After I finished outlining Shadow Series, I realized there were four couples who just didn’t get enough “screen time.”

Drake and Carina’s early relationship is shown, and their wedding happens in book six, but I felt like there were so many important moments missing from their love story — so I wrote short stories to fill in those gaps.

Next, I knew Shayla and Harrison absolutely deserved their romance to be fully told. Their relationship mostly happens in the background of books four through seven, so I wanted to highlight the key moments that shaped their love. I even included scenes that connect back to Shayla’s visions in book four.

I also ended their storyline with a bridge into the first book of Tales of Solapin. I had Shayla get pregnant the first time she’s with Harrison because it was important to me that they have a child together — and that Xavier never did. Not because a child conceived in violence wouldn’t have value (of course they would), but because I’d already explored that storyline with Elaine and Huxford.

Then I focused on my favorite couple: Edie and Proctor.

I dove deeper into Proctor’s backstory — why he was so arrogant, harsh, and especially cruel to Lana at first. I wrote the moment when he, Kyle, and Reed learn about Shadow World, Stewart’s true identity, and the real mission of the Light Warriors.

I also rewrote all of Proctor and Billie’s scenes from his point of view, along with moments from Child of Captivity after Billie returns to being Edie. Their relationship continues through scenes between books six and seven, and even a few after book seven — including Edie being reunited with her younger siblings and returning to Kenda as crown princess after being brought back from the dead.

I knew those scenes wouldn’t quite fit in Tales of Solapin, so I was really grateful to be able to tell them here.

Raven and Reeve’s romance was the hardest for me to decide on. At first, I planned to cut it entirely — but then I realized the series felt incomplete without their love story. So, I ended up writing it in short story form, and their section became almost a third of the book.

It finally gave me space to explore their relationship, which isn’t deeply shown in the main series. I included the moment Shadow Lord reveals to Raven that he’s her father, and I expanded on several scenes from the series with more of Raven’s perspective and emotional context.

I was so glad I ended up writing their story because it truly rounded out Shadow Series. I also included a future moment where Raven and Reeve host Te Rangimaire 383 in Sibon again — and after everything that happened in 366, it felt important to show both their fear and their hope moving forward. (There’s also a small Easter egg tied to Tales of Solapin book five in that section.)
​
And while Edie and Proctor are still my favorite couple, I honestly had so much fun writing every single one of these short stories.