Something surprising that happened while writing The Widow, was how the story was alchemized in my mind. It was initially meant to be only an exploration of the the world: the Underworld – the underground refuge of the clan of vampires the Widow belongs to – its visage, its unspoken rules, its inhabitants, the stratus of its society and how they intermingle.

And then the Widow herself kept coming back to me – her isolation, her rage, her confusion, her grief. It all slowly blanketed the rest of the Underworld, the City she inhabits twisted and reformed through her now distorted gray-scale. And the mystery itself then began sketching itself around her questions rather than the larger massacre I’d already been aware was going to be happening.

With her, came other aspects – the Garden punctuating her fluctuating emotional state, each flower carefully chosen for both its outward appearance and for its meaning; then the other characters were colored in by her own interpretation of their actions and emotional depths. And then her view of the world had me draw back from the lengthier descriptions of the world and its intricacies since she only really cares for some aspects of them, the ones she can in some way or form relate back to her own lived experience. And thus the 4 parts are born to expand on how her view of everything also expands – her quest of a “truth” she can’t ever truly grasp.

I am wondering, since LORE was always meant to become a series how the next protagonists will bring more dimension to this world the Widow has drawn in the edges of. But for now, the Widow herself has her story – soon to be shared – and I think she’s comfortable with what she’s influenced me to put to paper.