Saying Farewell

Someone once said that, to say goodbye to a character that has been part of you for years, is like bidding farewell to a piece of you. As I write the last book in Eila’s story, I know it’s true.

I have no doubt that when I’m done with the final book in the UNDERTOW series, I will be both thrilled and heartbroken. Because for me, the characters in my books do not live just inside the pages, but inside me as well.

I see them, feel them, hear them.

I owe the start of my novel-writting career to five unlikely friends who are entirely imaginary, and I can never thank them enough. I can’t tell them how much they meant to readers, or how many times they were re-read, or how I tortured myself over their fate.

And their fate has always been set.

I’ve known the end of the series, since the beginning.

I’ve known the last scene, since the first.

My goal has always been to offer a war story, hidden inside a love story, wrapped up in a supernatural spin that is different from anything else out there. I believe that if I can do TRUE NORTH justice, the series will be known as a mind freak – a twisted, wild ride from hell that makes the reader bawl hysterically or laugh out loud.

If I do it justice, I will cry when its done. I will hug my characters tightly, whisper thank you over and over, and tell them I’ve given them all I can.

I’ll tell them that they can live on, in the hearts of those readers who love them, and as the years slip by, new readers will find them. Will fall for them. Will love them as I have.

I’ll tell them I will never ever forget them or what they’ve done for me, and that I leave them, safe in the hands of future readers.

And I’ll tell them I’ll miss them . . . forever.