The Story Behind the Story: “The Summoning”

After I published The Evil That Was Done, I got to work on a new series.

While I had a vague idea for a fourth Secrets of Redemption book, it was still a little hazy, and I thought it would be smart to write a new series.

Alas, I found myself really struggling with the new book. It just wasn’t coming together.

But I kept pushing it and pushing it and made incremental progress.

Then, 2020 happened. (Enough said.)

When the shutdowns started, my first thought was probably similar to many of yours. “Oh, that’s fine. It will give me time to get super productive.”

Of course, that didn’t happen. And I got even further behind with my book.

Then, in April, two more things happened.

First, I read a post in an author group I was in from an author celebrating his completion of a book. What was funny about the post though was that the book he completed wasn’t the book he set out to write. He was procrastinating writing his initial book, and instead, wrote this other one.

That got me thinking. Was that what was going on with me?

Second, I ended up injuring my eye and having to go to the eye doctor. (Long story, but everything is fine.) I couldn’t work for a couple of days. I couldn’t do anything, really—no watching TV, no reading (my eye was too sensitive to the light).

But what ended up happening is that the stories for both Book 4 AND Book 5 came to me.

It was so easy and effortless. I knew exactly what needed to happen.

So, once my eye healed, I switched gears and got to work.

Roughly six months later, I published The Summoning (Book 4), and The Reckoning (Book 5).

I will eventually return to the book I was struggling through during most of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, but I’m now realizing that these were the two books I was meant to do next.

If you’re wondering about the behind-the-scenes story of The Reckoning, here it is.

What’s next? I’m feeling three more Secrets of Redemption books, but I’ll keep you posted.

Here’s where you can check out The Summoning, but if you haven’t started the series, I highly recommend beginning with It Began With a Lie (or you can grab all 3 books in the Secrets of Redemption Box Set).