How it all Began - Char ne Rayft

It began in the summer of 2010, I believe.  Dad bought me an old, used laptop to write my stories with.  I opened up a word document and started typing.  After a few quickly burnt-out ideas, I rummaged through my writing note books until I found a story idea that looks promising.  And I wrote it.  The whole book (granted, the total word count was only 16,419).  It was a vague medieval spin-off of the first Jedi Apprentice book, with a heavy "lone girl student is way better than all the boy students" theme.  Oh, and did I mention the MC was orphaned at a young age?  Haha, yeah.  Lady Knight was...an interesting story, to be sure.

But I finished that, and went on to Freedom Fighters and the Mission to End Callous Power (like, what on earth happened with that title).  The female lead was all ooooh look at me, I'm a girl, and I can do everything better then you boys and the two brothers were basically Older-Sibling-that-is-Constantly-Tired and Younger-Cute-Sibling-with-Epic-Scar-and-Anger-Issues.  This is also the infamous fantasy story that has people shooting guns at one random point in the book.  Yeah.

The sequel was slightly better and had a killer ending (literally).  The third book was the best, I think, but I could never seem to get the ending quite right.

While writing the last two books, I started another one: The End of Time.  This book took place in the same storyworld, but at a later date.  I wasn't planning to connect them until I reached the end, and pulled in the main characters from the Freedom Fighter books for the final epic showdown.

I liked the idea of the books all taking place in the same world, so for the next year or so, I added more books.  Honestly, I felt kinda like Tolkien.  I made a cool map, created races, made up languages, and even attempted some timelines...  And I write more books.  A few were completed, others didn't make it.  Some were trashed from the storyworld altogether; others are still hanging around.

Then, around late 2014/early 2015, when Sarah and I were "getting serious" about writing, I took a step back and took inventory of everything I had created or attempted to create for the world of Evone.  I brought in that Lady Knight book to kick the saga off.  I plotted two more stories with those characters, and set the example for the books to come: sets of trilogies.  Soon, I had my Master Plan.  Now I just had to write everything.

*record scratch*

But how could I write all these books when I could barely get past the first couple chapters?

I needed to figure out a better process, and quickly.

So I set aside the series and moved on to Stars of Darkness - which I will discuss next week!!!

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Series Overview:  Char ne Rayft.  Bird and Wolf.  A green bird sword and a wolf arm band - the emblems of two fierce races, fighting for survival amidst a powerful battle for the throne of Evone.  He who carries the sword comes from the bloodline of the foresters of deep Evone legend, with a heritage of survival and sneakery.  The arm band of the Kaltish Wolf Lord proclaims the royal linage of its wearer, capable of stirring up action in the whole nation of fiery-tempered farmers and horse breeders.  Through the ages, these heirlooms are passed down, often lost, but when they come back to the light, the darkness is thrust back again in the enduring fight of good against evil.

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Lars glanced back at the Santer: they were already starting to give chase. He laughed aloud and shouted at them, “Never trust a wanderer when he sits on the back on his own horse!"

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“Good afternoon,” Dart raised his hand holding the pastry. “I would like to….” 

“Assassin!” Serdal jumped backward a step, and then tossed the bucket he was holding at Dart, who raised his arm to ward off the blow. The bucket clattered to the floor, but the water inside had already soaked Dart’s arms and upper chest. He turned a curious glance on Serdal, who lunged for the closest basket on the nearby table. “You followed me!” the baker bellowed. “You’re a Santer spy!” 

Dart’s eyebrows raised as he realized the mistake, and as he opened his mouth to say something in response, the man began rapidly assaulting him with handfuls of flour.

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With a roar, Branwen grabbed Drew by the cloak and tossed him on top of the table. Two of the legs snapped and broke, sending man, table, and supper onto the floor. Reda jumped to her feet, her face turning a color that had yet to be named. “What do you think you’re doing?” she screamed at Branwen. “I was just about to eat my cake!” 

Anyways, enjoy.  :)