Hey Noodle!

I don't know about you (But I'm feeling 22) but I love watching behind-the-scenes videos, learning how everything came together, or just watching actors all laughing during takes.

I can't get you a video because my characters are fictional, but I figured I could give a written behind the scenes.

And since it was kinda the heart of the story, we'll start with...

The Ship Switch!

I've never actually switched ships halfway through but I knew that's what I wanted to do.

1. Because it would be a challenge.

2. Because it would be something completely different than most stories.

3. Because I'm evil!

4. Because I wanted to write something realistic.

I'll explain that last one. So many times I would read fantasy stories where a lot of things are fantastical but still believable that I would have problems with the story aspect and not the world-building aspect. One aspect was the royal and the commoner.

Yes, it's cute and heartwarming in theory but if you really look at it that relationship would have a lot of strain on it later on. After all, a commoner isn't going to have all the knowledge that any other royal would growing up. They would be at a constant disadvantage as well a place of ignorance on a lot of issues.

It's why I had Gigi and Thayer do things the way they did. They experienced firsthand how hard it was for Gigi to rise up to be Queen when her whole life she'd spent outside the realm of normal society and Court life.

Another factor I thought of was sometimes no matter how much you want something or love someone, it doesn't mean you get it or them.

I'm a weird mix of realist and optimist. This means I always have hope for better but I'm fully aware it's unlikely to happen in every scenario. Again that's why I wanted to switch the ships because realistically Lydia would need someone like Zavier to save her kingdom.

Also, I wanted to explore this idea of selfless love.

Yes, a lot of characters are willing to sacrifice themselves to save a kingdom, a group of people, or even one person.

But are they willing to sacrifice their love for that kingdom, group of people, one person?

I wanted to see an instance where even though it would feel like one of the hardest decisions that was what these characters would do.

So that's what I did, I made every character give up their love in order to save a kingdom. Being royal isn't about getting what you want, it's about doing what's best for your people.

How did it work?

Not going to lie, I was going to make the switch ten times more torturous for you. I had planned to have one scene right before they all took off for the West Isles to take on King Titus, where Lydia comes into Wilder's room and begs him to run away with her.

Wilder being Wilder would of course talk her down and tell her that if she'd wanted to run away, she would haven't come to him in her dressing gown and robe. Knowing this, Lydia would cry and curl into Wilder's arms telling him that she wanted him to be her King.

Really heartbreaking stuff.

(See! I even have the notecards to prove I was going to be mean)

But by the time I got to that part in the story, the characters had changed so much that it didn't work anymore. Lydia knew what needed to be done and wouldn't run away from it.

(A suggestion from Grace or you know her as JoymomentsSISTER)

Also at that point the dynamics between each relationship had altered.

Which brings me to the conundrum of how to switch the ships without pissing off every reader.

(Which I didn't really care about for a majority of the book because I realized I wrote this book because I wanted something new. I wanted something that wasn't all cutesy at the end. Something bittersweet but realistic)

But of course, once I got into the switch I did totally stress that you were all going to hate this book and leave me. Which I did get, I broke the rules. The best friends to lovers trope is what this book seemed like from the beginning and I blew that up.

I had a plan though.

I knew from experience (two previous books to be exact) that it didn't matter how much I made a girl attracted to a guy, readers would always root for the guy the girl was best friends with. EVERY TIME!

Armed with this knowledge, I laid the groundwork:

Another subtle trope (enemies to lovers)

Connection

Friendship

Understanding

If you reread the story you'll see that both Lydia and Zavier as well as Wilder and Alwyn have an enemies to lovers vibe at one point.

(Honestly, it's a classic trope, and though subtle I hoped it would edge your feelings towards the new ships)

Lydia and Zavier

Enemies to lovers.

Lydia thinking that Zavier was behind the assassination of her family.

Connection.

There's a moment in the alley at the beginning of the book where Lydia shoves Zavier and when he stops her, he sees that she feels the same grief that he does. A grief that Lydia hasn't shared with Wilder because Wilder forces himself to be strong for her.

Beyond that is the connection that they are both royals that don't want their titles. They long to be free to travel and love whoever they want.

Friendship.

I knew I needed Lydia and Zavier to have time together. Time where Wilder wasn't there. Honestly, I didn't know where this would happen.

