Writing Out of Order, the Process of Crafting FATE OF THE GODS + Giveaway

By Amalia Dillin.

I’ve been writing pieces of BEYOND FATE (book three) since before FORGED BY FATE (book one) was even close to finished. Almost from the start of the project that would become Fate of the Gods, I was thinking about Adam and Eve, and the forbidden child they were fated to conceive. I jumped ahead to that part of the story years and years ago, and even while I was putting the finishing touches on the manuscript that became FORGED BY FATE, I was still cheating on it with little bits and pieces of scenes that would eventually turn into the bones of BEYOND FATE.

Of course, those first and earliest writings (I can’t even bring myself to call it a draft, so let’s just refer to it as “source material”) weren’t all workable. Adam, Eve, and Thor’s stories all evolved as I wrote FORGED BY FATE and FATE FORGOTTEN, and even the first real draft of BEYOND FATE, drawn from that source material, wasn’t meant to be. Ultimately, after sending it off to my editor at WWP, and receiving Eileen’s (many, many) excellent notes, I realized that I had to start again and rebuild the book (and the story) from the ground up for a second time.

I’m so happy I did. As a writer, I’d matured and grown hugely from those first drabbles, and even that first draft. What came out of that rewrite was a much, much stronger book — one in which I was finally able to do the Grown-Up-Writer thing, and torture my characters properly. But it isn’t just the torture that I love, it’s also the small fun moments in between. I love how Adam’s character came together, how Eve’s sense of humor surfaces in the strangest places, the way Thor and Asgard were given room to shine, and the opportunity to be seen through new eyes.

BEYOND FATE wasn’t an easy book to get right — or to get written — but the result is definitely something I’m proud of, and I’m so, so excited to be able to share it with you, finally and at last, in all its rewritten glory. There’s no question in my mind that this book was worth every last drop of writerly sweat and tears — and I hope you’ll feel the same about the time you invest in reading it!

---

---

Amalia Dillin began as a Biology major before taking Latin and falling in love with old heroes and older gods. After that, she couldn't stop writing about them, with the occasional break for more contemporary subjects. Her short stories have been published by Daily Science Fiction and Birdville magazine, and she's also the author of the FATE OF THE GODS series and HONOR AMONG ORCS, the first book in the Orc Saga. Amalia lives in upstate New York with her husband, and dreams of the day when she will own goats — to pull her chariot through the sky, of course.

Learn more about Amalia at www.amaliadillin.com.

---

---

Four Prizes. Four Winners. Enter now.

We're sending four winners their CHOICE of Fate of the Gods paperback (US mailing addresses only). All you have to do is enter using the Rafflecopter Giveaway form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway