Do you ever wonder how your favorite books came to be? Whenever I finish a five-star novel, I love to follow the author to learn more. What do they imagine happening next for the characters? What’s their writing process like? How did they come up with the idea for the book?
Now that I’m on the author side, I occasionally receive these kinds of questions from my own readers. (And that’s about the biggest compliment an author can get!) Today, we’re diving into the latter question. How did you come up the idea for the Desertera series?
The First Spark
Way back in 2012, I worked as an office assistant for my university’s English department. One week, a professor asked me to proofread Wiki pages her students had created for their World Literature class. Most of the pages focused on 1,001 Nights (aka, The Arabian Nights).
Like many readers, I knew the premise of 1,001 Nights: a scorned king decides to kill each new wife after their wedding night so that he is never betrayed again. Scheherazade, the vizier’s daughter, offers herself as the king’s next bride and delays her death by telling him increasingly interesting and complex stories. (Fun fact: I finally read the entire book last year during a graduate World Literature class and LOVED it.)
As I read these different Wiki articles on 1,001 Nights, my imagination started to run away with me. What if the king tried to prevent adultery by making it illegal instead? What if the king used that law to his advantage? If he framed his wives in the crime of adultery, that would allow him to execute them without appearing overtly like a tyrant. And what if the Scheherazade character didn’t want to “fix” the king’s behavior? What if she wanted him dead?
And thus, the premise of The Cogsmith’s Daughter (Desertera #1), was born.
The Execution
I sat on my idea for the Desertera series for over two years. Why? Mostly, I didn’t have time for outside writing projects while attending university, working part-time, and organizing the immigration of and marriage to my Australian fiancé. But finally, I committed to writing my first novel for National Novel Writing Month in November 2014.
During the planning stages, I considered how to bring the novel idea to life. I wanted to honor 1,001 Nights with a desert kingdom setting, but I also wanted to put a unique spin on it. As a lifelong soft science fiction and fantasy lover, I decided to build a steampunk kingdom that had been devastated by an apocalyptic flood and subsequent drought. I adore the aesthetics of steampunk, and I wanted the environment of Desertera to be as broken as its politics. Looking back, I understand that Desertera addresses all the social issues that mattered most to me in college: climate devastation, economic inequity, sexual empowerment, and justice.
Once I had the world designed, I sketched a vague outline for The Cogsmith’s Daughter in my notebook. It was simply a bulleted list of plot points I wanted to write, with plenty of room in between for discovery. In the end, I think about 50-75% of the outline changed but having that rough guideline gave me a place to start writing. I wrote the entire first draft in 30 days (with one day off in the middle) then spent the next year revising, editing, and working with industry professionals to prepare the novel for publication.
The Next Steps
After publishing The Cogsmith’s Daughter, I originally intended for the Desertera series to be six books long. However, three books in, I’ve realized that the story is ready to be finished with the fourth book. While I can’t make any firm predictions while in graduate school (who knew that would be such a time suck?), I’m hoping to write and publish the final novel next year in 2021.
Until then, you can catch up on the Desertera series in ebook, paperback, or signed paperback. And if you want a FREE Desertera short story (plus updates when I do start working on the final novel), sign up for the Loyal Deserterans email list.