10 Facts About Grave Touched You Must Know

Since we’re less than 2 weeks away from the release of Grave Touched, book 2 in my Fey Touched series, I thought I’d talk about, well, Grave Touched. So, for your reading pleasure, ten facts you must know. Like, now:

#1 –  I started Grave Touched three years ago in June, right before I released Fey Touched (book 1). It went through three separate rewrites and countless revisions to become the story it is today.

#2 – The grave touched were originally zombies, but zombies were getting overdone. And I liked the idea of ghosts possessing people so they can have bodies again.

#3 – One of the characters, Juliette, began her life as Piper. However, Siri suggested I change her name so she wouldn’t be confused with Pixie, a psychic dog who’s the familiar of one of the main characters. It was at first really hard to make the change. She’d been Piper since draft 0. But now, after the final rewrite, she’s settled into her new name (and so have I). She also had a POV in the beginning, but I did away with it because it would have screwed up my 3-POV structure for the series.

#4 – Another character’s name is Nohemi, the Spanish version of Naomi. Only thing is, I’ve always pronounced it NOE-HEM-EE. Your mileage may vary.

#5 – I didn’t know who a few of the characters REALLY were until about 7 or 8 chapters in. Then it made perfect sense. This happens a lot.

#6 – One of the characters is based on a real person, a former co-worker and friend who’d died from cancer 11 years ago. He pops up occasionally in stories.

#7 – The first scene changed at least twice. As did the POV.

#8 -The main character was originally supposed to not remember anything at the beginning of the story. It would have caused a logistical problem, and change the focus, so I nixed it.

#9 – Cassata cake and Joe’s culinary skills are revisited in this book (and the aforementioned friend in #6? He was a chef. Joe being a chef is a deliberate homage to him).

#10 – Something happens to Pixie that may shock you guys. But it ends well, I promise. I love Pixie (and she is based on a real dog who’s not psychic…that we know of).

#11 – BONUS! When I first thought of the idea, I wanted to call it “Death Touched” but hated the way it sounded. When “Grave Touched” popped into my head, I immediately dismissed it, as the Hunters do not bury their dead (they burn them in a ritual). However, I liked the way it sounded and found a way to have it make sense within the framework of the Fey Touched world.

Soooo Grave Touched releases on May 1st, and you can find out what all the vague references above are all about. I enjoyed writing the book, for the most part, except the 3 years thing. That kind of sucked, but was unavoidable. I’m happy with the way it came out, and it is way stronger and better than draft 0. Or draft 1. Or draft 2…

If you’re intrigued, check out the sneak peek here. If you want to read about the revision process, go here.

Any questions? Hit me up in comments. I promise to answer in some manner (she says evilly). 😉