Book Nine
SHATTERED DAWN marks the series reaching full (and traditional) superhero status with the introduction of superhero names and costumes for the Rainbow Arc of Fire team. It was only fitting that the team be faced with the threat of teams of super villains who might be every bit as powerful, or even more so, than our RAoF heroes.
The cosmic level thunderclap at the beginning of the novel actually occurred. Everything else after that is pure invention. As loyal readers have discovered over the years, the series veers between novels heavily based upon my own experiences to those that were, like SHATTERED DAWN, pulled from the creative ether. The former category certainly defines A MILE-HIGH SAGA, SLIGHT OF MIND, and (to a degree) WHO HAS DOMINION? and OLIVE BRANCH. Of the latter, AUTUMN SAGA, SOULS WITHIN STONE, WORLDS BENEATH US, HARMONY OF SPHERES, A HOUSE DIVIDED, and SHATTERED DAWN relied less on actual events in my own life to power those novels forward. A cat may have died; a friend may have betrayed me, personally and financially; but, overall, the book stood on its own.
I cannot even say that more reliance or less on my own life helped or hurt a specific novel. Overall, AUTUMN SAGA and WHO HAS DOMINION? were two of the less successful novels in the minds of a few readers. A HOUSE DIVIDED and HARMONY OF SPHERES were two of the more successful novels. But my own favorites are WORLDS BENEATH US, A HOUSE DIVIDED, and SHATTERED DAWN, with a definite nod to OLIVE BRANCH, a novel in the series like SHATTERED DAWN which no one, to my knowledge, has read or reviewed other than my editor. I still await feedback one way or the other on those final two. From anyone.
I promised to explain the colors of the next book--reserving the explanation for OLIVE BRANCH for the next post with that novel. I had exhausted the colors of the Pride Flag, even the original Pride Flag with Fuschia and Tourquoise. What to do? Lavender, next to pink/fuchsia, has to be the gayest color. So, that was an easy choice. It was also important to feature at least a few of the main characters on the cover in their new superhero costumes. Anita did a wonderful job of composing those characters whom she included. It was a shame that I did not publish this in paperback because I intended for her to utilize the other four RAoF characters in costume on the back of the book. Perhaps someday the back cover will exist.
Sadly, I learned a couple of years ago that Anita had passed away. Access to any of the cover artwork was lost. So the two newest volumes in the series are significantly or slightly altered from her clear vision. Brian has done a wonderful job for me filling in, but Anita will always be missed.
Sadly, I learned a couple of years ago that Anita had passed away. Access to any of the cover artwork was lost. So the two newest volumes in the series are significantly or slightly altered from her clear vision. Brian has done a wonderful job for me filling in, but Anita will always be missed.
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