Sometimes a project is so complex and close to your heart that it consumes all your time. The fourth installment of the Destiny in the Shadows series has been no exception.

Many of you have been asking what became of the series since there has been such a lag between books. I released a Christmas novella in 2020 from Dantenn’s POV to break the silence and many of you loved it. But still you demanded to know what became of Sierrenna. Or more affectionately known, Rain. *SPOILER ALERT* Plus her baby.

And I don’t blame you. I’ve missed them, too. You see, what exists on paper is truly real in an author’s head. I deal with the main characters every day to the extent they almost come to life. Sometimes the things I originally plot out at the beginning of a first draft are refused. I realize that the action I’d originally planned would not be something a character would do. Cain was originally supposed to be a villain, you know. And he said to screw that.

War Machine was no different from any of my other stories. My first concept is usually very different from the finished product. And my science fiction novels are more difficult for me to write because I am literally inventing a new, unseen world. I must explain every bit of their society, their cities and how their new technologies work. With my urban fantasy novels, they are all based in the now. The settings are simply the world we live in and need to be much less detailed in certain respects.

What was once one book quickly morphed into two the more I worked on it. And those two books rapidly each escalated to over 150K words. The original title Blood War became Warlord: Scorpius (part one of the original manuscripts). The second half became Blood War: Defiance or more precisely, book five. The story simply could not be told on one book.

Another spoiler: Plus Cain quickly took to demanding that he get chapters from his point of view and I agreed it was what the story needed What he resented was the long wait that it has been the journey from my mind to the page

2021-2022 has been an intense roller-coaster for me and my family. I have experienced many health challenges that impacted my ability to work with as much focus as need for this series. But with happiness, I can announce that both books are in the hands of my editor. In fact, I am now working on the book directly after them, so three books can be released in relatively quick succession.

They will be in your hands soon, as well as the first Sanctum of Hell series book: Helice. It was previously published as a weekly serial during the Covid-19 pandemic and has since been vastly expanded upon. Again, the finished product is very different from the original. Call me a perfectionist, but I do not stop until I see a story as perfect. And again, what was once a simple novel became a triad of epic books. Book two Del Muerta is largely complete.

I also am in the process of bringing a fan request to life upon request. Many of you wished to read Rain’s early backstory when she was in training as an assassin. That book will not be in your hands for a while, but I can tell you it will be in the next year or so, providing my health complies with my wishes.

Hopefully this summer will be a great one not only for you, my reader, but also a better one for me. I am sending my love and hugs.

Love, Author Maggie Lynn