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Sometimes I forget that Oli’s full name is Oleander. XD He’s just ‘Oli’ in my head--and it would take an extremely serious situation for Luke to say Oleander instead of Oli.

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Okay, but consider this...

Modern fantasy creatures and people being exposed to new lifestyles and developing dreams and goals that don’t fit with their species or their culture in the slightest.

A dwarf who was born in a mine, grew up in a mine, and can count the number of times they’ve been surface-side on both hands. One of these times, they witnessed an airshow. They go home and tell their parents: “Mom, Dad, I want to be a pilot.” “What’s a pilot?” “We’ll, y’see…” And a brief explanation later… “YOU WANT TO DO WHAT? WHERE DID WE GO WRONG? DAMN IT, ROK, I TOLD YOU THAT THE SUN WOULD GO TO HIS HEAD. NOW HE THINKS HE CAN FUCKING FLY, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!

An elf who has a deep interest in geology and underground exploration signs up for a dwarven digging mission. Shows up first day all long limbs and being seven feet tall, and has to become a 90 degree angle to get through the door. “Hey guys! Who’s ready to look at some rocks? Am I right? Well, it’s a tight fit, but I bet I can do it if I squeeze. Ooh, I know some great digging songs by the way.” The dwarves immediately try to find a way to fire the elf without being sued for racial discrimination. “I told you we should have been more careful about the ad.” “I put in it Gold and Gems Monthly, Brek, how was I to know elves read that kind of thing?” “OHMIGOSH, GUYS COME SEE WHAT I FOUND!” “Your turn, Nik.” “I swear to God, if it’s another goddamn stalagmite again…” 

A centaur whose herd migrates to a coast area and sees the ocean for the first time. “Greyhoof, I’m going to be a fisherman.” “What?” “I’m going to sail the seven seas; I want to be a sailor.” “Blackmane, you’re half horse, you can’t sail.” “I can learn.” “You can’t climb their weird ropes things. What would you even do on the ocean?” “It’s called rigging and I’d be a fisherman, obviously, like I told you.” “YOU’RE A CENTAUR, YOU CAN’T SAIL!” “YOU DON’T KNOW THAT. DON’T TRY AND DESTROY MY DREAMS, GREYHOOF, I CAN DO ANYTHING I SET MY MIND TO. I BELIEVE IN ME.”

A mermaid who gets really interested in those land mountains that touch the clouds and meets an extreme mountain-climber on the beach, then decides they’ve found their calling. “I’m going to be the first mermaid to climb Mount Everest.” “What? Bluefins, that’s ridiculous.” “No, no, I’m gonna do it.” “You can’t breathe air.” “I’ll bring a tank of water, like what the humans do with air when they dive.” “YOU DON’T HAVE LEGS.” “I know, that’s what’ll make me the first mermaid to do it. I’m going to have to work around that, but” “FOR FUCK’S SAKE, BLUEFINS. WE’RE TROPICAL.” “No, see, there are these human things called coats. I’ve got it all figured out. Look, I drew plans.” “WITH WHAT?”

[lexandkatewriteabook]

Writing a trilogy has a massive set of challenges with plenty of room for error, such as inconsistencies throughout the entire trilogy–or a series of books in general. But I’m going to specifically be speaking about a trilogy since The Stars Trilogy is, well, a trilogy.

First off, I’m going to mention that just because you’ve had one book in your planned trilogy published doesn’t mean the second book is going to automatically be accepted for publication. In fact, before my previous publisher folded, The Stars Are Infinite actually received a rejection the first time due to length, which could have been remedied had I spent more time with copy editing. In fact, the second book was the most difficult book I’ve ever written…and it’s the easiest one for readers to gloss over in a trilogy since the human brain naturally remembers the beginning and the ending much clearer than the middle.

If you’re shooting for a mainstream press, the publication of your second book depends entirely upon the sales of your first. A smaller press usually doesn’t have such stringent expectations, but it’s not going to be any easier for your second book to land a contract.

Also, while you may be tempted to write out the entire trilogy, I advise you don’t. After all, the edits for your first book may completely change the direction of your second book. The edits for When Stars Die completely changed the direction of the second book, even though it didn’t drastically change the first ten chapters. But I was glad I didn’t have the second book fully written out with the original direction I had in mind, or else I was going to have to rewrite the entire thing anyway. Yes, it’s great writing practice, but don’t create unnecessary work for yourself. The editing process with a publisher is already taxing as it is.

What are some things you can do to ensure a solid trilogy, to keep up with everything contained within it?

Keep all of your notes from the previous book(s). This allows you to keep track of the  major points from your previous books so that you can seamlessly transition into the next book. It also helps to keep down on the number of inconsistencies as much as possible. For example, only witches can see Shadowmen (dead witches) in my trilogy, but in my second book, I made the mistake of allowing these Shadowmen to be apparent to everyone. Luckily my awesome editor, who doubles as my best friend, caught this, but now I know to keep the notes I wrote for the second book so that I don’t make some colossal error in the third book that may ruin the entire story.

Keep all of your notes…period. Even if you don’t use some of the ideas you’ve written down for your current book, you may be able to implement those ideas in ensuing books.

Re-read the previous book(s). Yeah, you are going to be reading your book to death during edits to the point where you’re going to start hating it. But even if you can recite your book word for word, it never hurts to go back to ensure you don’t miss a single detail when writing the next book in the series. Even the smallest of inconsistencies can have the potential to throw off the entire book.

Keep lists of characters and their importance. Throughout your trilogy, your cast of characters is likely to grow, which means it can become complicated to keep track of them and when and where you’d like to use them. Thus, it helps to keep a list of all of your characters and their important functions to the overall plot of the trilogy. You’ll also want to keep track of character development.