Originally, Isla and Raif were going to spy on the West Isles without help. But then I realized it was natural for Wilder and Alwyn to go along. Alwyn knew the city, Wilder knew a back entrance to the palace.

BAM! Zavier and Lydia get to be alone.

From there I developed their friendship. It might have needed longer to make more people be on board but that's a second draft issue.

Understanding.

This was key. I needed a reason why Zavier would be the best fit for Lydia. Besides being a good fit for her because he would understand what it takes to be royal, I needed a personal level. Enter Zavier talking Lydia through her panic attack and beyond that, helping her remember how to be strong.

Like Wilder said in the final chapter, he saw a girl who needed to be protected, Zavier someone strong.

That was key. Everyone girl wants to feel strong and that's what Zavier made Lydia feel.

The scene at the training yard was unexpected. I hadn't planned for it but once it came up I realized how important it was.

From there I let their emotions grow bit by bit, enhanced by Zavier supporting Lydia.

Wilder and Alwyn

Enemies to lover trope.

Not as subtle as Zavier and Lydia because Wilder does hate how heartless Alwyn is towards Lydia at the beginning. Alwyn hates Wilder for winning over her crew when she can't.

Connection.

They both love a royal, someone that they know in their heart that they could never be with. It's a sad type of connection but still one.

Friendship.

The trip to the West Isles is pretty much when everything shifts. When Alwyn stops Wilder from going back for his father and sees him losing it, she goes from just being someone helping him, to a friend. When she gives him a hug when he needs it, she proves how much of a friend she is to him.

Understanding.

Alwyn and Wilder understand each a lot of ways. They understand what it takes to fight and kill. They understand the weight of being in charge. They understand how it feels to try and live up to a name, a position, a duty. They understand how it feels to watch someone they love have to marry someone else.

All these factors played into the Ship Switch.

And from your comments, I believe that you have jumped on board with it!

Four Different POVs

Not going to lie this was a challenge I did not realize would take so much work.

At first, this book was only going to be told from Lydia's POV. But I created Alwyn and loved how awesome she was. She was simply going to be the pirate that helped them get to the Loria and also spy on King Titus.

I wanted to write her but I didn't like the feel of just writing to female POVs. Then my sister Kelly (you know her as JoymomentsEditor) suggested I write four POVs.

It instantly felt like the right fit. I would write the story from Lydia's, Alwyn's, Zavier's, and Cyrus's POV.

That's right, Wilder was in the book but not a POV at the beginning.

But looking at the story I realized Cyrus's POV would be redundant because he'd be with Alwyn the whole time. That's when I realized Wilder needed to be a POV and have a bigger role.

Usually, I write two books at once (that doesn't count Open Case File one-shots) because this helps me avoid writer's block.

With this book, I couldn't write a second book alongside it because it was like writing four books at once. Plus it was extremely depressing so that took more emotional energy as well.

But this book would not be the same without the four POVs so I'm glad I did it.

The Story

Every story I write morphs. I found I will plan it out but it changes as I go.

This story started at the beginning of the day of the Welcoming ball for Zavier and went through preparations, the ball itself, and then the attack. In between, there were chapters of Zavier staring at Alwyn's ship before going to the palace (something that became a flashback). A chapter of Alwyn getting into a fight at a bar then being thrown into jail.

All chapters that helped set up the world, the setting, and the characters, especially Lydia's family.

I went over my storyboard with my sister Kelly and at the end, she said one thing: "sounds great, cut the first seven chapters and start the book on the attack".

Naturally, I didn't want to do this at first, but I've learned to trust her judgment. So I did what she suggested. Instantly the story was fast-paced, intense, and heartbreaking.

But we had never met Lydia's family or seen the type of upbeat girl she'd been before they died.

By the time I got to chapter seven, my sister Grace (who always reads my book first) said she was having a hard time connecting to Lydia because she was struggling so much with grief.

That's when the prolong came in. I thought it might be a flashback Lydia had, but once Grace read it she said it needed to be first. We needed to know who Lydia was first so that her change would have the most impact.

Thank goodness for amazing, supportive sisters.

It also was a great idea because (as I mentioned in the book) Lydia's recovery took far longer than I planned. On the ship, she was supposed to learn how to fight and get her fire back.

Instead, she had a panic attack and set her recovery back about fifteen chapters. But to rush her recovery would have been unrealistic.

After all, I murdered her entire family. I'm so nice, right?

Other aspects morphed as well.

