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Guest Post: Jenna Elizabeth Johnson’s The Reasons for Writing Ehriad

I’m excited to host another author in the Faery Realms bundle, Jenna Elizabeth Johnson. These are her reasons for writing Ehriad, her short story which you can download in the bundle.

EHRIAD

A Single Thread of Magic

Cade MacRoich is Ehríad, a faelah bounty hunter. When he is compelled to deal with a collection of particularly nasty monsters in the mortal world, he stumbles upon a stream of Faelorehn magic that leads him to something astonishing.

The Morrigan’s Game

The children of the Weald are protected by the forest’s ancient magic, but when the Morrigan’s faelah manage to break through that barrier, Cade’s sister calls upon him for help.

Broken Geis

Cade has tried in vain to forget about the alluring Meghan Elam. Unfortunately, the Morrigan’s interest in the young Faelorehn girl puts her in danger and makes Cade realize he is willing to risk everything to keep her safe.

Why did I choose to write a short story (which is truthfully a collection of three very short stories) that had already been covered in Faelorehn?  Well, I have three good reasons for doing so:

1. Faelorehn is told strictly from Meghan’s point of view, so my readers never get a good sense of what is going on in Cade’s mind, and let’s face it, he is rather intriguing.  I wrote Ehriad, in part, to delve into the mind of our Faelorehn hero.  At the start of the series, the only image we get of Cade is through Meghan’s eyes, and she’s a bit star-struck by the whole concept of Cade and what he has to tell her about her heritage.  There are so many unanswered questions and a whole lot of reluctance to trust Cade, so I felt, to be fair to him, I should tell at least part of his story.  Therefore, I picked three scenes from Faelorehn (well, technically one scene takes place primarily in the Otherworld) to help alleviate some of that mystery and to let (if not Meghan) the reader know that although Cade is aloof at times, he is so much more than a pretty face delivering shocking news.

2. The second reason I went about writing Ehriad was because I wanted to give a more richly detailed, in-depth view of the world I had created for Faelorehn.  In the first novel of the Otherworld Series, Meghan only barely enters the Otherworld, so the reader doesn’t get a good sense of what it’s all about.  Instead, they must rely on what Cade tells her (or, in most cases, neglects to tell her), and what she must find out on her own through research and unfortunate encounters with faelah.  With Ehriad, and especially with the story The Morrigan’s Game, the reader is transported to the Otherworld with Cade.  I also include Enorah, Cade’s sister, as one of the main participants in a quest to destroy some of the Morrigan’s monsters.  Enorah and Cade have a very close relationship and that doesn’t really get touched upon until Dolmarehn.  Both Enorah and Cade have suffered similar pasts and they bond over their mutual love for one another and the sacrifices they are willing to make for each other.  I don’t go into depth with this past in Ehriad, but I wanted to set the stage for future Otherworld books.

3. Lastly, a large part of my motive for writing Ehriad was for my readers.  Yes.  I wrote Ehriad, in part, for my readers.  Like many authors, I do look at reviews and feedback for my books.  One common complaint about Faelorehn was that there wasn’t enough about Cade, and I couldn’t agree more.  However, it wasn’t in my power to elaborate since Meghan is the one doing all the thinking and talking in the first book.  Therefore, I set about picking out scenes I thought my readers might enjoy seeing through Cade’s eyes.  After publishing Ehriad, I decided to go ahead and do the same for Dolmarehn.  In this case, I actually posted the question to my readers: What scenes from Dolmarehn would you like to hear from Cade’s perspective?  I had some great feedback and got to work on Ghalien.  In the end, Ghalien became a short novel with only two of the scenes my readers recommended.  I’m hoping, one day, to get to the others and then to scenes from Luathara as well.

Sometime in the future, I hope to write more from Cade’s perspective (dare I say a novel, or two, or three . . . ?).  With so many characters running around in my head, trying desperately to get my attention, it can sometimes be difficult to decide where to start.  Luckily, I have my Muse to help me get things in order.  Yes, the Otherworld and its many characters have definitely gotten under my skin and I can’t see myself shaking them any time soon.  So to answer the question I’ve been asked many a time over: Yes, the trilogy may be complete, but I am by no means finished with the Otherworld.

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Find more from Jenna on her website, Twitter and Facebook.