Keep notes on the world you’re building. You’re going to want to keep track of the type of world you’re building and how it’s developing. Use whatever methods work for you, whether it’s sticky notes or just a journal. You want to treat your world as you would a character, so it needs to develop .

Don’t repeat. You don’t need to repeat a character’s history, physical traits, or even personality traits. Astute readers will remember all of these details, and many take the responsibility upon themselves to reread the previous book(s).

Standalone. The best books in a trilogy can function as stand-alones while also being able to seamlessly transition into their following books. You’ll also want to keep notes of plots you have yet to tie off so that way you can ensure you complete these in following books.  

Timescale. A lot of writers struggle trying to figure out just how far their sequels should be set. The Stars Are Infinite is set eight years after When Stars Die. The sequel to TSAI will be set a few months after. Whatever time you choose, make certain it is imperative to the story. Why does TSAI take place eight years after WSD? Because the protagonist in TSAI is different from the one in WSD, and she needed time to grow up in order for the plot to have more of an effect.

My Ask Box is always open for questions!

[lexandkatewriteabook]

WRITING PROMPTS: Dialogue Prompt Set

“You just broke my pinky”

“Why would you pretend to love me and then one day just get up and leave?”

“I’m sorry that I want to make every situation funny. It’s not like we’re in a prison cell about to be executed or anything.”

“It’s funny how quickly you stole my heart and how quickly you abandoned it.”

“I don’t want to be a serious murderer that doesn’t flinch at any kind of joke. I’ll be the one making others pee themselves right before killing them.”

“Don’t act like you haven’t been loyal to my enemy this whole time. It was all a trick. You’re a liar.”

"This pessimistic maniac over here will not let the optimistic maniac over here do their thing. It’s driving me insane.”

"i don’t want to play your game anymore. You did it. You checkmated me. Now it’s my turn.”

“Suck it up, Captain Know It All. You’re wrong. Now shut up and drive.”

[lexandkatewriteabook]

maybe evil spirits are so pissed off because ppl are always trying to get rid of them like can you imagine being that one clumsy ghost that just wanted to chill but you knocked over a lamp and now suddenly everyone wants you exorcised 

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“Keep your morals far away from me”

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Your antagonist accidentally succeeds in hacking into your protagonist’s preferred favorite social network site. What do they post? Do they post at all? 

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A demon that writes messages on your mirror with blood but they’re useful messages. Like “remember you have yoga at 6 tonight”

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10 Drool-Worthy Secret Passage Bookshelves

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Writing prompt #130

"I’m gonna do it anyway, but thanks for the advice."

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“I can do anything the fuck I want” “Not according to the laws of physics”

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The temptation was too strong to resist. Sorry not really sorry.

Character Inspiration for Riya Bailey -- Felicia Baak

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Writing Prompt #231

"So do you always sprout claws when you’re mad?"

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when i was in london we were walking down the street late at night and we walked past these two (likely drunk) guys holding hands, and one said to the other, “you’re not happy? let me make you happy. i want to make you happy.” it was so cute

[lexandkatewriteabook]

Werewolves who reject anthropocentric identities; who are neither wolf nor human, who see the beauty and power in being both or neither.

Werewolves with pawprint stickers on their cars and tattoos on their wrists, werewolves who are proud of who and what they are, despite what they’ve been told for generations

LGBTQIA+ werewolves who eschew traditional ideas of gender and sexuality, who craft their own identities with hackles raised and teeth bared; trans werewolves who know that skin is only skin, that what is within can withstand transformations of all sorts and remain authentic; werewolves who have different partners in different forms; werewolves in loving, polyamorous packs

Werewolves exploring their spirituality: werewolves who find their homes in churches and cathedrals, who believe that all sins can be forgiven; werewolves who find Loki, the wolf-sire, god of boundary-crossers, singing in their blood; werewolves who find their own gods in the wilderness; werewolves who search and search and find no gods at all. 

Werewolves who fiercely, adamantly reject the idea that they must be ‘good’ monsters to deserve a place in this world, who are frightening and violent and feral and refuse to apologize, who know that they are not obligated to make humans comfortable

Werewolves who become werewolf hunters, who see great power used for great evil and are called to stop it; werewolves who believe that every werewolf is family, who protect other werewolves at all costs; werewolves who hold themselves accountable for no one’s sins but their own, and leave both the hunters and the guardians to their battles

Werewolves who are form-fluid, whose skin is as soft and supple as water, whose shadows are mismatched, whose shape you can’t quite distinguish when you catch them in the corner of your eye

Werewolves who shake and suffer and scream through each transformation, who find ecstasy and escape on the other side, who leave human thoughts and cares in human skin and never look back

Werewolves who see their wolf form as something outside of themselves, something primal or transcendent; werewolves who see their wolf form as their real body; werewolves who see their wolf form as just another shape the unchanging inner-self can take

Werewolves protesting for animal rights; werewolves eating vegan when they’re human-shaped; werewolves freeing dogs from testing facilities and sabotaging factory farms because they know that sentience is not just a human trait

Werewolves eating as much meat as they please and feeling no guilt, because they know that nature is soaked in blood and caressed by death, because they are predators in every form

Young werewolves with human parents: parents who fret over the full moon and donate to research for a cure; parents who learn ‘lycanthrope-inclusive language’ and encourage their children to embrace every bit of who they are; parents who take one look at the thing that was their child and never look at them again.

Older werewolves with human families: mothers who let their children snuggle into their fur; packs who would kill for their member’s human kids; sisters who introduce themselves to their sibling’s bully one full-moon night and know they won’t be bothered again

just give me more werewolves okay