They say her voice was once bewitching to all who heard it. She was like a siren luring sailors to their deaths on quiet nights...
Those are just rumours that once were, truth be told the youngest daughter of the Count was a mute. Her voice had long...
Hello my dearest readers and congratulations on making it to the end. This story has truly been a joy to write and with all the love and support that I have received, it just made it all the better.
I have read every comment and every message of support that you leave me and it honestly always brings a smile to my face.
Erica is the second story that I have completed and I really enjoyed writing it but it did after a while feel like it was dragging.
It was never supposed to be more than about 35 chapters long but here we are 85 chapters later. It is completely maddening.
I started writing this story back in June 2021 and just under two years later here we are with a complete novel.
A few little facts about this book:
1. Sorin's name was originally Borin but it was changed because I knew that he would be called Boring.
2. Walter was never meant to even be a character. It was supposed to just be Sibyl and Sorin as Erica's siblings.
3. The story was supposed to end when the Countess tried to have Erica killed. Aleric was supposed to find her as he embarked on an all out search.
4. This story was supposed to be written in first person but I changed my mind last minute. I wanted to test my strengths and try my hand at third. It has been difficult but very enjoyable. I was originally worried third person would not have as strong of an emotional impact as first but in a way it ended up doing more than just that.
5. I purposefully did not describe any of the characters key features (other than Ron with his grey eyes but that was just an Easter egg to my other story). I wanted you as a reader ro imagine the characters how you wished them to look. Truthfully I did not think Erica looked anything like the girl on the cover but my friend saw her that way so I left it. I am curious to know how you imagined them?
6. Each chapter of Erica was carefully planned. I had notes everywhere explaining and describing everything. It was chaos.
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I would like to thank those few readers who have been with me since the beginning and waited patiently for updates. You are all so amazing!!
All those other authors and readers who will only see this after binging this entire story in one go and did not have to wait for updates, you are thanked too.
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Q&A: (ask away and I will answer)
1. Will there be a book 2? - Yes and it already has chapters out. Well technically it's not really a book 2 as it follows a new character and is told in first person not third.
It's titled Smeared.
It can be read as a stand alone but it contains spoilers for Erica.
2. What inspired you to write this book? - I won't lie but it definitely had something to do with Bridgeton as well as some poorly translated isekai manhwa.
3. Do you have any tips for writers who are just starting out writing larger stories? - fwwnobody -Have a somewhat of a plan even if you decide to change it later. Work out the climax and potential ending before you even start. It helps trust me.
-Don't fret over the little details. It does not matter what the character is wearing or what they eat unless it's important to the plot or setting. Readers can fill in those details themselves.
-Write, write, write! Do not care or worry about how many reads you are getting, just write. Erica only hit its first 1K reads around chapter 19 and my first book only hit 1K around chapter 25.
-Consistency helps, trust me. I vowed when I began Erica to update weekly (not on a specific day because my schedule was unpredictable but still weekly) letting my readers know that allowed me to gain regulars who looked forward to updates. Sure every now and then I could not update due to personal reasons, but I always apologise to my readers.
-I can't think of any more at the moment but I feel like I've covered the main things.
4. Does Walter get a significant other? - fwwnobody - I really want him to since he was my favourite character but unfortunately I did not have much time to think about it. Hopefully in Smeared there will be someone for him.
5. What happened to Sybil? - lunamoonblue -Sibyl... Almost forgot about her. I might write about her in Smeared and if I do I will update this answer. Sibyl became a servant of the Palace starting off lowest of the low ranks and never achieved much more than that. She held a grudge against Erica and blamed her for all her misery.
6. Are Louis, Aleric and Walter related? -Louis and Aleric are related. They are cousins through Louis' fathers side. Louis is also related to the current Duke of Waisend. That is his uncle. The Duke of Waisend is the younger brother to the Duchess of Trencent which is Louis' mother. The Alvore family has no relation whatsoever to Aleric and Louis. This means that Walter is NOT related to both Aleric and Louis. He is only a close friend. Hope that helps.
7. Are Erica and Aleric related? - NO. I get this question surprisingly a lot and I have no idea why. I can only assume it is because many people seem to think that Walter is somehow related to Aleric so therefore Erica is too or the fact that Erica is related to a royal of a fallen kingdom. I guess many readers must read very fast and jumble up the sentences or miss the parts that distinguish the relationship that Aleric has with his cousin Louis and his friend Walter and the part where the fallen kingdom of Ruria has nothing to do with Aleric's kingdom. I often do this too so you aren't alone but it always gives me a jump-scare when someone asks this question in some form or another but I love reading your comments nevertheless and I don't mind clearing things up every now and then.
