Blood Infernal: The Order of the Sanguines

Rebecca: Working on an epic scale was new for me—so setting up the character arcs across multiple long books, setting up timelines that go from the time of Christ to the present day, and juggling the ensemble cast across time and space. Plus doing all that while figuring out how to collaborate with someone else.

James: I think the hardest was simply figuring out how to collaborate. This was a first such project for both of us. Initially, there was the awkwardness of how to critique or edit another writer’s pages. It was a bit of a dance at first (“Rebecca, I see where you’re going with this scene but maybe if we carefully tweak it here or there it could be made even stronger”), but eventually as we got to know each other even better, we learned to shorthand it (“Jim, this scene sucks…rewrite it!”…and she was usually right). One question we get asked a lot is: how much did you two argue about the plot or characters? And actually the answer is: very little. Once we nailed down those characters’ voices—learned who they were and how they ticked—and laid down the big plot points, any time we came to a loggerhead we let the characters tell us where to go.

James: To be honest, it took a while. There were several early drafts of the opening chapters—which we handed back and forth between us—until we could land our character’s voices where we wanted them to be. From there, it was a matter of deciding which writer should take a crack at which scenes first (i.e., who had the better skill set for that scene), then allowing the other writer to sculpt their own voice atop it to ensure an even tone to the entire book.

Rebecca: I think those early drafts were key to establishing a consistent “voice” for the books. Spending time early on trying to decide the style that we would use and then both writing and editing to that style made things a lot easier.

Rebecca: The books can be read in any order, but I think you get the most complete experience if you read them in order: The Blood Gospel, Innocent Blood, and Blood Infernal. The short stories can be read in any order though—before the books, in between, or after.

James: I think the series is best read in order, but knowing some readers might join the series midway along or with this final book, we tried our best to seed all the back story necessary for a new reader to enjoy each of the books on its own…even the final volume.

James: The main characters of Erin and Jordan come from an entirely approachable place. While they’re especially skilled at their various professions, they’re also human, which is something Rebecca and I strived to focus on, allowing this pair to be the readers’ guide into this secret world of the Sanguines. The pair also served as perfect foils to draw out the humanity in monsters and the beauty in the darkest of places.

Rebecca: I agree that Erin and Jordan are the bridge into the story, because they are mostly ordinary humans who fall into the world of the Sanguinists just like the readers do. I think we also wanted to play with the idea of shadow and light in the individual characters, human and otherwise so that the reader could relate to everyone, at least a bit. Erin and Jordan have some shadows in them. Rhun, the other Sanguinists, and even Elizabeth have some light parts that we see as they try to find their way along the dark path that was forced upon them.

Rebecca: When I read, I always look for interesting and engaging characters who I want to spend time with. If there is no one I care about in a book, I just check out. As a writer, I try to always keep that reader sensibility and make sure that I’m creating someone readers will want to follow (down to the Gates of Hell, if necessary). That said, characters need to do more than be; they need to do and act and that’s plot. They need to go somewhere that you want to follow, do something that you want to see. It’s not either or.

James: Agreed. It’s got to be both. A well-crafted plot with two-dimensional characters is simply not all that engaging. And great characters put through the paces of a tepid plot can drag a story into the ground. Which do you start with first? I’ve done it both ways. Some books have started with a character in mind. Like Dr. Lorna Polk, a New Orleans veterinarian, in my novel Altar of Eden. I wanted to write a “veterinary thriller,” so the character came first. Other times I start with the plot, then I fold in the characters: both those that make sense for that particular plot and, as an extra challenge, sometimes those that don’t. And in the case of my book, Amazonia, it was the setting that started that journey. I simply wanted to set a thriller in the Amazon rainforest and built the story around that desire.

James: That’s an easy one (and I know Rebecca would agree): Elizabeth Bathory. She was so deliciously amoral how could Rebecca and I not grow to love her and give her a larger place in the story. I think Elizabeth kept us both on our toes, while challenging our characters just as much.

Rebecca: Exactly. Elizabeth Bathory was fascinating. She was largely amoral and served no one but herself, but she also had a protective side for both Tommy and Rhun. It was interesting watching her balance those two aspects of her personality, and it was great fun to write someone who just did whatever she wanted regardless of the consequences. Her role grew from book to book, probably because that’s what she wanted.

Rebecca: It was set up as a trilogy, and I think we fulfilled all the promises we made to the readers in the books. The characters have been on a wild journey, but it is complete. That said, there are still some stories to be told in the world of the Sanguines, and we might pick those up again someday.

James: The series was always envisioned as a trilogy, with the potential for future stories set in this universe beyond that. So while the third book does bring the major arc of our characters’ lives and the plot to resounding conclusion, we’ve left a few breadcrumbs that could be picked up down the line for another go-around in this world.

James: Rebecca and I actually wrote two short stories connected to this series. “City of Screams” is a prelude into the series, introducing Sergeant Jordan Stone in Afghanistan, serving as a forensic investigator who discovers mythology and science sometimes collide in horrifying ways. “Blood Brothers” was published between the first and second novel, but the bulk of the story takes place during the Sixties, with repercussions in the present, so the book could easily be read as another prelude to the series, while at the same time introducing a major character who first appears in Book Two (Innocent Blood)

Rebecca: I mentioned this earlier (always jumping ahead, I guess). The short stories are set in the same world, but they are not directly related to the events in the trilogy, so you can read them whenever you want during the trilogy, or even as standalone stories.