May 21, 2018. On May 23rd, 2018, I published Tear the Sky. So this leads me to believe that at some point, I wrote this idea down and chose Tear the Sky as my first work instead. I'm actually smiling right now because I never expected this. A Court of Embers has always been in my pocket.
True planning for the story began in June 2019. At the time, I was in summer school and summer training with my team and I wanted to get back to my roots. Before this, I'd already planned and ditched a few ideas because they did not maintain the fire I needed in my belly to complete them. Their stakes were not high enough. There was not enough action to keep me intrigued. My time was already being clipped short by workouts and my studies, so its not like I could dedicate time to them either. It had gotten to the point where trying to force them out of me felt like pulling teeth and I ran from updating things because I did not love what I wrote.
It felt like a job to write and publish. For a few months prior, I wondered what was wrong. I wondered if I would ever find an idea that I just adored past the first few chapters--when I typically winced at how uncomfortable I was and opted to scrap the entire thing rather than try and fix it. But then, the concept for ACoE resurfaced and I knew I would either have to fill in the holes or let the entire thing go because it was seemingly too complicated.
Thank the lucky freaking stars that I thought through it rather than let it remain too large.
But, of course, a new challenge arose. The Fae are not typical fantasy creatures. No, their world is far too expansive and so are their system of Courts and intrigue. They physically cannot lie. On top of that there are the rumors of their allergy to iron and their reputation of being nothing short of ethereal. There were rules to abide by. Plus, the words had to sound as pretty as the creatures I described when strung together. My language had to shift into holding a consciousness for tone and delicacy. I'd relate it to trying to make your sentences as graceful as a ballerina en pointe. Needless to say, I've still got sooo much to learn about this.
