An Introduction to the Souls Trilogy

Just as I did in Camp NaNoWriMo with writing up an introduction to Do Not Drink the Holy Water, I am going to do the same for my NaNovel for November, which is Souls Abandoned. However, while my previous novel discussions have been the first novels in trilogies and series, my project for November is actually the second book in the trilogy, so I'm instead going to introduce you all to the entire trilogy.

I did quite a bit of writing back when I was in high school and though my chapters were short and lacking in description of settings, characters, and well, inner monologue, I did manage to write out some rather lengthy works, some of which I have either continued to work on, or have planned to go back and edit at some point. Such is the case with the Souls trilogy.

The first book, Souls Unknowing, was started back in 2004 and I wrote something like 10 chapters (around 12K) before I set it aside for a while. Some of my readers back then kept asking me about the story and what was going to happen so I ended up going back to it, and I finally finished the really rough draft in 2006. From there I actually did just keep on writing, diving into Souls Abandoned, but again, I wrote a few chapters and then set it aside to work on other stories.

Now, my biggest fan for these books has actually never let me forget about them and has asked me if I intend to finish the trilogy and attempt to publish. The short answer is yes, but I know it will be an incredibly long road. When I first started with this trilogy, I was still fairly new to writing and so the details and such are pretty rudimentary. Looking back on the roughly 54,000 words of Souls Unknowing, I can see the potential for a lovely finished product, but it will take a lot of cleaning and polishing to get there.

 

Since coming back to the trilogy, I have made the covers and made the basic back cover blurbs, which may end up changing by the time I am through with the edits. Creating the covers has actually made me want to focus on these stories more. Right now, one of my best friends/the biggest fan of this trilogy has the rough draft of Souls Unknowing and is relentlessly editing and giving her input on it. Once she's finished, I'll take a crack at it as well, and with any luck, it will look like a decent product by then.

Here's the rough summary of Souls Unknowing:

For Tru Bauer life has been extremely complicated since her mother's death. Hiding behind her popularity she simply tried to be normal. But it is difficult to be normal when her father decides to move both her and her brother Luke across the country and drops them off at a boarding school.

At Rolling Hills Boarding School, Tru starts to face all the things she has pushed down over the years. And as the spirits at school get restless, it is up to Tru and her new friends to solve a 50 year old mystery and save the lives of everyone around them.

So, I can see that I can do some improving and tweaking on it, but that will wait until after I have gone through the editing process.

Now, for NaNoWriMo 2012, I am re-dedicating myself to working on Souls Abandoned. For those of you who are sitting there and saying, "But...you have to start a new novel for NaNoWriMo. Those are the rules," I just have to explain my situation. The roughly 11,000 words I wrote for this novel back in 2006 are not the best and I know basically all of it will change with this reboot of the story. However, I am not including any of the previously written words, so that is how I justify what I am doing. In November I will add at least 50,000 words to Souls Abandoned.

Speaking of, here is the cover and then the rough summary:

For Tru Bauer, things have only grown more complicated since the events at Rolling Hills Boarding School. Though home with her family, she finds that the spirit world is changing and it will take every mediator available to solve the problem.

Spirits are crossing over before they are ready and some spirits who have crossed over are being returned. The only solution may be to trust a mediator who has spent years believing he is crazy, and even then fixing the problems may require a great sacrifice.

I'm actually really looking forward to jumping into this story again and I've been working on writing down some different ideas and trying to figure out exactly where I was planning on these books heading when I worked on them six years ago. Of course, sometimes my ideas now mean completely changing or eliminating previous ideas. I'm hoping this means that Souls Abandoned will end up being better than it would have been back then.

And though I don't know exactly when I'll get to work on the final book in the trilogy, I feel as if I still have to share it with you guys, even if for no reason other than the fact that I think this cover is my favorite. I love the colors and everything; it is so fitting for what I'm thinking will happen in the story.

So, here it is, the cover and rough summary for Souls Crossing, the final book in the Souls Trilogy:

Repairing the scars between the world and the realm where spirits go after crossing over was not easy and there are still a number of spirits who need to be crossed over again, but for Tru and the others, now is a time to rest and to mourn.

After so many trials and so many sacrifices, sometimes the easiest thing to do is to take a break and ignore everything, but the spirits will not be ignored and this time, crossing the spirits over is the only chance these mediators have at getting some peace.

All right, guys, well there you have it...a brief little introduction to the Souls Trilogy. On Friday I will have the next From the Stacks for you, and then I'll be back next Tuesday for my final writing update before NaNoWriMo officially starts. I'm ready and I'm excited, and most of all, I hope you guys like the stories I am telling you about because I am really hoping to start publishing soon.