Letting Go
The SaDiablo family has been part of my life for the past 20 years. During that time, I recorded Daemon’s and Lucivar’s transition from tormented slaves to warriors serving their beloved Queen to being the dominant males in Kaeleer.
As the stories progressed, they became men who have firm control over the lands they rule—and a much more slippery hold on the women in their lives. I watched Saetan, family patriarch and High Lord of Hell, stumble through the challenges of being a single parent. And I followed Jaenelle as she changed from haunted child to powerful queen. All of those personal changes kept me coming back to these characters and the Black Jewels world, visiting them from time to time to share their lives again.
With the stories in Twilight’s Dawn, the SaDiablos have told me it’s time to let go. Some of the questions readers have been asking since the Black Jewels Trilogy was first published have been answered. Other questions may always remain a mystery for all of us—and that’s as it should be. Sometimes the veil that keeps a character from being fully revealed is as important to our enjoyment of a story as the things we are allowed to see.
Does that mean these are the last Black Jewels stories? No, I don’t think so. But the lives of the SaDiablo family have changed, and experience has taught me that it is better to let a place and a people rest for a while before exploring the next set of stories. So I’m gathering up my
notes and tucking them away until I return to the Black Jewels world again to visit these long-time friends. In the meantime, I’m writing a story set in Ephemera, and may even explore a new world that has been beckoning lately.
Letting go. It’s not forever. And when I return to the Realms, I’m sure the SaDiablo family and their friends will have more stories to tell.
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Visit my web site—annebishop.com—at the end of November for excerpts from three of the stories in Twilight’s Dawn.
Bio:
Anne Bishop lives in upstate New York where she enjoys gardening, music, and writing dark, romantic stories. She is the author of thirteen novels, including the award-winning Black Jewels Trilogy. Her most recent novel is Twilight’s Dawn, a collection set in the Black Jewels world.
