It has been a month and a half since my debut novel, ‘Aurora’s Angel’ was published. It has been an incredible roller coaster ride. So many firsts. I’ll always treasure my very first 5-star review – it was from someone who enjoyed my book so much they binge-read it, despite not being a fan of fantasy. That was an amazing buzz. Then the agonizing wait for more reviews to trickle in and hoping my book would be well received. I put so much work into it; writing and endlessly editing to craft an interesting story that flowed well. But none of that would mean anything if people didn’t like the world and the characters I created. I had after all chosen to write a fantasy with some dark themes and combined it with a romance between two leading ladies who happened to be shapeshifters. Plus, my book is big. Not big by epic fantasy standards but definitely bigger than the average romance novel. What a combination! I risked putting off hardcore fantasy readers because of the romance element and the novel being overlooked by the traditional f/f romance crowd because of the size of the book and the level of world-building.
To say I was nervous about how Aurora’s Angel would be received is an understatement. I had a sequel in mind and several stories for the side characters I wanted to write but there would be no point if there wasn’t enough interest. So, I decided not to put a series title on the book and to write it as a stand-alone with all the main story threads tied off, while subtly hinting there was more. That way if I didn’t get to write the other stories that tied into the pilot no one would be left feeling frustrated with an unfinished book. I even worked on the outline for a gritty urban-fantasy series I planned to write, just in case. Fortunately, there has been a huge amount of positive feedback, from both fantasy readers and those who mostly read romance.
The two things that have come across consistently via the reviews are that readers want more stories from the world I created and of course, to know what happened next with Aurora and Evie. Yeah! So, now my course is set. The urban fantasy has been put aside for the time being and I’m hard at work writing the next adventure set in the world of Nordarra. And that is as much as I’m willing to share for now… watch this space for more.
That’s it for my first ever blog post. Thanks for reading! Here’s hoping no typos sneaked in. I checked but typos are annoyingly resilient and as sneaky as cockroaches. They sit very still and hide in plain sight. I know this because I checked my manuscript with three expensive software packages and listened to the entire thing being read to me by a mind-numbing computer voice twice. That’s so many days of my life I will never get back. After all that my eagle-eyed proof-reader/editor still found a staggering number that got away. How??? At least we got them before publication. Yes, I may hold a grudge. Anyone who ever engaged in full out warfare trying to eradicate typos will understand my pain.
Emily Noon