Guest Post: Alma Katsu on Saying Goodbye to The Taker Trilogy.

The Descent (The Taker #3) by Alma Katsu || Release date: January 2nd 2014

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 The stunning conclusion to Alma Katsu's gripping supernatural trilogy that began with The Taker.

'We had a tangled history, Adair and I. He had been my lover and my teacher, master to my slave. We had literally been prisoners to one another. Somewhere along the way he fell in love with me, but I was too afraid to love him in return. Afraid of his unexplainable powers, and his furious temper. Afraid of what I knew he was capable of and what even he himself didn't know he could do. I ran away to follow a safer path with a man I could understand. I always knew, however, that my path would one day lead back to Adair...'

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Guest Post: Alma Katsu on Saying Goodbye to The Taker Trilogy 

As happy as I am to be ending The Taker Trilogy with the release of The Descent—I’m well aware that in the current publishing atmosphere, not every writer is fortunate enough to have a series run to its conclusion—it also means saying goodbye to characters that I’ve known for a long time. Thirteen years, to be exact. Longer than I’ve known some of my flesh-and-blood friends.

My entire professional writing life has revolved around this characters: Lanore, the headstrong young woman who—after a disastrous mistake that takes her to the brink of eternal torment—learns the true meaning of love; Jonathan, unattainable object of her affections; and Adair, the beast who tries to turn over a new leaf in order to win her heart.

The fact that I’d have to give these characters up hadn’t sunk in until recently because—cold-hearted as it sounds—I’ve moved on. Being a writer is a little like being an actor: by the time the book or movie comes out, you’re already working on something new. Oh, you dipped your toe back into the story, what with revisions and page proofs, but then there’s a long gap between the last round of copyedits and publication day and if you’re lucky, by then you’re working on a new story with a new plot—gulp—new characters.

                         

I have the feeling that it will hit me in a few months and then I’ll realize how much I miss them. I can admit that as I’ve been working on the next book, I’ve already missed Lanore’s and Adair’s ready familiarity. New characters feel shy and tongue-tied by comparison, not yet ready to share their deepest secrets with me. And, of course, I need to be extra-vigilant to make sure they don’t sound too much like Lanore, Jonathan or Adair.

The strangest part is that, to me, the story isn’t over. Storyteller that I am, I came up with an idea for one more book, going into what happens after the events at the end of The Descent. I don’t mean for this to sound like I’m trying to draw it out because I don’t intend to write this book. It would be a really sad story and I don’t think readers would want that. I’m happy to end the story here and give The Taker readers the happily-ever-after that they want. After all the amazing, desperate and sometimes downright terrible things they’ve been through with Lanore, it’s the ending they’ve earned.

Follow Alma on Twitter: @almakatsu