Thread by @dedbutdrmng

Right, off to go write A BIG BATTLE SCENE. Later, Twitters.

Also, like this, I'll come back through the day and try and drop a Wounded Kingdom fact for every like.

1) Though the word ASSASSIN is used in the Wounded Kingdom books (a bit, you may not have noticed though) they are actually modeled on ninja.

2) The reason I didn't call them ninja is it carries too much weight. People have very definite ideas of what a ninja is. Assassin is a bit less specific.

3) Similarly, you'll never find the work 'knight' in the books cos the image of men in plate armour on horseback is so strong and that's not what you have in TWK.

4) The naming conventions in TWK are deliberately dull, "Mount", "Rider", "Stabsword", cos I wanted to give the idea this is a society in decline. They don't have time for fancy names as they are busy surviving.

5) There's a character in Blood of Assassins whose motivations could be good or bad and I didn't know, right up until the end, which way it was going to go when I wrote it.

6) I think I could have put more antlers in TWK books.

7) First draft I called Girton 'Gorton' and HATED IT. Girton was a typo.

8) I always say I don't plan and this is mostly true. But cos AoA sprang sort of fully formed into my head I did have a rough outline.

9) I find the fact that Age of Assassins abbreviates to AoA INCREDIBLY pleasing.

10) Cats are never mentioned in TWK books but they are there because cats exist in all worlds.

11) When I started Blood of Assassins one of the few things I knew was that there would be a battle in the centre of the book that was literally and figuratively a turning point - physically and metaphorically a centre.

12) It was also HUGE fun to write and a pain to edit.

13) When I finished Age of Assassins I knew it was the book that would sell.

14) I have thought that after every book I have written. Even the REALLY bad ones. But there was a different feeling to it I can't really describe.

15) I very deliberately broke the structure of Age of Assassins in Blood of Assassins. This for reasons.

16) King of Assassins returns to the same structure as Age of Assassins. Again, reasons.

17) One of the changes made to Age of Assassins was when it was pointed out to me 85% of the characters names began with A. Oops. Changed that.

18) Age of Assassins had A LOT of titles before it was Age of Assassins. A LOT.

19) My favourite title was probably 'All Deaths Well Intention'd' which I recycled for a short story you may hopefully get to read at some point in the future.

20) I had always planned for Girton to be a bit of a trial in Blood of Assassins but still worried that it may put a lot of people off him. Didn't stop me though.

21) Girton is less of a trial in King of Assassins.

22) Girton and Merela use a fighting style where moves are named. I made this up on the fly for Age of Assassins. Come Blood of Assassins where I had to re use them correctly, SO MUCH WOE.

23) You worry, when writing a book. And I think I made the right decision to have big spaces between each story, while understanding some people may be frustrated by a lot happening 'off camera' so to speak.

24) Xus, (the warmount not the god) is a joy to write and it's lovely how people have latched on to a character who never speaks and is really quite grumpy.

25) The intention for the Wounded Kingdom books was for Girton's POV to be evolving throughout the books as he ages, so it's quite simplistic in Age of Assassins but more sophisticated by King of Assassins.

26) Queen Adran (as she is in AoA) is largely based on Margaret of Anjou.

27) Girton's perception of the "bad" guys is quite one dimensional in AoA. But I knew why characters acted the way they did so hopefully, BoA changes how you see them if you reread the first book.

28) There are no ducks in the Tired Lands.

29) 'The Tired Lands' was the idea it all sprang from. It just felt very evocative.

30. This is the Hole of Horcombe (or the Devil's Punchbowl) on the N Yorks moors and one of my start off images for the Tired Lands.

31) One of the other changes to Age of Assassins was 85% of character names ended in S which is a nightmare for possessive apostrophes. Oops. Changed that.

32) At least once a week when writing a book I spend a considerable amount of time staring at a blank screen and thinking, 'How write book?'

33) Tangentially related. But, mostly, unless you are doing HUGELY well, you generally have no idea how things are going. Being a writer is weird.

34) One of the most important things when writing these books was to make Girton someone that, despite his flaws, I would still like.

35) And Merela. I wanted her to just 'be there'. I can't quite explain it, I don't know if it worked but that was what I wanted. I wanted a solidity to her.

36) And I wanted to avoid the idea of 'the kickass female.' Strong? Yes, but flawed and more vulnerable than Girton can see, while being fierce AF.

37) The Wounded Kingdom books are basically detective books in many ways. However, Girton is a TERRIBLE detective.

38) There's a, quite violent, scene in a house in Blood of Assassins (you will know it when you read it) and I wrote it to this song on repeat.

