The Future of the Elementals Trilogy: What’s Next for My Characters and World
Can you believe The Elemental’s Guardian has been out for two months already?
While my social media posts, blog posts, and monthly newsletters continued to focus primarily on TEG, I’ve been busy behind the scenes with book 2.
In November 2022, I did a rewrite of book 2 for NaNoWriMo. And while revising before sending it off to my alpha readers, I’d noticed my pacing was super slow in the first two-thirds of the book. Yikes! I’d only noticed the pacing because of comments left in reviews for TEG. While these reviewers enjoyed the book, many of them mentioned how slow the beginning was.
I love constructive criticism. I’m a huge fan of bettering myself and my craft, and while my alpha readers, beta readers, and editors play a large part in this, I also learn a lot from my reviews. So my slow pacing was at the top of my mind while reviewing.
My poor alpha readers struggled to get through the first two-thirds too, So I knew something had to change, and fast. Unfortunately, I couldn’t immediately think of anything. A few of my alpha readers gave me suggestions, which I juggled with in my mind, but nothing stuck. And the closer we got to my deadline for sending it off to my beta readers (in May), the more I began to panic.
Thankfully, an author friend helped get me unstuck, and I was able to take the various ideas from my alpha readers to make one grand idea. Hooray!
(Beware of potential spoilers below if you haven’t read The Elemental’s Guardian yet!)
So, what’s next for the characters?
Ferenc, Olivia, and Dormouse return, as well as a few other familiar faces from TEG, such as Max, the golden retriever, and Amy, Ferenc’s ex. But in book 2, you’ll also meet a few new characters, such as a gatekeeper and a couple of mercenaries. Will you get to see a few of the other guardians and elementals? Most definitely. And the villain? You won’t believe who’s pulling the strings…
What’s next for the world?
As a contemporary/urban fantasy, 95% of what happened in TEG happened in Florida, with the final battle occurring on the moon, of all places.
Book 2 finds the characters back in Florida (and, briefly, on the moon!), but you’ll also join them in their travels to new cities in Russia, Iran, and Norway in their search for the other elementals and guardians, as well as a place so grand, it’s literally out of this world!
I can’t wait to tell you more about book 2! Have any specific questions you’d like me to expand on? Let me know in the comments!
Raine