The World of the Sons of Rome Series

*rolls up sleeves*

*rubs hands together gleefully*

White Wolf is officially a week old today! I want to say a great big "thank you" to my readers, to all of you who've bought the book, and to those who've let me know how much you've enjoyed it. It's been incredibly exciting to read your comments and reviews, and know that you get it. Thank you!

I started writing in earnest back in January, and it's been so difficult to keep quiet and not blurt out a bunch of spoilers - that's how excited I was. Now that the book is out in the real world, I feel like I can finally talk about the world of this new series. 

All fiction requires world-building, no matter how true-to-life the setting. Knoxville is a real city, but when I write Dartmoor, I'm writing a fictionalized version of it, one secretly run by the Lean Dogs, populated with local businesses of my own making. In every fictional book, it's an author's job to build up the setting so that it feels like a real address rather than a collection of props at a stage play. 

As much as I adore high fantasy, I've known for a while now that making a story feel grounded in the real world is one of my strong suits, so it was important to me that the Sons of Rome take place in our world, past and present. My personal approach to writing paranormal involves characters who happen to be supernatural, living in the real world, rather than a supernatural world visited by a few key real-world visitors.

I want to pull the veil back slowly; the paranormal elements are undeniably there, but revealed as plot points and important character traits. As with all my work, I want it be an immersive reading experience, so you sink down into the story, into the magic, getting to know the characters, coming to care for them, without bogging you down with checklists of "monster rules," so to speak. 

One of my favorite things about the series - and the world-building, I suppose - is the way it feels really geek-friendly. This isn't a book series for readers who want a sequence of standalones with neatly wrapped-up HEAs and couple-driven plots. There's romance - and starting with book two there's a lot more of it going forward - and there is a sense of resolution in each book, but mostly it's the kind of ongoing narrative like you'd see in the Outlander or Song of Ice and Fire series. A series specifically designed for readers like me who want to get invested in a set of characters and follow them on a long adventure. I love the free rein that gives me. I have a series outline, but there's plenty of room for side plots and bonus novellas to help round out the world. 

As far as the timeline goes, the series stretches from the founding of Rome to the present day, so be prepared for lots of flashbacks and historical portions.

It's going to be a long trip, and I'm thrilled so many of you have started it with me. Thank you, all.