I’ve mentioned this before in authors’ notes, but it’s especially important here. One of the questions I asked myself, when I began Stregoni, is how did Carlisle become the father he became? It’s not enough simply to say he tried to be the opposite of the man who raised him; not only does that not capture the complexity of how we inherit our parenting styles from our parents, it also renders William merely as a cardboard cut-out foil. The anti-Carlisle, as it were.
So instead, I asked, what if a great deal of who Carlisle is actually does come from his father? After all, he never knew his mother. In many ways, this drives some of the best conflict in the 1667 chapters. When you have opposing characters that are nothing alike, you get a struggle. But when you have opposing characters that are almost exactly alike, you get a really fascinating struggle.
And here the conflict brewing between Carlisle and William finally rears its head.
I apologize for the delay in posting; if I’d planned this slightly better, I’d have posted 25 at the beginning of this month so that 23, 24, and 25 would sit together, as they’re meant to—each being the crux of their respective storylines. But I trust that it will still be an enjoyable read.
From here on out, SB will post weekly; there are three full chapters remaining as well as a sizeable epilogue. Simultaneously, I’ve finished the entirety of a draft of a new Pre-Twilight novella, and am about 40% of the way through with a second one—these were both bid on for Fandom Gives Back, Eclipse Edition, and those who donated have been rather patient with me while I worked out the kinks. So along with SB, we’ll have some new things coming down the pipeline, too.
As always, I owe a great debt to my beta, Openhome, in this instance, for helping me slay my darlings. Just to give you some sense of what revision is like on an SB chapter, this one in draft was 7,820 words. When I sent it to Openhome after my first revision round, it was right at 6300. The one that is posted today is just under 5100. Having a friend whom you can trust when she says, “This all can go,” is worth everything the world over, and I’m grateful for her help.
Happy Reading.
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