Heartkeeper - Author's Note

The final wrap-up

As you can see, "Heartkeeper" has gone *poof*!  This is not because of any nasty reviews or anything like that; honestly I could not have finished it in the time that I did and as well as I did without the awesome feedback I received from all of you.  It is removed because it a.) received final edits so quickly that I could not keep up with it here and b.) it is finally submitted to that contest.  Since it does have a chance of being included in a publication, I wanted to be sure that it did not appear online any longer than was necessary.

If I do NOT win, I will be considering whether to put it back up here, obviously for free, or if I will be making it a part of a longer series on Smashwords.  I actually have three full trilogies in mind for that world, believe it or not.  Due to the length of "Heartkeeper" and its simple layout, it could work as a perfect practice run for e-book coding, which is why I'm seriously considering putting it up there and then going back and giving free copies to you folks who bent over backwards to read the whole thing and give the great suggestions you did.  Many of those suggestions you never saw put into place but believe me, they made it in before being sent off.  Many of the sentences were simplified, the ending had been COMPLETELY redone, and I actually was able to introduce the next book's antagonist, though the reader probably doesn't realize it.

To explain some of the "why"s that had been asked:

What was all that crap about Cill and the bison calves?

That was actually intended to be a lead-in to the next book.  One thing I did not get to put into this one nearly enough was Cill's connection to animals in general, which is why he is so useful on hunting parties.  There's a lot of unique stuff about that boy and it is CILL, not Adain, who is going to be the protagonist in the first trilogy if it happens.  Hopefully him becoming a Heartsworn at the end was enough of a hint.

Why did the book not really end on a final note?

This was written for a contest with a publishing contract up for grabs.  I wanted to finish it on a note that left a good opening for additional books, hoping that might boost my chances.  We'll see what happens.

What about the black Heart?  WE WANT ANSWERS!

The only answers I can give you is that what the black Heart did was a bit of a trial run, to see if it could actually be done.  Now that the black Hearts know that it is possible to hide and manipulate humans . . . .

Why won't Adain be the main character any more?  What about Jacki?

Adain is being removed as the main character because I wrote him to be more of an outside observer than an active participant.  His role was to allow you to see his world through his eyes, and I need someone who is going to go out into that world and be an active part of it in its entirety.  Adain would be much happier sitting around the hearth with Jacki, but since Cill will be going back to Windrush, you'll definitely see them again.

What about the others?

Don't worry, they'll be in there too, especially Nalli, who did not get NEARLY the page-time I had intended for her.  She'll end up being a large part in one of the future books and may even get her own trilogy.

Are you starting the new books now?

No.  I am going to wait and see what happens with the contest before I make any final decisions as to what will happen with "Heartseeker" and anything following.  In the meantime I am going to do some drawing, finish the school semester, and work on the next chapter of "Felriver".  And in between there I have a lot of reviewing to do here as well!

Again, a huge, huge thanks to everyone who read it and helped me prep it for editing!

Author's Note

No review needed~