Foresaken Series - Guest Post

The Forsaken Series by Elise Whyles and Ciara Lake

Creating a believable world.

In every genre your world building is key. With some genres the world is already built you just fill in the romance, mystery, or whathaveyou. When you start to do books in paranormal, fantasy, and other like genres you have to build the world from scratch. How do you do it? How can you as an author build a world the reader will be drawn into and hooked and finish the book thinking I wish I could go there?

Its not an easy thing to do. There's a lot of thought, work goes into the process. With some beings such as vampires, werewolves etc we have an idea established about them - not always the way an author sees it but if the reader thinks vampires are all blood sucking males who are allergic to the sun how can you work with that while building something original? You have to stretch it.

When we started on Forsaken Series, we had a generalized idea of what we were wanting to do. What species we were thinking of, what we felt were overdone or had flooded the market. So we decided we need to build worlds for each species, make them all connected much like earth and give each one its own social, political, and legal system. Meant a lot of time spent in Google chat I tell you, I think we wore it out there for a while lol. But the overall ideas, the feel we wanted was there.

Would I suggest building twenty different worlds at once - uh never again - but when you're starting out you don't know. So after many weeks of chats, of brainstorming and ideas being bounced around, we figured out there were three things we each needed to do to be sure our worlds were what the reader could get into and believe.

1. Each world is just enough like Earth to be believable without being cliched. There are marked differences, but if you read from one to the next there's one sun, one moon, seasons, connections to earth in many forms.

2. Vivid, technicolor threads throughout. No world is the same, and we've worked hard to ensure the descriptions of our worlds are spot on and key to the story, the plot, the series.

3. Fun. Even in the dark, edgy tone of these books the reader will see there are things about our worlds that are fun. From the parties, to sunsets, to culture shocks...there's something a reader can relate to.

Something we also did was have a blast with planning and creating. None of what we've done was easy, but we took our time and hashed it out. Open and solid communication is key to building that believable world in the books.

http://forsakenvamps.com

http://forsakenvampires.blogspot.com

The Forsaken Series By Elise Whyles and Ciara Lake

Series Overview:

Among us walk immortal beings – cursed to hide within the shadows they live along side us as they have for centuries. Using, feeding, living off the mortals so reviled for their weakness – yet there are some who will be awakened and immortality will be given.

Now, an ancient evil stirs – rising to threaten not only the Immortal Realms but the mortal world. A cursed vampire General stirs, plotting his revenge on those who have forsaken him…but he’s forgotten about the innocent, who like him have been punished.

There are those who are Forsaken.

It could be anyone among us…

Forsakes Series Site
Elise Whyles Facebook
Ciara Lake Facebook

The first book, Forsaken Heart by Elise Whyles has released. The second book Curse of a Dragon’s Claim by Ciara Lake will release shortly.

  

Forsaken Heart

Punished for sins not her own, can a mortal claim her vampire mate?

The world of immortals must unite to save both themselves and the mortals they co-exist with from an ancient evil. For Bede MacTaggert this means trusting in the warrior sent for her sister—a man of mystery, of power, and one who could easily sweep her into a world she's destined to be part of.

An imperial guard to the king of vampires, Gawain has always tuned out the needs of the flesh. Dedicating himself to the service of the royals, he's lived on the fringes of his people for centuries. Now he's forced from the shadows and into the arms of a woman who will awaken his heart and body to a passion unequaled.

Content Warning: sexy alpha vampire, explicit sex, violence

Excerpt

"Frails are not to be toyed with," Gawain ground out and grabbed the girl, spinning her away, his sword at the ready as the man heaved upward, a dagger clutched in his hand. Gawain's sword rested easy on his palm, ready, the surface slicked with blood as he faced the coward.

"She's mine to do with as I choose." He gurgled, collapsing to the ground, his weapon falling from pudgy fingers. "Paid ten pieces of gold for 'em both, and I aim to get a might of use out 'em."

"Now she's mine," Gawain declared. Raising his sword, he drove it through the man's chest, pinning his twitching frame to the ground. He stepped back, his gaze sweeping the clearing. Males such as this did not travel alone, his cohorts would be close. He'd need to find and kill them…

Searing pain lanced through him, splitting his chest. Gawain glanced down. The thin, sharp tip of a blade stuck from his chest. He touched the blade and snarled. The metal was warm, when it should have been cold. Shock slammed into him as the blade began to glow, turning a searing red before changing back to normal, or as normal as it could be with blood racing down the weapon.

Whirling, his hand already scrabbling for the dagger's hilt in his back, he grabbed his assailant by the throat and lifted. Grunting as he pulled the weapon free, his lips curled upward. "You'd do well, wench, to know your place."

"If you think I mean to let you do her harm…" Sputtering, her nails digging into his wrists, the girl's brown eyes stared into his. Fear lay within the depths but something else stirred. Something dark, dangerous, easily recognized if one knew what they were looking for.

His fingers moved, tightening, loosening as he pulled her against him. Inhaling, he caught the faint scent of blood, fear, sweat, fire, and something sultry, sweet, and light on his tongue. Drawing the scent deep, he wallowed in it, his body responding to the aroma he'd dreamed of but never found.

Gawain inhaled slowly, his muscles tightening, burning. Using the tip of her dagger, he pushed the material of her shift aside. The scrolling marks of a serpent flared before his eyes. It coiled and danced beneath the girl's flesh.