All Spell Breaks Loose

Author Essay

The sixth book of the Raine Benares series—All Spell Breaks Loose—is the culmination of a storyline that began in 2007 with Magic Lost, Trouble Found. The action contained in those six books cover a mere three–month period in the lives of Raine and her friends. Three months. It’s hard to believe. When I look back over the entire series, I think one of the biggest surprises for me was that the Saghred storyline extended into six books. I had expected three books max. But the characters kept growing, and they and their stories took on a life of their own. There was no way I could stop after only three books. I had to find out what happened. A huge thank you to those of you who shared that journey with me. I’ve always loved a good, addictive series. There’s still nothing I like more than getting hold of a book that’s a real page–turner, devouring it, then finding out that it’s part of a series. For me, that’s book–lover heaven. My favorite series featured characters who I’d love to meet, and I always looked forward to each new book in those series as a chance to visit with old friends. This is what I tried to accomplish with the Raine Benares series—to create characters that readers would love, or love to hate. And from the emails, tweets, blog and Facebook comments, and face–to–face meetings that I’ve been fortunate enough to have with you all over the past few years, you’ve told me that I’ve achieved that goal. In my opinion, that’s the best compliment you could ever give me. Thank you. Now just because All Spell Breaks Loose marks the conclusion of the Saghred storyline, it doesn’t mean that the series has ended. I love these characters too much to stay away from them for long. I hope to be able to come back to Raine and her friends in the not–too–distant future and share more of their stories with you. As you can probably imagine, there are quite a few characters who have been lobbying hard for their own book or even series. As a reader, I’ve always been impatient when waiting for the next book in a series to come out, eager to once again sit down and visit with my friends who live in the pages. And you know what? It doesn’t change a bit when you’re the writer of those stories. So, I’m not saying good–bye; I’m saying until we meet again.