Know the Novel Part 2: A Noble Warrior

Today I’ve got part 2 of Know the Novel, for my upcoming novella A Noble Warrior!

How’s the writing going overall?

It went pretty well. It took longer than expected, but the novella is finished and edited now, so I’m happy.

What’s been the most fun aspect of writing this novel so far?

Sending chapters to my beta readers after writing them.

…and the fight scenes.

What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about?

I love them all for so many different reasons.

Cassian has such fun sarcastic thoughts. Fritz is such a caring yet mischievous older brother. Marie is so bubbly and easy to write. Dasilmer is crazy. XD

Has your novel surprised you in any way?

Marie’s POV was a surprise. XD

Cassian kept surprising me by creating fight scenes out of nowhere. And refusing to start ANY of them with an actual weapon…

The length of the novella certainly surprised me. XD I cannot keep my stories short for the life of me.

Have you come across any problem areas?

The first chapter…and the second chapter…and the middle chapters…and especially the end chapters…

Honestly this entire book was a problem area. XD I’m so so thankful it actually turned out well.

What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?

Finishing it. XD

If you were transported into your novel and became any one of the characters, which one do you think you’d be? Would you take any different actions than they have?

Hm…I could see myself becoming either Lady Karamell or Marie.

Lady Karamell isn’t on screen all that much, so she doesn’t have much time to make many actions. But she’s a great character.

Marie…hm. *thinks through the story* I’m way more introverted than her, so I could honestly just see myself choosing to hide with Cassian somewhere instead of dragging him out into the crowds. XD

Oh, and I’d probably end up fighting back a little more in a few certain scenes. I enjoy combat more than she does.

Give us the first sentence or paragraph then 2 (or 3!) more favorite snippets!

The first sentence: A warrior, they said.

Hm…favorite spoiler-free snippets…

Here’s one from Cassian’s POV:

Away.

I had to get away.

Had to hide. To escape back behind the protection I had built for myself. Back to where I was safe.

My breath tore through my throat as my lungs screamed. My boots slid over another patch of mud, sending me flailing forwards, the underbrush a blur around me. 

Black flickered between the red leaves. 

I almost choked on my own breath and jerked to the right, slamming through a patch of branches out for my life.

A shout echoed behind me.

Blood rushed through my ears, masking any further sounds of pursuit as I steadily lost control of my body, barely keeping myself from tumbling as I scrambled over a fallen log and down an incline, my side protesting the sudden race.

A black-masked man loomed out of the trees in front of me. 

I don’t remember turning. The trees around me blurred as I plowed through the underbrush, all stealth forgotten as I raced to escape. 

Black appeared on my left again.

They were closing in around me. 

And one from Marie’s:

Gentle hands squeezed my shoulders, pulling me closer into my brother’s embrace. 

“The Mender is with him, Marie,” Fritz whispered, holding me tighter. “Nothing’s hidden from Him.”

I shook my head against his cloak, hot tears leaking under my eyelids, hiccuping another sob. “I can’t—I can’t take it.” My voice shattered, babbling away with another wave of tears. “I’m not strong enough.”

Not strong enough to master the pain. Not even strong enough to hide it anymore.

Share an interesting tidbit about the writing process so far! (For example: Have you made any hilarious typos? Derailed from your outline? Killed off a character? Changed projects entirely? Anything you want to share!)

I mean…I killed Clara off three chapters in? XD

*pulls out the full story*

Originally Marie was a retelling of Clara. But the Cornerstone Series is supposed to be from the POVs of side characters or villains. And the Nutcracker (Cassian) is a side-ish character…but Clara’s the MC. XD

So Marie became a retelling of Louise, and Clara out-of-the-blue became Charlott.

Take us on a tour of what a normal writing day for this novel looks like. Where do you write? What time of day? Alone or with others? Is a lot of coffee (or some other drink) consumed? Do you light candles? Play music? Get distracted by social media (*cough, cough*)? Tell all!

Honestly, my writing days are always changing. But I wrote ANW mainly in the evenings, tucked away on a small couch in our guest bedroom.

I CANNOT write without music playing, so I either had the Nutcracker ballet soundtrack or the Rings of Power soundtrack playing the entire time.

*coughs as well* I tend to get distracted by Goodreads almost every time I write…