my fourteen favorite FROSTBORN scenes of 2014
Note that this post has SPOILERS for the entire FROSTBORN series to date.
This year I wrote three and a half FROSTBORN books – the second half of FROSTBORN: THE UNDYING WIZARD, and then FROSTBORN: THE MASTER THIEF, FROSTBORN: THE IRON TOWER, and FROSTBORN: THE DARK WARDEN.
Some scenes, of course, are more fun to write than others. Of course, this often has no bearing whatsoever on which scenes the readers enjoy most. On multiple occasions, I’ve heard something that I threw in or changed at the last minute was a reader’s favorite scene or line in the book, whereas no one notices something I planned to put in for months.* It is always amusing to see how it shakes out.
That said, here are the fourteen FROSTBORN scenes I enjoyed writing the most in 2014:
14.) Anytime Brother Caius, Kharlacht, and Jager start arguing about theology.
13.) Anytime Calliande and Morigna argue or have to work together (usually while arguing). Deep down, they both badly want to punch each other, but they’re smart enough to realize that would not be helpful.
12.) Ridmark and party exploring the dwarven ruin of Thainkul Dural in FROSTBORN: THE UNDYING WIZARD. I love dungeon crawls. This may not surprise you. 🙂
11.) Mara and Jager meeting for the first time in THE ASSASSIN’S TALE.
10.) Morigna joins Ridmark’s group at the end of FROSTBORN: THE UNDYING WIZARD.
9.) Calliande, Morigna, and the rats at the end of FROSTBORN: THE MASTER THIEF.
8.) The moment when Paul Tallmane realizes that he really shouldn’t have listened to the Artificer in FROSTBORN: THE IRON TOWER.
7.) Jager settles with Paul Tallmane once and for all at the end of FROSTBORN: THE IRON TOWER.
6.) Ridmark and Jager defeating Rotherius and the other assassins of the Red Family at the end of FROSTBORN: THE MASTER THIEF.
5.) Gavin and Truthseeker in FROSTBORN: THE DARK WARDEN.
4.) Mara conquers herself in FROSTBORN: THE IRON TOWER.
3.) Mara successfully fools the Warden in FROSTBORN: THE DARK WARDEN.
2.) The Warden tells the truth to Calliande and Ridmark in FROSTBORN: THE DARK WARDEN.
1.) Really, entire second half of FROSTBORN: THE DARK WARDEN.
*Mara herself is an example of “throwing something in”. When I originally outlined FROSTBORN, she was just “Jager’s girlfriend”, and I didn’t think she’d be in the series past THE MASTER THIEF. Then I decided that she was a former assassin of the Red Family. Then when I actually started writing THE MASTER THIEF, in typing her first scene I suddenly decided that she was half dark-elven. Now THAT threw the plot in a whole new direction! I kept having to rewrite the series outline every time she did something.
-JM