S. W. Raine

Sometimes, the spark of an idea comes out of nowhere. One moment you’re minding your own business, and the next, a fragment of a project has taken shape in your imagination. That’s exactly how it felt when the story behind Project Elementals 2 came to life for me. And I’d love to share the story behind that spark.

The Spark of the Idea

It all started one night when I was lying in bed with the moonlight streaming in through the window. I love sleeping with the moon shining on my face—it’s one of those oddly comforting things that just makes me feel peaceful. That night, while I was soaking it up, this random image popped into my head: a moon prince.

At first, I was just curious about who he might be, but then my imagination kicked in. I started wondering about his story. What kind of life he led. Before I knew it, a whole world started to form around him, and I realized he wasn’t alone. He had a brother, the sun king. And just like that, the spark for a story started.

Expanding the World

The moon prince and sun king were just the beginning. As I kept thinking about them, the world around them started growing—suddenly there was magic, realm keepers, a whole new set of characters with their own stories to tell, and more. That’s when I figured I could actually tie this story into my other book, The Elemental’s Guardian. I was so excited to meet these new characters and see how everything connected.

But there was a catch: I hadn’t actually finished The Elemental’s Guardian yet. Back during NaNoWriMo 2011, I’d hit massive writer’s block with it and ended up switching to a completely different story to keep my momentum going for the November challenge. So, trying to figure out how to connect the ending of The Elemental’s Guardian (whenever I could figure it out) with the start of Project Elementals 2 was a real challenge. It was a lot to juggle, but it made the whole process even more interesting.

Influences and Inspiration

I’ve always been inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender and Sailor Moon—the worlds, the elemental powers, the epic battles, all of it. And I’d scratched the surface of those influences with The Elemental’s Guardian, but Project Elementals 2 was on a whole other level. The universe for this story just kept expanding.

Once I started imagining this world, some scenes popped into my head out of nowhere: the moon prince married to a human, a meeting with the keeper of realms in a pocket dimension, even an intense battle with a rock golem and a crystal golem. Those moments practically begged to be written, and they helped me shape the story in ways I hadn’t expected.

The First Draft and Major Changes

Originally, I wrote Project Elementals 2 as a kind of separate adventure for the characters from The Elemental’s Guardian. And I actually managed to finish it! But, wow—it was a totally different story back then. There were more character POVs, lots of random character arcs, tons of backstory that didn’t really fit, and scenes that didn’t quite connect properly. Looking back, it was definitely a hot mess of a first draft.

One of the toughest scenes I’d ever written was in that version—a torture scene that was emotionally intense to work through. But at some point over the years, I lost the last 10k words of that draft, including that scene. At first, it was a huge blow, but in the end, it was almost a blessing. When I rewrote Project Elementals 2 to make more sense, that scene wasn’t even necessary anymore. It ended up being implied by another character instead, and it worked so much better for the story.

From Two Books to a Trilogy

In 2017, I decided to take a big leap and merge The Elemental’s Guardian with Project Elementals 2 to create one epic story. It wasn’t easy, but I finally figured out The Elemental’s Guardian’s ending and managed to tie the two stories together. But once I saw the size of it, I realized it was massive—and as a bare-bones drafter, I knew it’d only get bigger as I added all the descriptions, senses, and character insights.

That’s when my coach suggested splitting it, not into two, but into three parts. At first, I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. But it was the right move. Breaking down the action, character arcs, and everything else took a lot of work, and while The Elemental’s Guardian was a puzzle, Project Elementals 2 was an even bigger one.

The current version? It’s evolved so much, it’s barely recognizable from that first draft. In fact, it’s even different from the one my alpha readers read just a few months ago! Now, it’s finally coming together as a powerful second part of an action-packed trilogy, and I couldn’t be more excited.

The story behind Project Elementals 2 started with a single thought and has grown into something I’m so excited to share. The journey from idea to fully realized story has been a wild ride, but one I wouldn’t trade for anything. I can’t wait for you all to experience the elemental chaos, the character growth, and the unexpected twists that lie ahead.

Have you ever had a creative project come to you in a surprising way? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Raine