Hello everyone! I hope you're doing well today!
As you can see by the title of this post: I have been having some deep thoughts about my urban fantasy series The Scarlet Jane Files, many of which include how long it's taken for them to be written and released. Given that book 1, Blood Night, was originally released in 2017 (and Witch Haunt not long after that,) it's not hard to fathom how much my writing style has improved, let alone changed. I've grown a lot in the five years since Blood Night was first released.
Which leads me to announce that:
As of today, The Scarlet Jane Files are being pulled from retailers to be rewritten.
You might be wondering: what exactly does this mean? 'Rewritten?'
Essentially, the overall plot arcs of the first two installments of The Scarlet Jane Files won't change. The story will remain pretty much as it is. I do, however, want to add further depth to the world and Scarlet's character, which means that they will be changed from being written in third person past tense to first person present tense.
What can you expect from these new iterations of The Scarlet Jane Files?
A fresh, first person, present tense story
A more direct (and smoother) storytelling experience from book to book
And finally: a series that will be written back to back.
I feel I owe it to Scarlet's character and my readers to provide them with the greatest reader experience possible. In reading through the Files, I do not feel incredibly happy with the overall arcs within those that occur after the first two. I feel all of the installments could be strengthened, that they could be written better (and more clearly,) and that I can give Scarlet a fresh take on her world, circumstance, and the scenarios that take place within it.
I look forward to revisiting this world and offering it new life from this point forward.
Thank you once again for your support. It means the world to me!
--Kody Boye
