Eyara's Lament

So I've just finished editing Eyara's Lament, a short story prequel to my book Faerie-Tale: The Princess' Odyssey. (Faerie-Tales new full title) so I thought I'd talk about it a bit because it was tough to write, and tough to re-read.

Writing this was tough for me because of the content within it, and although the basics of the story are explained within Odyssey, I feel it was necessary to tell the story in full.

Aside from detailing the tragic events, it also gives insight into what the Kingdom of Dematria used to be like before the tragedy, what Jareth was like before and ultimately what Eyara was like. Which I feel was most important as she is to play a vital role in the second book The Enchantment War.

On top of everything, there are some interesting parallels I've thrown in, such as the carpenters shop that has replaced Eyara's family bakery, this is the same workshop Elloria will visit 18 years later and the apprentice becomes the master.

There are little things like that dotted throughout, though without Odyssey they are useless references.

My goal when writing this was to create a perfect life, a fairytale life if you will... And then tear it all down. And I did just that, and upon editing it, because I know the character of Elloria so well, I found myself smiling as she played with her mother in the palaces gardens, but I honestly found it hard to continue knowing what was about to come next. I honestly feel cruel for creating this character who rose up from poverty to have this dream life, and then destroying in one fell swoop.

When I'd originally written it, I remember sitting there in silence for about half an hour, not able to comprehend what I'd just written, and it's not like I could just take it away and make it "not true", it's a core element to Odyssey's plot so it had to be done.

But it's writing this that gave me the idea of letting Elloria get retribution later on, though at a price. Her actions corrupt her and she struggles with accepting the fact she enjoys taking the lives of those who deserve it, yet she doesn't want to become the thing she hates so it creates a duality within her.I'd love to talk more about the whole thing, but I have work to do so I will leave it here for now and possibly do a similar post once I've finished editing Odyssey.