Right now I’m sitting at my desk sipping on a tall coffee from Starbucks and thinking about 2024. It’s truly hard to believe that we’re in February already. It usually takes me a couple of months to get used to writing the date correctly. Can anyone else relate? Lol
I remember hearing of some study that states that people tend to abandon their new year’s resolutions by February. Yikes! I believe it though. I did something different this year and actually typed up my goals and taped them on the back of my desk so that I’m forced to look at them every day. This has helped I think. Although it’s a little jarring to realize that I only have 10 ½ months left to complete these goals! 😱
One of those goals is to finish The Crimson Witch. My latest draft is coming along well. I’m in a decent daily writing routine which you all know I’ve struggled with. I recently started dictating my book. I tried this a couple of years ago and failed miserably. The words that ended up on the page were… basically unusable and frankly hilariously bad in some instances. If you’ve never attempted to dictate your writing IT IS TOUGH.
But there are some huge benefits. One of which is that I struggle pretty badly with carpal tunnel. My day job requires a lot of typing and then spending even an hour writing in the evening can make typing unbearable. So, dictation allows me to keep writing without killing my wrists. Dictating is also a much faster way to write and I’m always looking for ways to get more words on the page.
I would say my second attempt at dictating my book is going decent. I try to combine the dictating sessions with a walk so I’m doing double duty. I mean I’m a huge talker so dictation should be a breeze for me. 🤪
While working on The Crimson Witch, I recently wrote a scene that involved a reoccurring character: Reed. If you’re up to date on the Camilla Crim series than you might be wondering if we’ll be seeing Reed in the next book and I can confidently tell you at this point, that he will be making an appearance or two!
Writing Reed got me thinking about his character and his weird, twisted, sordid past. Reed is such an interesting and complex character that I really enjoy writing. So, let’s talk about it.
Camilla first meets Reed in The Bear Gap Rebels. He’s a Warwick defector that is on the run from Quinten’s army and seeking to join the rebels. Of course, Camilla and the others are extremely suspicious of Reed from the get go, but a soldier fresh from the Warwick army would have great intel that would be beneficial to Camilla and the rebels.
They take Reed in while keeping a close watch on him. His association with the Warwick army isn’t the only thing that Camilla finds concerning. Despite Reed’s tall, fit frame, he’s odd and awkward. He has a disconcerting laugh and tremor that flairs up at strange times. Camilla has also watched him blow up in a rage and kill.
But he was killing the enemy, she reasoned. In fact, his defense of Camilla and the other rebels seemed to prove Reed’s loyalty to them. So why is Reed still not sitting right with some of the rebels? It has to be more than just the Warwick brand on his shoulder.
One night while the rebels are hiding out, Reed makes a confession to Camilla. He had a disturbing and loveless childhood. Reed grew up in a wealthy family that cared little for him. But his parent’s coldness wasn’t unwarranted. Death seemed to follow Reed wherever he went. As a child he was the only witness to two tragic deaths. One was his cousin while the other was his younger sister.
Whispers flooded this rich, elite family with rumors that Reed, although a child himself, was the cause of these unfortunate deaths. Reed was swiftly taken out of public and left at home for the nanny to keep locked away. Then when he was a young teen, he was shipped off to join the army of Quinten Warwick, Elmyra’s newest Supreme Ruler.
Reed’s name was essentially stricken from the family tree. 🌳 He was forgotten and left to do the worst jobs in Quinten’s army including cleaning the latrines and burning the enemy’s dead. Surely Reed had a reason for his eccentricities now, Camilla thought to herself. Perhaps the coldness he’d experienced his whole life is what shaped Reed.
But at the end of The Bear Gap Rebels, Reed makes an even larger confession to Camilla that makes it that much harder for her to come to grips with him. Is he the Warwick-hating man he claims to be? Or is he a deranged plant sent to infiltrate the rebels?
GAHHHH! How I wish I could answer these questions for you right now! Reed is such a twisted and deeply unhappy character. He plays a key role in The Dark Ruler and even has a cameo in The Faintly Beating Heart! 😏 I’m really excited for you to see where he’s at and what he’s up to in The Crimson Witch. It may just shock and amaze!
Let me know your thoughts on Reed and whether you think his heart is ultimately pure or evil or maybe somewhere in between? If you want to get started with Reed’s adventures, remember that book #1 in the Camilla Crim series is FREE for you to download by CLICKING HERE.
Happy Valentines Day! ❤️ I love you all my beautiful readers very much!
Emily
P.S. Don’t forget to download your 100% free eBook copy of The Sacrifice of One, book #1 in the Camilla Crim series.
Click HERE if you feel like gifting me another tall Starbucks coffee ☕
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