To Interlude Or Not To Interlude, That Is The Question #SumeriasSons #ReleasingChaos #amwriting

If you are reading or have read Sumeria's Sons then you're familiar with the Sumeria's Sons Interludes. The last several weeks I've been weighing whether or not do release an interlude 5.5. It would be the last one before the series ends. To be honest, the story is already written and has been sitting on my hard drive for almost a year while I've struggled with Releasing Chaos. The reason I haven't handed it over to the publisher is because if I needed to change something, I would have it on hand and wouldn't be locked into a course of action as I would've been if it was published.

Before I get into what I'm going to do, let me start from the beginning and explain how the interludes came about. I wrote A New Beginning because I'd originally believed that the whole series would be from Tristan's point of view. But there were things that happened outside of Tristan's view that were pertinent to the story. Sure, bare minimum of information could've been told in the main books, but I wanted to show what was going on. I thought these little interludes would enrich the readers experience with Sumeria's Sons and draw them closer to the side characters.

In these interludes, you see the corruption of the Magi College and the Triad. Juan's persistent pursuit of Gregori. Stan's guilt and jealousy. The reader knows that Gregori has a secret that even Tristan is unaware of. You know where Randy went that caused Dawn to warn him if he didn't return, Tristan wouldn't be crowned king of the Lycans. Stan finds a new purpose, discovering his place in the fold of Tristan's life. Doesn't the prophecy say something about the Eye of the Serpent and isn't Ophidian another name for a snake?

The interludes were supposed to be just that. An intervening episode, 10k or less, that shed light characters or occurrences that would become pivotal to the final chapters of Sumeria's Sons. They weren't meant to be complete short stories, just snapshots.

I realize now that I miscalculated how people would understand the interludes and that's my fault. The first two are about Gregori and his relationships with both Juan and Stan. They had the romantic elements, and with those two interludes a precedent was set, albeit unintentionally, so that when A Child's Wish came out, I think readers were thrown off. There was no romance because this was the story about Stan and the relationship he developed with Tristan's adopted children Justus, Neoma, and Dawn. Stan made a promise and he didn't plan on letting Randy down like he did Tristan. I think readers expected something similar to the first two and I gave them a wholly different creature, and many didn't like it.

Recently, I was looking at the Interlude 5.5 and realized it was in the same vein as A Child's Wish. Reader's aren't going to like it either, and I don't want to turn them off the last book, so there won't be another interlude before Releasing Chaos. I'll find a way to work the scenes into the main story.

Ha! Ha! Part of the reason I've been struggling with Releasing Chaos is that this last book needs more points of views from people other than Brian, Ushna, and Tristan. Writing three 1st persons in a story is hard. I have to make sure the personalities don't meld together. Adding more 1st POV personalities... I don't think I've read a book that had more than a couple. What Releasing Chaos needs is another three POVs (at the very least), and I've spent considerable time trying to find a way to write the story without them or to find a way to put Brian, Ushna, or Tristan in the situation so the scene could be told from their POV. Because really, I can't write the last book of the series in 3rd person when the first five books are in 1st.

So Releasing Chaos is already loopy. Integrating the interlude isn't going to send me over the edge, but I can say that next time I think about starting a book in 1st person, I will have more of a plan in mind if the book turns into a series.

That's the skinny on Sumeria's Sons. Releasing Chaos went from an estimated word count of 60k to 150k (and it will probably be higher). So much needs to be wrapped up in this last book. I have a list that I'm checking off as I go along. If the number of POVs doesn't drive me crazy, then keeping track of the details will. :)

Thank you for stopping and reading!!