Dark Child sequel done. Phew! And next on my list...

 Hello all!

I'm not completely sure who finds their way to these posts these days, but I know that somebody does, according to the little Google widget that measures page views. If you're an old (and much appreciated) friend from my early blogging days, I'm very sorry for neglecting you. It's because I've been writing, writing, writing, and that only seems to happen when I'm not actively blogging. If you're a Dark Child reader, thank you for visiting my little corner of the web! You've come to my original blog where I shared my ups and downs on the road to publication. You're welcome to have a look around - but don't forget to also visit my website (which also has a blog) or my Facebook author page.

Anyway, welcome, whoever you are. I know I owe you an update. I'm more than overdue. The good news is I've finished my draft of the Dark Child sequel and handed it in to my publisher...and it'll be out later this year. As soon as I have an official release date I'll share it. Aaargh! I really hate waiting. I want to share it with you NOW! This next story is full of...let's just say I'll be amazed if you've predicted half of what's coming your way. I even surprised myself with the direction things took as I was writing it. More Kat, more romance, more of everything!

You may not know that Dark Child Episodes 1-5 were originally written as one complete novel. The decision to serialise came later, after discussions with my publisher, for a variety of reasons. So...even though the Dark Child sequel is also a full-length novel, it's almost certainly going to be released in Episodes again.


For those who discovered Dark Child after all the episodes were released and read all five in quick succession...or for those who read the episodes month to month as they were originally released and found waiting between episodes excruciating (I really feel for you. Did I mention I also hate waiting?) please remember you always have the option of reading the collected episodes in omnibus form. The first omnibus collected together Episodes 1-5 in one volume that was released concurrently with Episode 5 last June, and I'm almost positive my publisher will do the same thing this time, especially if I grovel a bit, and I'm more than willing to do that for you!

In the meantime, here are some pics for you; my inspiration montages for Amarok and Alek. As I mentioned when I posted these images on my Facebook page, I did the whole real-world-inspiration thing back to front. I went looking for inspiration after the characters were already written, and already real in my mind. So finding any actual face that exactly matched my mental image was pretty much impossible. Because Alek and Amarok are both pretty special, right? But these guys are still...yeah, they're okay. And in case you don't already like me on Facebook, I didn't want you to miss out. ;-)

Inspiration for Alek. Clockwise from top left, Paul Walker, Joseph Morgan, Jensen Ackles, Kellan Lutz.

Ben Barnes and Tyler Hoechlin - inspiration for Amarok

So, readers, do you prefer to have a concrete image to refer to when meeting a book character for the first time? Or do you like it when the author leaves you to fill in the blanks and form your own mental image?

And for the writers among you, do you find it helpful to make up inspiration montages for characters, or do you just keep all that stuff in your head instead?

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