4 Things You Didn't Know About Shards of Sky
Shards of Sky began as most novels do, with a sparkle of an idea and a messy first draft.
Now? Well, it’ll soon be a published book.
I’m still in awe of how fast everything went by. Of how every little thing I did, each piece of meticulous planning that slid into place, all contributed to the bigger picture of publication.
Now, I’m sure you didn’t just open this post to hear me ramble about my book and the process. So, to celebrate the opening day of the official Shards of Sky blog tour, I’ll be sharing a list of 4 things you didn’t know about Shards of Sky.
Who’s excited for this? I am!
But firstly, if you’d like to pre-order an e-copy of Shards of Sky for a lower price and receive some exclusive pre-order goodies in return, you’re welcome to grab a copy:
And when you do, feel free to submit a screenshot of your order confirmation receipt for the pre-order goodies here:
With that said, let’s dive into the best part of this post: the fun facts!
*minor spoilers from Shards of Sky may be included*
1. In Shards of Sky, I’ve unintentionally made references to the previous title and name of my past business.
This is probably one of my favorite facts about Shards of Sky, and something that most readers actually don’t know (not even my betas). ;)
Shards of Sky originally was titled Voiceless, which stemmed from the original plot. When I was first sketching out the idea, I thought of making it from Aryon’s point of view, but eventually when I started writing, Jenn dramatically stepped into the spotlight. However, that didn’t stop the previous title, Voiceless, from sneaking into the final scene.
As for the name of my past business, I started a logo design business in 2020 called “Spark of Hope Studios.” And unintentionally, the wording “spark of hope” threaded its way into one of the scenes.
2. The Colorado mountains setting of Shards of Sky was inspired by the song “You’re Gonna Be Okay” by Brian and Jenn Johnson.
Again, another little-known fact. Around the time I was drafting Shards of Sky, my family went on multiple hikes through forests. And it was. . . tough. Around halfway through the hike, I had the genius idea to blast “You’re Gonna Be Okay” instrumentals at full volume while hiking, and a part of the song definitely caught my attention.
Just take, one step, closer
Put one foot in front of the other
You'll, get through this
Just follow the light in the darkness
You're gonna be okay
I imagined a girl, walking through the forest, struggling to just keep walking and grasping for the stars—the light she couldn’t even see.
And when I got home (because I did survive, after all!), I managed to work that into Shards of Sky. In some ways, “You’re Gonna Be Okay” is the theme song for Shards of Sky. . . it emcompasses the main threads of the story really nicely.
3. There was supposed to be a sequel.
Yes, that’s right. Shards of Sky was supposed to have a sequel, titled Stars of Tomorrow.
When writing the first draft, and the following ones, I was certain there was going to be a sequel—something to explain the ending. But after thinking about it and getting advice from my writing mentors, I decided against writing a sequel—simply for the reason that it would ruin the ending of Shards of Sky, and would probably be a bit of an info dump. Besides, after all Jenn’s gone through, I really am not looking forward to torturing her again.
So no. There will not be a sequel, unfortunately. Shards of Sky will most likely be a stand-alone while I focus on other projects and genres (possibly dystopian/sci-fi). :)
4. The ending was unintentional.
As a pantser, Shards of Sky was really written just like that—whenever I wanted, however I wanted.
Okay, that’s probably not true. I did outline the middle of the novella. But most of it was really just me figuring out things, and putting it all together.
But the ending was completely accidental. I didn’t mean it to echo the beginning—it was only until a beta reader pointed it out did I realize that they were in fact, very similar—only very different (if you’ve read Shards of Sky, you’ll know what I mean ;)).
That wraps up the 4 things you didn’t know about Shards of Sky! Or probably didn’t. If you did, drop a comment below letting me know! :)
With that said, you have more fun Shards of Sky posts coming up for the next 10 days, and then you’ll finally be able to order paperback copies on April 18th, the official release date! Read on for the details!
Follow the rest of the blog tour
A bunch of lovely bloggers are all jumping on the bandwagon and joining the Shards of Sky blog tour! Within the next days up to April 18, you’ll be able to read Shards of Sky book reviews and interviews with yours truly on the following blogs:
April 8 - E. C. Colton at Quill of Hope (you are here), Cynthia at Achinty (interview)
April 9 - Mia Harden at Windows to Mia (interview)
April 10 - Daniel L. Amador at The Right Kind of Writer (review)
April 11 - J. S. Clingman at My Little Hole in the Ground (interview)
April 12 - Allie Jo Anderson at Allie Jo Anderson (review)
April 13 - Althea Truth at Apple Blossoms (interview)
April 14 - Liesl Brunner at Quote, Unquote (interview), Ryan Elizabeth at Ryan Elizabeth Writes (interview), Hannah E. M. at Precarious Book Stacks (review)
April 15 - Allyson Jamison at Shay’s Scribbles (interview)
April 16 - Addison Vallier at Story Well (interview)
April 17 - Cara from Paper Strider (review)
April 18 (launch day) - E. C. Colton at Quill of Hope(finale), Samantha Hopper at Stuck in a Story(review & interview)
With that said, I hope you continue to follow the blog tour and have a lovely rest of your week!
P. S. Are you excited for the blog tour? Which of the above 4 facts did you already know? Which ones were surprising to you? Let me know in the comments!
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