Q&A Thursdays #10: Shannon’s Question

Intermittently through this year, I’ve been reprising a Daughter of Blood (and by extension The Wall Of Night ) Q&A series that first featured in 2019. I’ve been enjoying rereading the Q’s and my A’s so hope you’re doing the same. 😀

Today it’s Shannon’s Question that’s in the limelight.

UK/AU/NZ

Shannon: Was there any part of the book or maybe a character that was harder to write?

Two potential answers popped into my head as soon as I read your question, Shannon, so I’m going to give you both of them. 🙂 The two characters I had to spend most time on were Malian and Raven, because I felt it was really important to get the balance of their relationship right. They’re both formidable in different ways, but there’s a big gap in age and experience (Raven) that is counterbalanced by Malian’s power and destiny. The alliance they’ve struck is also a major step for both of them, with a huge amount at stake. It represents a significant shift from their Emerian relationship as well. A really important part of writing their characters in Daughter of Blood was to show the evolution from the old relationship to the new in a way that was true to both their characters, and most importantly did not empower one by diminishing the other—which turned out to be more challenging than it perhaps sounds. However, given the way their alliance has continued to evolve, I think I may have pulled it off.

The second answer is that I recall the beginning of Part VI: No Man’s Land exercising me a great deal because of the various story strands that needed to be woven in. I can’t recall all the permutations now, but I rewrote it five times before finally getting it “right”—and that experience is deeply incised on both my memory and my authorial soul.