A Series of Fortunate Events

Lauren Kate groeide op in Dallas, ging naar school in Atlanta, en begon met schrijven in New York. Ze schreef The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove en begon toen aan haar veelbelovende serie Fallen. Ter ere van het tweede deel dat deze maand in Nederland verschijnt, schreef Lauren speciaal voor de lezers van Chicklit.nl deze column... 

When I first got the idea for Fallen, I didn’t know I was writing a series. I’d never considered myself someone who could write a series. I didn’t read series novels. I didn’t think I understood them. To me, a book was something you dipped into, then dipped out of, then moved on from.
But then the seed of Luce and Daniel’s story sprouted into something that was bigger than one book. It quickly spilled over into two books, and then three, and then, at the suggestion of my soon-to-be editor, the story blossomed into four books. Four whole books! I couldn’t fathom it. Would I have enough to say about my characters to fill four books? Would I get bored? Would the reader?
I started reading other series novels: The Hunger Games, His Dark Materials, and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. Very quickly, I was hooked. I still didn’t really understand how these authors did it, but I came to love the way their stories sprawled, adding up to something even greater than their parts.
When I started writing Fallen, I struggled. And I struggled. I wasn’t sure where it was going, what it was all adding up to. When I’d write something that felt inspired, I’d realize it went against my plans for later books in the series. It took me a while to learn to go with that, to trust that I could deal with where my inspiration led me later down the road. The whole time I was writing the first book, I got the feeling that I was throwing a whole bunch of balls up in the air with little idea about how or when I would ever catch them.
Then, in between finishing Fallen and starting Torment, something happened. I missed my characters. I missed their stories, their struggles and their successes, their jokes and their tears. They started feeling like friends I’d met at camp - and I couldn’t wait for school to end and summer to begin so I could see them again.
I had a great time writing Torment. Yes, there were moments of writer’s block, but it was such a different experience than writing Fallen had been. I knew my characters by then. I was invested in them and the things they went through in a much deeper way than I had been writing Fallen. They inspired me. I still felt as if I were throwing balls - and sometimes flaming swords, turkeys, and toaster ovens - into the air, but the difference was, this time, I was having a lot more fun.
The space between the second book and the third book marked the halfway point in this series, and I knew that writing Passion would mean beginning to catch some of the things I’d tossed into the skies of Fallen and Torment. I would have to write answers to many of the questions I’d posed in the first two books. If Fallen and Torment were different kinds of making messes, than Passion was a kind of tidying up. Pieces of the story began to fit together in ways I could never have imagined at the beginning, which was hugely satisfying.
I suppose all storytellers are jugglers, but series novelists get the thrill of throwing more things higher in the air. We get to watch the shape of the arc they make before the gravity of endings pulls them back down. Like so many challenging endeavors, it’s addicting.
Very soon, I’ll start writing Rapture, the fourth and final book in the series. I’m not sure whether I’ll feel ready to move on or sad to say goodbye at the end of the story, but I’m looking forward to giving Luce, Daniel, and all the other characters the resolution they deserve. And after that, I’m already looking forward to juggling a whole new series…

Lauren Kate

Kwelling

  • Auteur:

    Lauren Kate
  • Verschenen:

    18 maart 2011
  • Uitgave:

    ISBN 9789047512585
    Uitgever Van Goor
    288 pagina's
  • Oorspronkelijke titel:

    Torment
  • Ondertitel:

    Liefde is voor eeuwig
  • Uitgever:

    Van Goor
  • Genre:

    Fantasy & SciFi
  • Onze waardering:

             
  • Members waardering:

    1  2  3  4  5 
    (38 stemmen)
  • Omschrijving:

    Hel op aarde. Zo voelt het voor Lucinda om gescheiden te zijn van haar grote liefde Daniël. Het kostte eeuwen om elkaar te vinden en nu heeft hij haar weggestuurd zodat ze veilig is voor de schaduwen die een eind aan haar leven willen maken. Daniël verstopt Luce op een speciale school aan de ruige kust van Californië. Hier komt Luce steeds meer te weten over haar voorbije levens. Maar hoe meer ze ontdekt, hoe meer ze begint te vermoeden dat Daniël haar niet alles heeft verteld. Hij houdt iets achter, iets gevaarlijks. Wat als Daniëls versie van de waarheid niet helemaal waar is? Wat als Luce eigenlijk is voorbestemd voor een ander?

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