Wildfire is almost here!

Wildfire, Book Two of the Everealm Series, will be released on September 1st! I've already gotten several pre-orders, which is great, and I am so excited to release this book and get deeper into the third one. I've already (mostly) figured out the outline for Blood Moon and I'm happy to say that I've approved the final draft of the cover, so I will be able to share that soon.

I also decided what to do about that whole To Kill or Not to Kill Jill fiasco. I won't ruin it by blabbing about my decision, but I can finally sleep better knowing Jill's fate. Whatever it may be...

Also, the post just went up on YA Bound for the Wildfire Book Tour on September 21-25. Our review query for Everealm is going great so far, with two fantastic reviews that literally made me cry and I am usually not a crier.. The review query runs through the month of September, so I should be getting feedback on Everealm for a while longer, I hope!

If you signed up to review Everealm and would like to also review or share a promo post for Wildfire, here is the link below the logo.

Book Tour Sign-Up Page

With the good, also comes the bad. While providing a free copy for reviews on Goodreads, I received an email from a person who didn't like my book. And when I say he/she didn't like it, I mean this person practically hated it and recommended I pull the book and re-write the entire thing. I certainly expect some criticism and everyone who knows me personally will say that I have no problem arguing with anyone over anything. No, really. I should have been a lawyer.

There were a few good points made by said reviewer and I fixed many of those. But the other complaints were mostly over parts of the book that were not historically accurate or logical. So I wanted to take a moment to explain that Everealm is not Europe and there is no specific time period in which the series takes place. I call it medieval-ish, but I've even drawn from the renaissance period for inspiration. Even then, I don't want to limit myself to only period details. I like to be more elaborate with the clothing, for example. I imagine the Sabras would be angry if they were required to wear clothing that actually covered their bodies, instead of their leather and furs. ;)

A lot of the dialogue is more modern because (let's face it) it's much easier to read and understand than medieval lingo. I do, actually, look up many words that I use to see what the date of origin is, and if the word is too modern, I switch it out for another. Just last night, I chose to use the word "eerie" over "creepy", for that very reason.

I have chosen to avoid or limit including many aspects of historically accurate medieval times, such as disease, death, religion, bad hygiene, infant mortality, etc., as well. The historically accurate medieval period is not necessarily the glorious and romanticized time period that we see in movies/tv and doesn't lend itself to an enjoyable fantasy-romance story, in my opinion. And Everealm has magic! It isn't going to be realistic for that very reason, alone.

I also have chosen not to be as strict with titles as I probably should be. Reading "Sir this" and "Queen that" over and over again is annoying. I do use titles when I find it appropriate, which is often, but not as often as I apparently should be. And I've allowed my characters the freedom to be casual with each other when in private, so that Rowan will not be calling his love "Queen Breestlin" for their entire relationship. She wouldn't like that...

While I will definitely include as many historical elements that I feel will work with the story and help create the image I wish to portray, I won't be super picky about being accurate at all times. My series is a fantasy-romance not a historical fiction. And again, Everealm is a fantasy world and can look or sound whichever way I'd like it to. It's my world, darn it! :) 

Thank you so much to everyone for their support. I need to go because I have characters talking to each other in my head and I need to type out their conversation. I'm not crazy, though. Just saying... :)

~J.D.W.