INSIDER INFORMATION!

Autumn is my favorite season of the year, and here in the Pacific Northwest signs of it are coming into full bloom—leaves are turning brilliant shades of amber, scarlet and yellow, the misty, foggy days are shortening, the weather is turning icy and brisk.  My morning walks with Mollie (my lab-border collie) are now filled with dewy scents of sugar maple from the trees building their sap for the winter, the last of wild strawberries and blackberries growing here and there, and the pungent aroma of pine and oak.  In the evenings, people are again lighting their fireplaces, filling the air with the smoky smell of burning wood, which I happen to love.

To close out this year, I just finished the final version of HUNTER (Sons of the Alpha – book 4), which will be ready for discounted preorder October 15^th and full release November 1^st.  The story takes place during this wonderful season as well.

It was a fun series to write, and I’m sad to close the last chapter on the Bryant Wolf Pack family.  I hope you, dear reader, had as an amazing time with them as I did.

There have been several common questions raised about this series, so I’ll answer a couple and share some additional insider information:

1. KNIGHT (SOA #1) was originally written as a standalone novel named “Silver Dagger”.  It was my faithful friend and beta reader Tamara Gillespie who came up with the idea of expanding it into a series and adding some of the other family members.  Jake was already there as Neil’s half-brother, but Luke and Adam were added later.  There was also a younger sister who I decided to eliminate, making this series about a family of “sons”.
2. Each of the four stories are based on a classic literary theme.  KNIGHT has a Camelot theme. HEIR is a Cinderella theme (which I made pretty clear in the Reader’s Note).  REBEL is a Romeo and Juliet theme (note that their pseudo last names are Montgomery and Capella).  And HUNTER is a Red Riding Hood theme (who’s been sleeping in your bed, grandma?).
3. The new spinoff series BLACK SKY DRAGONS (Book 1—Hunted by the Dragon to be released February-2020) began as a random remark by the character Jake to Alexia in KNIGHT about “dragons once existing, but they’re extinct now.”  Later I considered, “Hmm, what if the Arcan Hunters didn’t wipe out all of them?  What if a few survived and are hiding even from all the other were-kind for their own protection?”  Thus, the spark was lit to next year’s dragon shifter series (it never takes much to ignite my wild, story hungry imagination!).
4. No, there will be no more novella prequels to my future books.  Having a novella for each book was a fun way to delve further into their world and the motivation of various characters, but this was a one-and-done thing.  I will write more short stories and novellas in the future, but they will be strictly standalones.  Of course, I’ve been told often never to say never, so…you never know.
5. Who wrote the beginning quote in KNIGHT?  Ahem.  Honestly, I did.  I had searched for the perfect classic quote, knowing exactly what I wanted to say, but could never find anything suitable.  Finally I just made up my own.  You’ll notice it doesn’t have a reference like the others.  I did consider using my given name with the reference “of the clan Hunter”, which is in fact true.  My eighteenth century Scottish ancestors were clan Hunter who were the official game hunters for Celtic royalty.
6. Will any of the Sons of the Alpha characters make cameo appearances in future books?  For that, you’ll have to stay tuned.  I’m only a quarter way into Book #1 of Black Sky Dragons, and I’ll let the story tell itself and characters come forth where they may.

Hope you found these morsels interesting.  I love answering reader questions, so if you have any regarding these or other books now or in the future, please contact me.  I love connecting with fellow readers.  Stories are the passion of my life, and a bit of an addictive bliss.  I can never get enough.

Thank you so much for your support.  One reader asked me to keep writing stories, and like I told him, “If you keep reading them, I’ll keep writing them!”

All the best, Addison Carmichael