Promised Soul - The Idea and the Research

I started writing Promised Soul in 2010 and while I had many other stories in the works, the idea for Promised Soul was the one that pushed me forward.

First, let me say that not every author writes in the same way. Some are planners and they outline their story, even roughing out what’s going to happen in each chapter. Some are pantsers, taken from the expression “fly by the seat of your pants”. I am a pantser, a term I didn’t even know existed until Promised Soul was picked up for publishing. There are authors who write their chapters out of order while others start at chapter one and work their way through. This is how I work. That being said, however, my ideas actually start at the very end of the book. I usually come up with the last line, or how I want the book to end, and then I start with chapter one.

I knew exactly how I wanted Promised Soul to finish. While at one point I’d actually contemplated changing the ending, I eventually wound up going with my original plan. The other plan I had was that there was going to be NO RESEARCH INVOLVED. That idea quickly dissolved. Not only was there research, but there was more than I ever expected from a paranormal fiction novel.

I’ve always enjoyed reading novels that left me wondering if there was any iota of truth to the story. I have even found myself researching anything that seemed remotely possible. I wanted Promised Soul to have that element of truth and that’s where the research began. After searching, I found what I was looking for, and while the story is completely fictitious, there is a tiny bit of truth. However, that’s for you as the reader, to figure out what it is. The other research aspect that was truly fascinating and enjoyable, was attending a psychic medium gathering. It proved to be a valuable experience and let me just say the guy was bang on.

By the time Promised Soul was completed, I had put in hours of work trying to find information (which turned out to be futile), had a stack of paper printed from the various websites I’d visited, and had spent fifty dollars attending the psychic-medium gathering – all worthwhile efforts.

Promised Soul ended up taking me two years to write, not just because of research, but also procrastination. I would go without writing for weeks even a couple of months before writing again. When it was finally completed it wasn't long before I realized that the real work had only just begun.