When the Flower Falls (Fitzmael 7) - COMPLETED

Author's Confession

I plan to include the author's confession in every narrative that I create. This section includes "what could've been" scenarios as well as some entertaining or not-so-entertaining facts.

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I have a confession to make —

After more than two years, I finally finished this book. To be honest, it took me a while because I got burned out from writing. Life got busy too, especially with work.

If it weren't for TikTok, I probably wouldn't have finished this at all. I found the motivation to keep going because I saw more and more people noticing my posts about the stories I've been writing. That meant a lot to me.

The original vibe I wanted for this was something like Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha but I just can't bring myself to write a story without any pain in it. The truth is, this book turned out completely different from what I first planned... and honestly, I'm glad it did.

The new story and plot worked so much better. It became something more beautiful than what I had in mind in the beginning. Because if I hadn't changed its direction, Jealrain, Augustine, Kyler, and Ari wouldn't even exist. 🥲

Everything really does happen for a reason.

With that said, since this isn't the original storyline I had in mind, and some characters weren't even supposed to exist, you might be wondering... in my first plan, were Elimae and Ren meant to be endgame?

Just like what I originally planned for Amaris and Aziel, yes. When I first brainstormed the story, I really thought they would end up together. But I couldn't actually imagine them getting there. And because of that, I couldn't bring their story to life.

Since Elimae and Ren just didn't work as endgame, I started asking myself who his female lead should be. I tried Amelie, Joy, and Haze but each of them had reasons why they didn't fit.

Then I thought about introducing someone new. At first, I imagined he would meet his female lead in Switzerland. If you remember in Book 2, there was a scene where Ren came home completely soaked after getting drunk because he found out Lilac was pregnant. That was supposed to be the starting point of his story.

But again, it didn't work. I just couldn't see where his story was going. Out of all the characters, Ren's story was the hardest to build. It was all trial and error.

So I finally decided to introduce new characters: Elimae and Jealrain. That's also why Ren and Eli's chapters are quite long. I wanted you to truly feel how Ren fell in love, because his first love is a very important part of his story.

While writing those early chapters where he and Eli were still together, I never wrote them as if they weren't endgame. I had to fully step into Ren's perspective. He was in love with Eli... and while writing her, I fell in love with her too. I didn't want to water down what they had just because I knew they would eventually break up.

I wanted you to feel like they were endgame while reading those first chapters. So when the breakup comes, it hits harder. You feel the pain, the frustration, maybe even anger. And then... slowly, you heal.

And then comes Jealrain. Little by little, you start falling in love with her too, just like Ren did, until you finally move on from Eli.

I love Rain so much. She's mature, she's a total green flag, and she and Ren truly deserve each other. Chef's kiss.

Ari will have his own story soon, and he'll probably be the last one I write for the first generation. As for Kyler... you'll see him again. Sadly, he won't have his own book, and you'll understand why soon.

The next and final book in the Fitzmael Series will be Serene's story. You won't be seeing much of Ren there, since it will focus more on Franco and Marcus. I hope you've missed the brothers.

Also, the second generation of the Fitzmael series will each have their own books... but that's still far ahead. I still need to finish everyone in the first generation. There are a lot of them. More than 20, I think.

Thank you for spending your time with Jealrain and Ren. ♡