by Huss, JA
Then FIVE! Double surprise!
I know it’s stupid since I wrote the books, but shit, you guys! It’s been almost five years since this series started and almost exactly four since I released Guns. And in that time I have published too many books to count. But they are definitely counted in the dozens at this point. So… it slipped my mind.
Which is also funny, since Five has been on my mind a lot these days. The audiobook for the Five book came out about three weeks ago and then the Mr. & Mrs. audio (which also features Five’s POV) came out last week. So I’ve been listening to those, enjoying them a lot, and yeah.
So how the hell did I forget! I dunno, but it was a happy surprise when Merc and Five showed up at the end of this book. I hope you guys felt that way too.
I had no idea what I was doing when I started that story about down-on-her-luck Rook meeting erotic model Ronin. I already said in Ford’s new EOBS that I’d planned on him being the bad guy and had no plans on continuing the story after Panic. So none of this came out the way I thought it would when I started Tragic – holy fuck, I’m so glad I didn’t know what I was doing. I’m so glad I just did my thing back then. I’m so glad I found all you fans (and you can’t fool me, I know most of you reading this now probably already own several copies of this book with different covers and End of Book Shits!) because I don’t think you can plan something like this. I really don’t.
The Rook & Ronin Series was, and always will be, the number one way in which readers turns into JA Huss fans. Sure, I know lots of you started with 321, or 18, or Taking Turns. But fans go back and start from the beginning when they find me. They go back to Tragic and take the whole messed-up journey into the future.
One more guy I had no clue about was “Bobby” who, if you’ve already read The Company books, you already know is not really Bobby, right? He’s James Fenici. So during this series I found Merc, James, and Sasha. All of whom would come back with their own stories and consume my writing life for the next year and a half.
And what do you know, all these characters are back again because Johnathan and I are doing The Company TV pilot stuff. And Five found his way into the Mister series and then got his own book, and then threw the best wedding ever in Mr. & Mrs. This world is crazy. But crazy good sometimes. Fate, man. That’s all I can say about this series. It was meant to be.
I just put up a blog post today on the HussMcClain site because today was the last cover reveal for the original Sin series that Johnathan and I are writing. And I was talking about covers in that post and how they go through trends, which is why I felt the need to update this covers on this series, and then, of course, I had to update the EOBS too. Not to make you guys buy it again (thank you, though, if you did! I really appreciate it!) But because they needed a fresh look. Fans still love this series so much (as do I) so I don’t want it to get left behind.
And it’s funny because Johnathan and I have created this new world with the Sin books. It’s in Vegas, not Colorado, but I’ve been to Vegas so many times over the past few years, it feels very familiar to me. Like London these days. Which is where I’m headed in four days for the RARE London’s Calling Author Event. I emailed my editor RJ last week, who lives in Bristol, UK, and it went something like this, “Hey Bitch! I’m gonna be in town next week. Show up at our usual place and see me!”
Well, not exactly like that, but very close. Because I stay at the same hotel near St. James Park every time I go there. I know the neighborhood now. I know where the restaurants are, I know exactly what I’m gonna order at the Blue Boar Pub (Yes, that’s an Anarchy Series reference and that’s where it came from!) and I know how to get to the park, and the post office, and Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey!
It’s familiar. Like these characters, like Fort Collins, Colorado, like the Rook Shrike, like St. Joseph’s school, like College Avenue. Even if you’ve never been to Fort Collins you probably have a picture of Shrike Bikes in your mind. And Sick Boyz Inc. And Anna Ameci’s Restaurant, and Big City Burrito…
I created a world in Rook & Ronin. One I never wanted to leave behind. Right now I’m doing that same thing with the Turning Series books. That series is over but I just started a new spin-off series called Jordan’s Game and those pesky Turning people just can’t keep their noses out of thing in the new story!
You can’t really plan for a fictional world to take on a life of its own. You can do your best to make it real, and vivid, and interesting. You can fill it will cool people, and cool places, and intriguing plots. But you can’t really know it’s gonna be “real” when you start. You just do your best.
And about six weeks back Johnathan and I were talking about our new world and our new characters and which of them might need a spin-off book. We have a few in mind but we have so many ideas for NEW books, would we really want to write about them? And I said something like, “You never know. We might be writing these characters ten years from now. You just can’t tell.”
You really can’t. I hope the Vegas Sin books are as real to you as Rook & Ronin. I know I’m already living in Vegas. I might even want to visit Pete’s. ;)
And I hope all these worlds I’ve created go on living for a while.
Because to me, these people are real. These places are real.
The places, and people, and weather, and culture all add up to something. Another character in the book called “Setting”. And I know most authors don’t view their setting as a character, but I always have. Ever since Junco I’ve written the “where and when” as just another character in the story. What, where, and when in Tragic is just… eh. You’re really just getting to know that place. So yeah, you like Coor’s Field and you like the zoo… but eh. And when I took you up to Fort Collins in Manic you were like… Bellvue who? What the fuck?
But it grew on you. Like the St. James Park neighborhood in London for me. And now we’re in Guns and you know all these places. You recognize them. They MEAN something to you. You know the ride from Spencer’s farm into town is long. You know Ford’s house on Mountain Avenue is across from the City Pool. You’ve had coffee in the FoCo Theater with Rook and Ashleigh. And you probably petted her face-eaters, because fuck it. You know Ford’s dogs are highly trained and you can trust them not to eat your face at the coffee shop.
So thanks. Thanks for coming over to my side of town.
Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for coming back.
Wanna keep going? There’s more books to read. The next series about these people is called The Company. It picks up where “Bobby” and Merc left off. After that it’s Meet Me In The Dark, then Wasted Lust. And when you’re all done with those, I’ve got a sweet surprise for you called Happily Ever After. Don’t forget about that one!
MEET JAMES NOW!
About the Author
JA Huss is the New York Times Bestselling author of 321 and has been on the USA Today Bestseller's list 21 times in the past four years. She writes characters with heart, plots with twists, and perfect endings.
Her books have sold millions of copies all over the world, the audio version of her semi-autobiographical book, Eighteen, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award and an Audie Award in 2016 and 2017 respectively, her audiobook, Mr. Perfect, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award in 2017, and her audiobook, Taking Turns, was nominated for an Audie Award in 2018.
She lives on a ranch in Central Colorado with her family.
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www.JAHuss.com
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