Hi everyone! Today we have a special guest! Let us welcome KM Randall, who will be guest posting on our blog on writing two series at the same time and her experiences with the process. Enjoy! Also, if you'd like to know about her debut book, Fractured Dream, then read on!
Keeping it straight: writing two series at the same
time
by KM Randall
I never thought I’d be writing more than one book or
series at the same time. But I am. Fractured Dream, the first book in The
Dreamer Saga series, was released in June. It took me eight years to write,
and toward the end of it, I felt drained from the layers and world-building I
put into it. I had this idea as I was closing in on the big finish about a girl
who finds out her mother is the Grim Reaper. It started to unfold in my head,
and before long I had started writing it, even before I was completely finished
with Fractured Dream. I knew that before I could start working on Shattered
World—the second book in The Dreamer Saga—I needed to write this
book, which is called The Reaper’s Daughter, also the first in a
series.
I’ve found that it’s really not hard to keep the two
straight when writing. My two main characters, Story from Fractured Dream and
Blake from The Reaper’s Daughter, are very different themselves. Story
lacks confidence in the beginning of her story; she’s unsure, and she fights
against who she really is. Blake, on the other hand, is bold, sarcastic, and
more readily accepting of her path.
There is a steady stream of friendship within both books,
but the best friends have their own quirks. Story is flanked by Adam, her
environmentalist best friend from childhood, and Elliott, a psychic gay man
whom she grew close to in college. Meanwhile, Blake’s best friend is Shelby, a
snarky blond vegan with Kool-Aid-dyed hair who has been by Blake’s side pretty
much since they were babies. In Fractured Dream, there is a huge cast of
characters; in The Reaper’s Daughter, not as many. While Fractured
Dream is epic fantasy, The Reaper’s Daughter is paranormal young
adult. The differences go on and on, although there are some common themes. For
instance, Story and Blake both are initially lacking a parent. Another
interwoven thread is the name of the town both heroines hail from. Specter, New
York, is a town I made up in Fractured Dream, and I decided to use the
same town for The Reaper’s Daughter. Although, the two girls won’t be
hanging out anytime soon.
The hardest part, really, has come now that I'm nearing
the end of writing The Reaper’s Daughter and itching to get started on Shattered
World. I’ve had enough of a break, and I can’t wait to get back to those
characters. My plan is to rotate. Time away is good; it’s given me time to
breathe, to like everyone again after so much time spent together. But the
characters and stories are so vivid and alive within me that I could never mix
them up. Each story has its own reason and rhyme, its own place in my heart.
Some information about the author's first book, Fractured Dream. I've got to admit it, but that cover is making me salivate so much...
Published by:
Booktrope
Published On: June
21, 2014
Genre: Fantasy
Have you ever wondered where fairytales go
once they're created?
It's been eight years since Story Sparks last had a dream. Now they're
back, tormenting her as nightmares she can't remember upon waking. The
black waters of Lake Sandeen, where her Uncle Peter disappeared
decades before, may hold the secret to Story's hidden memories, or a truth
she'd rather not know. On a bright summer afternoon, Story and her two
best friends, Elliott and Adam, take a hike to the lake, where they dive
into the cool water and never reemerge. What they find is beyond anything they've
ever imagined could be possible, a world where dangers lurk in the form of
Big Bad Wolves, living Nightmares and meddlesome witches and gods.
Now Story must remember who she really is and somehow stop two worlds from
ultimate annihilation, all while trying not to be too distracted by the inexplicable pull she feels toward a certain
dark-eyed traveler who seems to have secrets of his own. The fates of the
worlds are counting on her.
About the author
As a girl, K.M. always wished she’d suddenly
come into magical powers or cross over into a Faerie circle. Although that has
yet to happen, she instead lives vicariously through the characters she creates
in writing fantasy and delving into the paranormal. When K.M. is not busy
writing her next novel, she is the editor-in-chief of a blog covering the media
industry, as well as an editor with Booktrope Publishing. She has a master’s
degree in journalism from Syracuse University and a bachelor’s degree in
English-Lit from Nazareth College of Rochester. K.M. lives in Upstate New
York’s Finger Lakes region with her husband and her extremely energetic little
boy. Fractured Dream is her first novel.
