What if a reluctant assassin – had not been quite so reluctant . . .

What if A Reluctant Assassin

I was scrolling through Pinterest the other day, giggling over the memes on what Star Wars might have been if Anakin had never gone to the Dark Side.

And a strange thought came to me…

What if our reluctant assassin had not been so reluctant?

What if Kayden had not fallen in love with the prince?

What if . . . she had simply done her job?

And the biggest question of all . . .

Would there still have been room for a series?

This . . . of course . . . sent me off on a wild whirlwind ride of speculation.

What would happen to the government if Dvarius had died – with no heirs and no other relatives who could step into the throne?
What would have been the Order of the MoonStone’s next move?
How would the subjects, who were actually loyal to the Fortine family, have reacted?
Would Auralius have survived?
Would the throne survive? Or would there be a swift and nasty revolution – leaving behind something more akin to the government we know today?

The tough part here is that, as the writer, I know a lot more about the story than I can tell you right now. However, after a pretty intense conversation with my favorite critique buddy, I feel extremely confident that, yes, there would have still been room for a series.

Drey would, I’m sure, take the throne.
Since he is quite insane, he would be the sort of mad dictator that would soon lose his head, along with his stolen throne.
There might be more than a few subjects who detest the Fortine family, but Dvarius’ father, King Devron, endeared himself to enough of them to have an equal – if not superior – number of supporters, so I feel certain enough of them would be outraged and would scramble to overthrow the new government.

I suppose the point to all of this is… no matter where a story takes you, there are infinite possibilities for where you can take it.

In fact, that is one of the things I like most about writing.

When you sit down to write a novel, whether you are a plotter or not, you have some idea where your story is heading. However, as you traverse that strange and unpredictable landscape that is writing, you find unexpected stumbling blocks, surprise twists and sharp turns you did not see coming, in your path.

These things come together to shape your novel, to mold it, to build it, to hone it, to make it believable . . . and real!

Yes, it is your choice what you do with those twists and turns and blocks, but whether you plod on to the goal you had in mind or you follow that sharp turn and see where it takes you, your story will not be exactly the same as you envisioned it when you sat down to type the first words.

And often, it is all the better for it . . .

In my own experience, blocks appear to tell me that an idea I had in the beginning is not working to advance the plot, twists are things that make the story interesting, and unexpected turns are what give the characters and their story the realism it needs!