Guille Valdata

Q: We’ve got WAR STORM, May 15th, 2018. What was it like finally getting the conclusion in place?

VA: I knew what the conclusion was gonna be from book 2. I write chronologically, so I was never ever gonna let myself write that scene until I was physically there. And I did it last week. I finished the first draft last week. So far, I’ve expected to feel some sort of explosion or whatever. You’re excited to be done, you’re scared to be done, there’s still a lot of work still to be done. But right now I feel nothing. I don’t know if I’ll feel something when it is tied up and all done and completely out of my hands, but for now it’s like a numb feeling, which I guess is good because I don’t want to get too excited because I do have a feeling this is a very messy draft, and I have a lot more work to do to hopefully make it good.

Q: I’m kind of worried about body count, I’m not gonna lie.

VA: We’ll see. 

Q: You have a lot of invested fans, and there are all sorts of theories. What are some of the funniest crackpot theories?

VA: I’m actually kind of trying not to read them. I go through the tumblr tag, and sometimes I’ll find them, and there’ll be really funny headcanons about different characters, just like small, cute things. A lot of people love to write scenes from Shade before Shade was gone, and those were really sweet, and I’m just kind of like, ‘oh, that’s lovely,’ and it’s great that readers and fans feel like they can do that. For the most part I try to stay away from any real plot theories because on the one hand I don’t want to mess with me and what I already have in place, and on the other hand, if I find one that’s better than what I’m doing, I’m gonna be rid of this.