I know that Zavier and Alwyn had been together and were close. But it wasn't until after I wrote Alwyn's second chapter that I realized they'd been engaged. It explained how much she hated and still cared for him.

It explained why she'd never want to be stuck on a ship with him. It explained the hot-headed girl who pissed off everyone. She was faced with her ex-fiancé while he was with the girl he thought he was going to marry.

Which ironically he did.

Zavier was never supposed to be stabbed on the ship. Lydia was. It was going to be the reason she fought to learn how to handle a sword. So it was a little surprising when Zavier was stabbed instead. But his wound was the reason Alwyn put away all her anger towards him.

Yasmine and Dempsey never existed on the storyboard. But I saw Cyrus falling for a barmaid and there they were. Which was needed because it made Cyrus pull away from Alwyn. By doing so it forced Alwyn to reexamine everything.

I had no clue that the ship Alwyn asked her parents for was meant for her, Cyrus, and Zavier. Again it explained why she was so pissed because she became captain before she was ready for him.

Man! It seems like Zavier owes Alwyn more than an apology plant!

Which the apology plant: totally unplanned as well.

I had the scene where Lydia is walking with Zavier in Loria and she tells him about Hava a tradition that I made up on the spot. I had no clue why I was having her share this and honestly thought about cutting it. It wasn't until a little later that my brain told me why I'd shared it: because Zavier would use that as a way to make up for his wrongs with Alwyn.

Strange but my mind is strange.

In Vagabond's Tale, Thayer tells Gigi about how his mother planted gardens throughout the city. Didn't even guess that this fact would come back with Zavier taking Lydia to a garden with trees gifted by the West Isles. I got this idea from the cherry blossom trees that were gifted to the US and planted in DC by Japan.

I didn't expect Thayer, Gigi, Isla, and Raif to play as big a role as they did. I knew that they would show up, but I was also aware that I didn't want it to feel like I was going to shoehorn them into the story, I wanted it to feel natural that they were a part of it. So like I usually do, I let my characters dictate when and where they would be a part of the story.

As you know the Uncle was going to be bad. He as going to kidnap Lydia, pretend to rescue her so that she thought he was a good guy. She wouldn't trust him, would get away and Wilder would find her. Obviously, that was not how it played out.

Theme Song.

Did you know that these four characters have a theme song?

Yup, not even joking. It's: No Matter by Basic Tape.

Don't ask me why, but whenever I was trying to figure out what came next in the story, I'd play this song and I could see my characters dancing to it. Yeah, not lying they danced. And if I can make my characters dance then that makes them real. Because dancing means they are alive and filled with enough personality to move to a rhythm. So this song is their theme song. You can listen to it here. It's a bop!

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(Which it happens to be the theme song for Free Reign. So kinda random that it become this book's theme song)

Names.

Names have a lot of meaning for me and these are no different.

When I gave Thayer's father the name Zavier I realized that I kinda had wasted a great name on a character that rarely showed up.

So when I was going to write about Thayer and Gigi's grandson (yeah I thought he would be a grandson instead of a son) I knew I could reuse Zavier because he would be named after his grandfather.

For Alwyn, I knew I wanted a soft name. Usually, when I give my girl characters names I like something that sounds strong: Carter, Elliot, Kit, Taylor. Names that often can be men's names. But like with Isla, which is a soft name, I wanted Alwyn to have a soft name.

Because she was going to be so obviously strong that I wanted a name that would almost counteract or counterbalance that. I read Rebel in the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton and that's where I got the name from.

Wilder is funny because it doesn't have a great story, I merely stole it from Laura Ingalls Wilder. I liked the sound of it and so decided to use it. Though I feel like it fits him.

Lydia. I hated the name Lydia before I wrote this book. In Pride and Prejudice, Lydia is the annoying younger sister that screws up big time. The sister I literally loathe and want to shoot every time I read that book. But Lydia is a great name and my sister Grace said "then use it made make it a name connected to a great character!" So I did.

The Wrap-up

There you have it, all the secrets behind the story. I hope you enjoyed getting a glimpse behind the curtain. If any of my books have been a labor of love it's this one. It was the roughest year for me, health-wise and this depressing book didn't help. But I knew that I wanted to finish it because it would not let me go if I didn't.

So thank you for enjoying this book! It's a blast, a nightmare, and a wild ride to write!

Love you!