Cover Art by Alison Hunt

This the book where things got tricky with the series.  War of Nytefall: Rivalry was going to be a big turning point in the relationship between Clyde and Mab.  It would set up for some darker elements later on.  That still happened, but an in-story shift and a real world event made this book one of the hardest ones for me to write and publish.

At this point, there wasn’t going to be a shock that Clyde and Mab rekindled their pre-series romance.  The entire story is about an old rival of Mab’s showing up to kidnap Clyde and claim him for herself.  Xavier Tempest and Titus Winthrop (Mab’s brother) are snagged too to try and throw people off.  This story really pushes Mab and Clyde to admit their true feelings for each other.  Not that they were hiding it well, but they are the types that need things to be more direct.  It was all going to plan . . .

Then, my divorce kicked off just as I was finishing Rivalry.  Keep in mind that Clyde was a character of mine and Mab was based around one that my wife played.  They were actually the only characters we played who were in a relationship with each other.  So, I was trying to make it solid and romantic and uncomplicated.  Not easy to do when the inspiration for one character has just kicked off an emotionally messy situation.  I had to really sit back and decide if the characters should suffer because of what was going on in the real world.  Unfortunately for my emotional well-being, I realized that I had already planned too much around Clyde and Mab being together.  So, I had to push forward and ignore my own inner turmoil.

While that was going on, I also found problems between bitter rivals Clyde and Xavier Tempest who now had to work together.  I realized how often this was going to happen in the series.  The two did hate each other, but there was this frustrating level of respect between them that I couldn’t break.  Xavier’s actions were bad, but not enough that Clyde would be irrational towards him.  I had made my old action-loving monster an actual leader and I couldn’t get him to be a maniac any more.  So, Rivalry began the awkward shift where the vampire civil war got pushed more into the background and was more of a feud than a full-on clash.  I would later have to come up with a really good reason for them to have a deathmatch.  Thankfully, Nadia Sylvan (wife of Xavier Tempest) ended up having very little honor and I had already left a few hints that she could possibly be the true villain of the whole series.  Given that she was another character based around my now ex-wife, I didn’t have much of a problem doing this.  Let’s be honest, authors have a long history of taking anger towards a real person out on a fictional version then admitting to it.  I still made sure the character was well-developed and had moments to shine.

All of that behind-the-scenes drama aside, the highlight of this book was using Jewelz the Vampire Queen.  She was a character I had bouncing around this series in most of its incarnations.  Jewelz had been the main villain, Clyde’s love interest, a reborn vampire goddess, Clyde’s daughter, and a number of other roles.  Nothing really worked for her until I came up with this story.  Making her a confidant, powerful, and slightly petty rival to Mab turned her into a force of nature.  She no longer had to match Clyde in power, so she could have other ways to keep him as a prisoner.  I think this made Jewelz a much more enjoyable character to write, especially since I got to let her indulge in lording over two of the strongest Dawn Fangs.

Would I change anything?  I know some people may expect me to say I would not have Clyde and Mab become a couple.  Some would even say I should have killed her off, but she already appeared in Legends of Windemere.  I think I would have been angry at myself for letting my characters suffer due to what I was going through.  Once I would heal, I’d see that mess I made and regret a lot.  No, I think the only change I would make is give Luther and Bob a bit more to do.  Titus, their leader and friend, was captured too, so I feel like they should have been more active.  They did things, but it was really more Mab and Xavier’s people.  I might be overthinking this though.

Questions to enjoy:

1. How can a rivalry be healthy?
2. Do you think its healthy for a person to only speak their feelings under pressure?
3. Is it okay for authors to take anger for a real person out on a fictional character?