I think if I had it to do over again, Krystal would be her own series. I can see 3 books total out of this story. But I included her in Sand & Fog Series, and that series is all standalone books, so now I'm trying to work her story into something powerful and coherent in a single book. Not an easy task. It's so much more complex now that I'm trying to finalize it on paper.
I've done something new with this book, and I'm curious what my readers will think. It's divided into parts--part one, part two, part three--the way I would write a continuing book series, but obviously not the length of 3 individual books. I've also done dual POV. Jacob Merrick is such a sweet character I found myself wanting to spend some time in his head space. I haven't done that before in a book(dual POV). But it's important you understand him from the get go, to understand what happens to Krystal and how their story ends. Or even to understand the point of this book. Jacob holds 50% of the message.
I'm like that girl who leaves a trail of breadcrumbs through her books for her readers to follow and I often wonder if my readers see the crumbs. There's all kinds of weaving between the parts of this book, and the story is told in three parts, but like in a mirror, inverted with different meaning. Part two is the mirror image of part one, and part three is the result of Krystal and Jacob having gone through those two phases of their lives, and as ever, it holds my little truism about love and life and the overall message I want to say in this book.
Anyway, as I work to get the last of it through editing so I can release, I wonder if anyone will like this book and if the story will make sense to anyone but me. I've done something rather brutal to my darling Krystal, but I couldn't have done it if I hadn't known Jacob was on the pages with her to protect her for me. Least you think I'm a mean author, I leave you with a new Jackson Parker quote from inside the pages of The Girl in the Mirror: "With great loss can follow great happiness if you love." Yep, like always Jack is the voice of reason in my new book.
As ever, I wish you peace.