39) My editor, @Jenni_Hill, has been like a gentle presence when writing these books. Just nudging me back on track when I'm going the wrong way. She is ace.

40) There is a character arc across all three books that I would dearly love to talk about but it is too spoilery. Some of you can guess, but it brings me great joy.

41) I'm always a bit surprised by how violent and dark what I write can get. You probably haven't noticed but I'm not violent or dark. Though I wear a lot of black. And I am married to a Dark. It's probably all the stress of dealing with @Gambit589.

42) I think the strongest moments in the books aren't the battles or the mystery or the magic but the moments between Merela and Girton when they start to understand themselves and what they need to do to fix things between them.

43) I invented Xus, the massive antlered, silent and yet somehow sarcastic warmount. A second later I knew I must have a warmount Vs warmount cavalry charge. Writing it was SUCH FUN.

44) Also, I really didn't want Girton to be amazing and invulnerable and one part of the cavalry charge was a way of showing Girton is really good at what he does but it's a very specific skillset that maybe doesn't transfer.

45) My superb artist friend, @papagaeio did some concept sketches for Xus and is working on a full drawing. Here's the sketches. (Bottom left is the one we went for)

46) Xus the Unseen, god of death. I wanted a non threatening god of death and this is tied in (in my head) to the idea that G & M aren't just hired killers. They are a force for vengeance and justice. They don't follow a dark god.

47) There is a map for Blood of Assassins. A colour version will be with the @AnderidaBooks hardbacks and I'll sort out a free download of the B & W version from my website once the HB is out. (again @papagaeio's awesome work.)

48) Bread as jewellery, RJ? Why this? Cos in a land of scarcity, food used simply for decoration is decadent.

49) Back to Xus, the god of death. I like to think when he is (or isn't) about in the books there's a sense of quietness. I imagine he brings this to death, no matter how awful, those last moments are calm. He's a release, not an end.

50) There's stuff in your own life that frames things. Girton's breathing techniques for fighting are variations of methods for handling chronic pain.

51) If I was being pretentious I would say Girton's unwilling journey to being a killer is a metaphor for my own less than willing journey into being ill. But I would never be pretentious.

Also, probably a lie.

52) OR IS IT?

53) if you want Blood of Assassins as a metaphor for my life I'll probably need sime time to think about it.

54) Women get gradually sidelined in the books and it is deliberate. But there are constant hints, overt and covert, it hasn't always been this way. Maybe it shouldn't be.

(This is an in world tweet)

55) There are very specific things happening with magic in these books that I am going to keep quiet about.

56). May have stolen some tactics from Ghengis Khan for Blood of Assassins.

57) Fight scenes. I have learned that the most important thing in a fight scene is knowing where everyone is.

58) I use a floating tense in the Wounded Kingdom books that is dependant on what's happening. I love it as a device. Copy editors are not as keen.

59) I think the reason Girton works is that he is lost, really. He doesn't know how to fit in and we have all been there at some point in our lives

60) In Blood of Assassins part of the idea was the Land itself was threatening and the dream sequences are part of this. They're not really meant to make sense, more give a sense of disquiet.

61) Girton's dreams are not placed randomly.

62) There is no plate armour in the Wounded Kingdom books but I know most readers will still see that image in their head. (I do too, it's so very powerfully tied up to Fantasy.)

63) It's talked about as 'medieval set' and I think that's because of the castles. But armour, tactics and weapons are closer to post Romano Britain and that was more the sort of society I had in mind.

64) I am constantly surprised and impressed by stuff readers find in it that I didn't realise was there.

65) I had never read any 'Grimdark' before writing Age of Assassins, didn't even know it was a thing (because I live in a special happy box). Any genre similarities are coincident.

66) Readings apart, I've not read Age of Assassins since it was published. It's a finished book and it's not mine anymore.

67) I don;t feel any pressure or think about anything but what I want to write as I write. The lead up to book two coming out was nerve wracking though. And we're in the build up to King of Assassins.

68) If I could I would personally thank everyone who has read it. I am so very grateful you chose to spend time with the people in my head. You're all ace.

69) Still not had any Wounded Kingdom fanart. Even though @melisscaru PROMISED me it would happen.

70) King of Assassins goes to some dark places. But if you were a bit disappointed you didn't find out much more about Merela in BoA it will be rectified in KoA. It was always planned this way.

BONUS FACT) @m_leigh_g (of Popverse) pointed out that the Wounded Kingdom books don't pass the Bechdel test but they got a pass from her anyway.