The Horrors of Writing a Trilogy.

I rarely outline a story except in the most basic terms; I have the ending before the tale is started. This normally works for me. In a short story, novella, or even a short novel I play with it in my mind until it works in some way or another. This is simply not possible when writing a trilogy. You must know the whole story when you begin. Each book should be a novel in it's own right but the three should then make a cohesive whole. A clear start, a middle that will pull you on towards the conclusion and the last that satisfies all your ideas from the earlier books.

When I started writing "And the Sea Shall give up it's Dead" I was not worried. It was originally destined to be a three hundred page novel. It grew and changed and so it was finally decided that it would become a trilogy. All must be drawn together to create an ending that encapsulates all three books and takes care (in a satisfying way) of all the characters that you have been presented with. Not an easy prospect. One I have struggled with. It is now finished and, I hope, will be a completely original fantasy trilogy. There are no echoes of LOTR or the myriad of others that were swept along in it's wake. Rather I hope to have created something completely original but which may appeal to those that enjoy both the fantasy and horror genres. Look out, later this year for the first volume of "And the Sea Shall Give up it's Dead" Which will be titled "Over the Tears of the Fallen"