Amatory ✓

AFTERWORD

(April, 2020)

Hey everyone,

I can hardly believe this is the last book of the series already, and at the same time, I'm so glad it's finally done. I started in 2016 and it's now 2020... What a ride. Thank you all for reading. Whether you read all four books or just this one, I appreciate every single one of you.

Before I get into my thought process, I'd like to thank my proofreaders and sensitivity readers because I would not have had the guts to publish this book if I didn't have y'all. So thank you, Ally, Ayanna, Erica, June, and Venus. You guys gave me the confidence I needed to put this out into the world.

Right, okay. Let's get into it.

I think everyone already knows why I started writing this one, but I'll humor you. It all started on a hot summer day—lol no, it was because, when I was writing the end to Faceted, I realized that some of the characters still had a story to tell. I will admit I have a tendency to daydream about every single character I introduce and that is definitely what spurred every sequel in this entire series... but I don't think anyone is complaining.

Jamie was the most obvious loose end. Everyone wanted him to find love after pulling the short straw, but I really couldn't imagine being able to write a whole book about that, so I started thinking about other characters that deserved a better ending.

The first characters that came to mind were Jackson and Nazy. A lot of you disliked Nazy when she first appeared in Faceted, and well... that was fair lol. She was nosy, bitchy, and kind of annoying, but I loved her. I wanted her to redeem herself and I had so much to say about who she was and where she came from and everything—because there was never really any space for that in Faceted. For that reason, I decided to make her a narrator instead of Jackson. He'd had his time to shine in Faceted, and now it was her turn.

Honestly, when I was like ten chapters into the book, I kind of started to regret it because I did not have enough knowledge to write a character like her, and that's when I started reaching out to friends for help. Her story arc was the hardest thing I've ever written, but I am very proud of the way it turned out. Religion is a tough subject to write about anyway, let alone if you personally have no experience with it, and there will always be people who disagree, but I think it's an important subject.

Either way, I hope no one is disappointed by her ending because it could have gone many ways, but this is the one that felt right for her. I could go into detail, but I think all I need to say is that the answer is not always yes or no. She needed an in-between. It wasn't about believing or not believing. It was about how.

As for her parents... I didn't think it was necessary to include them one more time because it was pretty obvious that they were not going to change their minds. If I had written another scene with them, it would have gotten repetitive: they would have said the exact same thing as before. It would take years before they would actually accept their daughter's choices. Whether that is because they simply get used to it overtime or because she ends up marrying Jackson is up for interpretation. I like to keep things a bit ambiguous every now and then! ;)

Now, getting back to Jamie.

As with Jackson, I felt like Jamie had had his time to shine and I had already decided before I even started writing Amatory that he would end up with Emmett. Even though Emmett only had like... two scenes in Faceted, I could already tell that he was a very good friend to Jamie, and given the opportunity, he would, without a doubt, become more.

I'm happy I included them for the sake of giving them a happy ending, but (and here I come critiquing myself lol) by the time they were together, I had technically kind of run out of things for them to do. Yes, Emmett had his issues, and they were certainly not any less important, but the pacing was a bit unfortunate compared to the other characters' stories. At the end of the day, it wasn't too bad though, because it was nice to have a bit of... variety, I guess? It was nice to switch back and forth between all the different kinds of stories.

And so we end with Nate. There were so many other characters I could write about. I considered Krista, I considered Austin, I considered Bri, and I even considered Andre and Harriet, but the moment Nate confessed to Jackson in Faceted, I knew that he would have to be in the sequel. There was no question about that. Krista almost made it in, but I knew that three separate plots would be more than enough, and it certainly was... Instead, I decided to keep the other characters in the background and give you a little peak into their lives without writing an entire book about them.

I had a bit of trouble deciding whether Carl would get to narrate and when, and I know it was a bit strange to add him after 16 chapters, but it didn't feel right to write from his perspective before Nate got to know him. Technically, I could have stuck with the original three, but I'm glad I didn't because I really feel like the book became a lot more nuanced when I added Carl's perspective. I feel like the book wouldn't have been as good without him to tell his side of the story.

It was hard to write sometimes, though.

A friend once said: writers not only project problems onto their characters; characters project their problems onto their writer as well. At the time, I thought it was nonsense. I didn't realize until I was writing this book just how true that statement actually was. I'm glad that I get to educate people on these topics, but it can be difficult when it becomes personal. I learned a lot from writing this series.

It feels a bit strange to be writing the last afterword to the last book now. It's not like I won't be writing anything after this... Quite the contrary. I have lots of plans, but the Full Spectrum series was... Well, it was my baby and it's all fully grown now. I'm ready to move on, but at the same time, I don't want to say goodbye.

As you know, I like to write bonus content and I have gathered several suggestions from you guys already, but if there's anything you'd still like me to write, let me know. If I like your idea, I will probably write a one-shot about it. I don't mind saying goodbye if I can revisit my baby sometimes lol.

I think that's all, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments! Thank you so, so much for reading. It literally means the world to me that people from all over the world are reading my silly stories. Thank you.

Love,

Glyn