Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Resistance One Year Anniversary

AnniversaryBanner1

Today is the day! Resistance has officially been out for one full year. And what a year it has been, thanks to everyone who has read and enjoyed it! I never knew when I first hit “publish” how well it would do. I was quite scared about it, actually, because it meant so much to me. But, one year later, it has done very well, won a couple of awards, and is even in the process of becoming an audiobook! If this is just the first year, I look forward to seeing what God has in store for the next few years.

To celebrate today, I have a couple of fun things to share. First, I’ve had several readers sharing on their blogs how they discovered Ilyon. Perhaps you’re wondering how I discovered Ilyon. I’ve mentioned it in interviews I’ve done over the last year, but today I’ll share my story here.

You can thank Donita K. Paul for the existence of Ilyon. You see, it was her book DragonQuest that sparked the initial inspiration for the series. It was June 27, 2011 that I was reading a scene where it was revealed that my favorite character was half-blooded. I remember just pausing there as the creative gears in my head started turning. Now, I’ve written about half-blooded characters before (half Elves in my Makilien Trilogy), but it was never someone that was frowned upon. In DragonQuest, however, it was. So, I started thinking, what if I wrote about a character who’s mixed blood was something people looked down on. What if one side of his blood was a race people feared and thought were no better than animals? To give a better picture of what I was thinking, here are the notes I wrote down the next day—the very first notes I would write for the series.

So I was reading DragonQuest last night and it sparked a very interesting idea. I have sort of a basic plot, but mainly I have two great character ideas. I guess I'll start there.

First there's the main guy because that is where these ideas started. What I'm thinking is in this new fantasy world there is a race of people who are really evil. They can pass as humans if they want to, but have non-human attributes like pointed ears, able to see in the dark, etc. They are cunning, devious, and easily enraged. I'm thinking that even though they appear human, they almost have some animal-like tendencies. Everyone fears and hates them because they are always raiding villages and out for blood. Now, what if my main guy is half human, half one of these people? Think of the inner turmoil that would cause. He would constantly struggle with his mixed blood. Plus, I'm thinking that most people don't believe this race has souls, so my guy will always have this doubt gnawing at him, wondering if God truly can love and save him.

And that is how Jace came to be and where Ilyon started. He is at the core of it all. Every other character and plot evolved around him and his storyline. I started writing Resistance the very day I wrote down those first notes. Next month it will be four years since I first discovered Jace and Ilyon. Four of the books and a novella are written, two are published, and the last two books and (hopefully) a short story are in the process of being written. I never imagined at the beginning what a huge thing it would turn into. When I first started, the series was only supposed to have three books. But that’s how writing goes. You never know exactly what is going to happen until you reach the end.

Now,  my second fun thing to share. If you haven’t had a chance to check Ilyon Chronicles out yet, for the next week I have both Resistance and The King’s Scrolls (for Kindle) on sale for 50% off! That’s $1.99 a piece. Basically, you can get both for the price of one. :) This offer is good through May 26th.

SaleBanner

And, just for fun, I also have a 20% off code for my Etsy store. You can go grab yourself some Ilyon inspired jewelry or choose from my other categories. I have lots of jewelry for writers and for other fandoms.

20%Off copy

Also, don’t forget to enter my anniversary giveaway. There are several different prizes. (U.S. entries only please.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Again, thank you all so much for making Resistance's first year amazing!

6 comments:

  1. Congrats!!! I am so happy the Ilyon Chronicles is such a success!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love Donita K. Paul! And your inspiration for Jace is one of my favorite characters in her DragonKeeper series.

    Resistance is one of my favorite fantasy novels (right up there with Donita K. Paul's books), but sadly, I haven't managed to get my hands on The King's Scrolls yet. I might have to buy it for myself for my upcoming birthday! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I haven't read them yet, but I was very intrigued after reading the sample on Amazon. I love allegorical fantasy novels and I have already whipped up some fan art! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just wanted to tell you that my whole family loves your books. I am a mama with eight kids and my husband and teenage son both love your books as much I do. Thank you! Keep up the good work! We are looking forward to the next book in the series!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, that's a lot to happen in one year, but you have deserved every bit of the rewards, Ilyon is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I was considering buying them, but it seems that the sale is only on Amazon.com not .com.au

    ReplyDelete