Writing Book 2 "Aleksertac"

"Aleksertac" was published three months after "Orbs of Fire".  This was not because I wrote "Aleksertac" and had it edited in less than three months (that did not happen).  It was because, when I wrote "Orbs of Fire", I had continued into "Aleksertac" without knowing it.  I had let my cousin Teresa read an unfinished draft, and her opinion was that I should make it two books because the first section of what I had written was building up to the Tournament, so for the story to continue past the Tournament made the story seem anticlimactic.   When I re-read it, I was in agreement.  I did not want to take away from the Tournament, and I didn't exactly know where the next section was going. Not to mention, "Orbs of Fire" can stand quite well on its own - which is evident by how many people love this story. I don't remember how far I had written into book two when Teresa pointed this out to me, but I had a ways to go before it was finished.  However, creating a cover and coming up with the title and subtitle for book one, allowed me time to complete book 2, making it possible for the release to be just a few months later.

Unlike some of my books, Aleksertac's secret was known to me before I started writing "Orbs of Fire".  It was actually the inspiration that caused me to begin writing "Orbs of Fire", and is probably the reason I didn't realize I had two books instead of one.  I had been so busy getting to this particular secret that I didn't realize I had completed book one.  Which was unlike my first two published stories where with "Taken" I had written the whole story and split it into two, and "Solace" where I didn't even know there was going to be a book two. 

Despite that I knew Aleksertac's secret, there were still several things that came as a surprise while I was writing it.   A couple of examples: how big of a part Percy ends up taking, how a dragon is "born", who Phillip's mother is and his part in the story, and the introduction of a few character's that end up being more powerful than I had expected (in book three)...  the list goes on, but you get the point.