Author Sketches
It's typical for me to do sketches while writing, a sort of mental doodling as I work out events and character arcs. These sketches are not intended to be the final word on what the characters look like! In fact, I usually have trouble pinning down people's looks. I just keep at it anyway.
1. Ambassador Lisinthir: The canonical picture of him. When I see him in my head, this is the version I see!
2. The Queen and Vasiht'h in the Cave: I don't often do "scene" doodles, but this one was one of my favorites.
3. The Surgeon: It occurred to me that while I often draw a lot of the Pelted and Eldritch characters of the series, I hadn't really done much doodling of the Chatcaavan characters, so I decided to fix that. Here's the Surgeon, looking askance at people. As he does.
4. Tsonet: ...he's got nothing on Tsonet's askance look, though. Tsonet I always saw as whipcord and bitterness.
6. The Twelveworld Lord and His Attendant: A doodle from a meeting. I wanted to see the good side of the Twelveworld Lord, such as there was one.
7. Breath of the Living Air: Also known as 'I will never foreshorten wings from directly behind again. But I like the incense arabesques, and her face.
8. Wings Full of Stars: Another of the Queen, during her vision with Jahir.
9. Love Will Find a Way:... 'home' is how the final word of the line of the lyric goes, which I thought was appropriate.
10. At Last: This sketch is over four years old... which tells you how long the final scene of this series has been churning.
Playlist
Using formalized playlists as inspiration is a habit of about two years' standing now. These playlists are not intended to be literal soundtracks; I use songs that give me the right "feel" for what I'm planning, either in lyrics or sound quality. Then I listen to them while commuting or running, which is when I do most of my plotting.
From Ruins was a bit of an odd story, in that I didn't make a standardized playlist for it. I listened to the playlists for Books 3, 4, and 5 on and off while working, and then added a couple of extra songs here and there. It worked well from an inspirational standpoint, since it meant I was thinking back to a lot of the original themes, but it did mean I didn't have anything specific to listen to... which was harder than I expected! I've gotten used to playlists-per-novel.
Here are the 'extras', then, that I listened to.
"Love Will Find a Way," De/Vision
"Synchronize," De/Vision
"Mystified," De/Vision
"Call Me," Alphaville
"Carry Your Flag," Alphaville
"Miracle Maze," Jaenki
"Sunny Came Home," Shawn Colvin
"Rainbow," Sia
A final note: There isn't much by way of playlist for Books 1 and 2, but Wingless had a theme song, and that was Depeche Mode's "In Your Room."
Freebie and Swag
First, the freebie! I mentioned in the Species Discussion that I've written an Alliance Guidebook that covers the aliens of the Pelted setting in more detail, but I know some of you skim that section after seeing it for six books, so I am calling it out specifically! If you haven't already picked that up, you can grab it in your favorite e-book format using this link: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/jeax6cwr6p. The Guidebook is written in the style of an RPG sourcebook's character generation section, with the intent of helping you find your perfect avatar species. Enjoy it, and if you feel like it, head to this form to tell me what species you'd end up! https://goo.gl/forms/AeimV0jlbZv7NL3o2
Now, a brief mention of swag: your favorite characters are available on pendants and as charms in my Etsy store. I really enjoy making these things as a way to do something with my hands: it's calming. And it's a lot of fun to see art I've done at much larger sizes reduced to things people can wear and use. I also sell original art and the occasional book I've doodled in through Etsy.
If it's mugs, shirts, greeting cards, notebooks, and bags you're interested in, my Zazzle store has you covered. Zazzle is also where you'll find posters and prints.
Thanks so much for reading, and if there's any merch you wish I had, please feel free to pop me a suggestion! My website has a contact page.
Acknowledgments
750,000 words. Give or take a few thousand. This was a big series to have spawned from a piece of short fiction about an Eldritch who learned to take the shape of a lonely Chatcaavan queen... and I have too many people to thank for it. From my first-reader team of awesome folks who've been with me since Book 2, to the family members who've put up with me walking into walls while trying to move interstellar fleets through tactical maneuvers, it's taken more than a village, and I am grateful to every person who helped.
Most of all, this one's for the fans who stuck it through to the very end. Thank you for coming along for the ride. Next up: everything.
-M
About the Author
Daughter of two Cuban political exiles, M.C.A. Hogarth was born a foreigner in the American melting pot and has had a fascination for the gaps in cultures and the bridges that span them ever since. She has been many things-web database architect, product manager, technical writer and massage therapist-but is currently a full-time parent, artist, writer and anthropologist to aliens, both human and otherwise. She is the author of over 50 titles in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, humor and romance.
The Princes' Game series is only one of the many stories set in the Pelted universe; more information is available on the author's website. You can also sign up for the author's quarterly newsletter to be notified of new releases.
If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review... or telling a friend! (Or both!)
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