I’m very excited to have Kat Flannery on Mystery Mondays to talk about ending a trilogy and what that means to her. I met Kat through our publisher, Imajin Books, and she’s been an endless source of advice about writing and about the publishing business.

Sacred Legacy, the third in the Banded Trilogy is here, and I can’t wait to read it.  LAKOTA HONOR and BLOOD CURSE,  the first two in the series kept me planted on the couch just to finish them.

So, it’s my honor to have Kat here today.

ENDING A TRILOGY By Kat Flannery

My close friends and readers who follow me on Facebook or Twitter know how much I stressed about writing the end to this trilogy.

I love series and trilogies, however, as a reader, I do not like waiting for the next book after I’ve read the first two or three. Call me a bit of an OCD, laced with some impatience, and a desire that eats at me to know what happens next. In two words waiting for the next book…KILLS ME!

It is a slow torture of what if’s, who done it’s, and damn it how much longer?

So when I’d written myself into a trilogy, which by the way did not happen on purpose when I wrote the first book, LAKOTA HONOR, my plan was to write the last two books within a year. That did not happen. Instead life, death and mourning happened, and I could not write.

When it came time to get back to the keyboard I was nervous, and full of doubt. After all I’d waited a whole year before writing the last book to the Branded Trilogy. My readers had most likely given up on me ever finishing the book, and I felt horrible.

I sat and stared at my computer many nights wondering how I’d make it up to them. How was I going to give them a story that was by far the best ending I could write?

I wrote starters, and scenes but nothing wanted to stick—nothing seemed right. It wasn’t good enough. I never once thought of giving up…that’s not in my blood. I knew I had to finish this and damn it I was going to blow it out of the park…but I just didn’t know how.

I had no real plot, no sub plots. Nothing! One night as I lay in bed I started thinking of the characters, and myself. I wondered why Tsura wouldn’t use her magick? Why she was angry, full of angst and hate. What could have happened in her life to make her feel such horrible emotions every day? It would have to be something severe.

It had to come from a loss so profound; she no longer wanted to live.

I felt Tsura’s pain, and because I’d experienced such a pain the year before, I decided to use my heartache and place it into my character.

Once I was able to release some of myself, the storyline came to me almost immediately along with sub plots and other characters. I sat down and wrote the rough draft in 10 weeks.

“SACRED LEGACY will immerse you in a harrowing journey of anger and bitterness that only love and forgiveness can heal. You won’t soon forget

Tsura and Red Wolf’s journey.”

—Kristy McCaffrey, award-winning author, WINGS OF THE WEST series

Tsura is a Chuvani, and with that comes great power…

Desperate to escape the memories that haunt her, Tsura Harris returns to Jamestown, the very place her mother forbade her to go. A gifted Chuvani, Tsura has sworn off all magick, thus making her vulnerable to the Renoldi clan, who wish to kill her and take the pendant that is the key to her power.

Red Wolf is hell-bent on living his life on the sea, until he runs into Tsura on the docks. His pride wounded from her rejection years before, he hoped to never see her again. But when the evil Corsair, Romulus Black, demands to know where she is, Red Wolf must protect her, as is his duty.

But is duty and honor his only reason, or does Red Wolf still carry a flame of love in his heart? And will Tsura finally discover her destiny?

Get SACRED LEGACY here!

Amazon

About Kat…

 Kat Flannery’s love of history shows in her novels. She is an avid reader of historical, suspense, paranormal, and romance. She has her Certificate in Freelance and Business Writing.
A member of many writing groups, Kat enjoys promoting other authors on her blog. Kat enjoys teaching writing classes and giving back to other aspiring authors. She volunteers her time at the local library facilitating their writing group. She’s been published in numerous periodicals throughout her career

Her debut novel CHASING CLOVERS has been an Amazon Top 100 Paid bestseller. LAKOTA HONOR and BLOOD CURSE (Branded Trilogy) are Kat’s two award-winning novels and HAZARDOUS UNIONS is Kat’s first novella. Kat is currently hard at work on her next series, THE MONTGOMERY SISTERS.

Visit Kat at: www.katflannerybooks.com

Find her on Facebook: Kat Flannery, author

Follow her on Twitter: @KatFlannery1