I’m in the thick of the final chapters to the Fight for Peace – less than six to go! It is such a fantastic place to be in writing wise, full of action and excitement. And it is hard too.
This is the final book to Friends of my Enemy, which means I’m almost done writing the series. Checking the outline over the weekend, I realized I’ve already written the final chapter in one of my favorite character’s POV! Oooh that makes me sad. I don’t want to leave these characters behind.
If, as a reader, you find it hard and to read the final pages of a series you loved… well multiple that by a few times and you get the idea of what it is like writing the end of a series you love. I’ve spent years thinking about this story and months writing about the characters, at least a little bit every day. I know them the way you know your first best friend as a child, the one you had slumber parties with and spent nights whispering dreams and hopes to until sunrise. It is so hard to let that go.
Which I realized when I wrote the final book to the Rise of the Fifth Order trilogy. Picking up a new story after finishing the one that really launched me into self publishing and taught me the writing process was really hard. I learned there that it is really a good idea to have a side project that is going pretty well before I finish up writing a series. It gives me something to look forward to and makes the separation a little less painful. A little…
So thank goodness I have Spark of Defiance! I’ve plucked away with a few paragraphs, but my main focus has been those big action scenes that wrap up the Fight for Peace. That and finishing the edits on Stories for the War. Those are almost done and formatting should happen this weekend. Which means next week… it may be going up for pre-oder!
And that might be the good news. As hard as it is to finish writing a series, I have lots of edits, three covers, and many launches ahead of me this year. I’m hardly done with the story or the characters yet! And, best of all, I’ll finally get to share this series with you. So yah, finishing the writing is hard but it is hardly the end. It really is only the beginning.