I loved Dream Duology so much that I knew I had to write a sequel series. When I first came up with the idea, I pictured seven books — with five of them based on story ideas I’d written when I was much younger. The first book was meant to set up the series, and the seventh was meant to wrap everything up (though an eighth book was later added).

I had a rough roadmap for what would happen across the series, and I knew book one needed to lay the foundation. The core idea was a redemption series centered around seven children who are pulled into a dark dream world while they sleep — Shadow World — where the main villain, Shadow Lord, lives.

From the very beginning, I knew exactly who Shadow Lord really was — and that never changed throughout the series. I also knew his entire motivation was revenge against the heroes from Dream Duology.

I created the seven kids so that each one would eventually lead their own book. Gianna Russell became the first main character, and I completely fell in love with her. Writing her redemption arc was incredibly meaningful and fun.

At the end of Child of Justice, Morca kills the evil King Javier — and in doing so, unknowingly kills everyone who was willingly connected to him through dark magic. (It also frees those who were unwillingly connected, which brings some good out of the tragedy.) That moment haunts Morca afterward.

I decided Gianna’s father would be one of the people who died because of that connection — and that Gianna and her brother would witness it. That single moment shaped who Gianna is at the beginning of the series. I wanted her to start off cold, angry, and closed off emotionally — driven by hate for her enemies and fierce loyalty to the people she loves.

The seven children are Gianna, Elaine, Ashton, Kali, Bryce, Pierre, and Raven. Some of their backstories were clear from the beginning, while others evolved over time — Pierre’s changed the most as the series developed. Raven’s family connection was planned from the start, and I had parts of Bryce’s storyline mapped out even while writing book one.

One thing I was determined not to do was turn the series into a teen drama where everyone dates everyone. So, in Shadow World, the only romantic relationship is Gianna and Bryce.

I also really wanted to contrast Bryce with Lachlan (who’s born in Child of Revenge and appears as a supporting character in Child of Justice) to highlight different paths and choices.

As I wrote Gianna’s story, I knew she and Drake would appear in every book — and even though I didn’t fully know how everything would come together in the final book, I trusted that it would. (Writer logic 😄)
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I outlined the series in bursts over time, and when I finally outlined book six, everything suddenly clicked perfectly into place.