Death comes to my #WIP

So something happened. No, as the title implies, I’m not killing my work in progress (WIP), however there are days that it crosses my mind. But I have had a turn of events and my Happily Ever Afters (HEA) in this series have gone a little dark. I find myself with a decision to make, and it isn’t going to be easy. But as the quote by Stephen King tells me, I’m not the first writer that has faced this, and I’m sure I won’t be the last.

You might be asking, “Holy Crap! Who is going to die?” You might also be asking, “When the heck are you going to quit teasing us and just release the thing?” Well to be honest, I am asking myself the same damn questions! However, to quote one of my favorite characters…

Here’s the thing, I write Romance. And Romance by definition, gives its reader a promise to provide either a Happily-Ever-After, or at the very least a Happily-For-Now. At the beginning of this manuscript I felt I could still swing that, but now I see the characters have gone in a direction where all I can do is follow and take notes. I suppose that is what I get for calling it Twist of Fate, but who knew at the time they would take it literally. So for those of you who have been following the series, and as the title implies, this story is Fate’s. We see the birth of the Shadowman through her eyes, such as they are, and realize that sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good. Another one of my favorite movie quotes…

What this means is Fate, and her sisters Sevilla and Zilla, will have some decisions to make that hold in delicate balance, the men they love in one hand and the future of the planet in the other. I can’t say I would want to be in any of their shoes, although I suppose in many ways I will be, since I will be right alongside them as we sort through this mess I’ve created. We need to find a resolution that ensures that the needs of the many are being met, but as Spock implies, it’s not looking good for a select few.

Death has come to Wisteria, and it is a scary but exciting time for me as a writer. I know it sounds a bit crazy, but I am loving the challenge of this story, and I feel that in order to set this series up right, this book just might have to be categorized as plain old Fantasy/Magical Realism. Now for those of you who like the Romance stuff, don’t get your panties in a twist we still have plenty of that! However, I can’t see any way out of the ending I am compelled to write, that will give us the Happily-Ever-After that the Romance readers know and expect.

But even if a few folks have to die (and no I am not going to tell you who, you will just have to wait to find out for yourselves), and if Fate is still around in book 4, perhaps I can work some magick and give her the HEA that she so richly deserves. There may or may not be a hint of it in Playing with Fire, and beyond that, you will just have to wait until the final book in the series is done to find out how it sorts out for everyone. In the meantime, you can get caught up with the series at Amazon, Kobo or Barnes and Noble, or you can always drop me a line and I would be happy to ship signed copies out as well.

For those of you working on your WIP, have you had to kill some darlings? If so, was it planned or unplanned? Drop me a comment below, I would love to hear about your journey!