So I put this aside and thought on it for a while. And then Bull Moon Rising needed to be written. And so did a few other books. Once I cleared the decks a bit, I picked this story up again and ran into the same problem, and it’s one that Ranan asks himself through the whole story. How can you know Vali is really happy if she’s used to suppressing how she feels to please the person in charge?
I had to give Vali some power and agency. I wounded Ranan and put his life in her hands. I made them go to his family and had Vali become aware that she didn’t need him. That she could survive and thrive without him. At the end of the day, I was a lot happier with how things turned out. I like to imagine these two pirating their way across the rocky shores, robbing people left and right.
Oh! And for those wondering about Akara, I gave a lot of thought to her, too. If a turtle never submerges, how does she feed? I like to think of her like a basking shark, getting her nutrients from invisible plankton in the waters. She would have the large, terrifying looking mouth that strains things, which would only add to the visual terror of an enormous turtle. Now with scary gaping mouth! But I like to imagine Akara just drifting her way through life, tired of other people’s bullshit…hence her need to go solo.
(Me too girl, me too.)
I hope you enjoyed this story!
— Ruby Dixon
Want More?
Want more to read? I have a very large backlist in Kindle Unlimited! Here are a few suggestions of things you might like if you enjoyed this story!
The main Aspect & Anchor series
Stand-alones in the A&A universe
Stand-alone fantasy romance (not KU but still fun)
(no relation to A&A series)
Enjoy!
