The author commentary on A Circle of Shadows continues! SPOILER WARNING ahead!

Loose Threads…

The Night of the Lights described in Signs of Portents was a defining moment in the novel. It was meant to be this door-opening experience where not everything that came out was immediately shoved back into the box, or in this case, the floating green orb of light.

The Sirens were always supposed to play a greater role in the series.

No one questioned their arrival in Signs. No one questioned why they were mentioned.

They should have. If Signs is the only book you read, there should be an answer within its pages to some degree.

When I closed that initial book, I knew I had to address them. The Sirens were now roaming the streets and had to be dealt with. I knew this.

I just didn’t know how to hand this loose thread.

The Medusa Coin

I tried to squeeze it into The Medusa Coin. The Sirens were supposed to show up at the beginning or the end in a very Blade 2 moment, where Soriya jumps them and tells them they were foolish to think she forgot about them or some other nonsense. (You know what I’m talking about… if not, see the film. It’s fantastic.)

It didn’t fit. The narrative was tight, focused on Erikson and the Charon. Even if it hadn’t been, the conceit that the Greystone was out of control took another threat off the table. At least until Soriya solved that piece of the puzzle.

Pathways in the Dark

A seventh short story almost made its way into the collection. It revolved around a conspiracy created by the Sirens, who were manipulating principal players in the city.

I couldn’t get it to work. And Pathways had a full line-up I wasn’t willing to cut to make room.

I needed the Sirens resolved. I needed an answer to this situation I created with my genius planning of loose threads.

A Circle of Shadows opens the door…

Then came book 5. I had a slot to fill in the opening chapters where members of the circle converge on a supernatural threat. I had no threat.

A small problem to be sure.

The Sirens filled the role perfectly.

Then I took it further. The original outline had the two sisters taken down by the circle and the third, Thel, given a second chance at life by the Greystone. That was the end of the story for the Sirens. Originally…

It didn’t close the loop on the character.

And I didn’t want another dangling thread.

Thel’s involvement in the climax of the novel came as a direct result of this need to close their story. It tied into Soriya’s need to be a force of good instead of destruction. It tied into the theme of second chances seen throughout the narrative.

I was so excited when it worked out. When she is struck in the back and begs Ruiz and Myers to let the Greystone know she made good; that gut punch to Myers for the way she treated Soriya? That was why that scene exists. That is why the Sirens made the cut for this book.

So glad they did.

The epilogue scene.

It wasn’t in the original outline. Hell, it wasn’t even in the original draft. Or the first revision.

When Thel shows up as Myers’ new partner, setting up a brand new dynamic for the police force going forward, it was brand new for me as well.

Unplanned. Off the cuff. Completely out of nowhere writing.

Wish I could take credit for it. Truth be told, in the original draft, Thel died in Heaven’s Gate Park. Shocker, right? With the amount of bodies dropping who would have noticed?

Exactly why I changed it. I needed survivors. I needed characters that had depth and foibles to carry on for the next five books. Thel proved herself to me over the course of the writing she had that in her.

All because of that damn loose thread in Signs of Portents.

Thanks for reading.