The Night is Found: Guest Post by author Kat Kruger

With the recent release of The Night is Found (Fierce Ink Press, 2014), reviewed here yesterday, author Kat Kruger has kindly agreed to share her perspective on writing her final book in The Madgeburg Trilogy.

                 Welcome                    

              * Kat Kruger *              

I don’t think there are words or even an emoji to describe what it’s like to write the last book in a trilogy besides to say that it’s been a bittersweet roller coaster of emotions. The characters of The Magdeburg Trilogy have been with me for several years now, from the black she-wolf standing over an unmarked grave to the mad scientist who sent me down research rabbit holes. The Night Is Found represents the end of their collective journey (although I have in mind to eventually write some graphic novel prequels).

I’ll certainly miss the world and the vast amount of research that it took to build it. In that sense I don’t think I can ever wholly let go of the world. I’m glad I’ve got those prequels to look forward to at some point in the future! Right now I’m feeling some intense post-trilogy blues. When I began writing the series it never dawned on me just how attached I’d get to these fictional people. Sure I cried a little when I finished The Night Has Teeth. I wept even more at the final scene of The Night Has Claws because it was even more devastating to me than the previous book. At that time I should have realized Book the Third was going to hit me hard but by then I was at a point of no return.

So, writing the final book in the trilogy was emotionally taxing to say the least. Closure sucks. Every time one person’s story “ended” I had to take a breather. Overall I think the happy moments outweigh the tragic ones. All the major loose ends are tied up but I’ve also left it open for the reader to imagine life after The Magdeburg Trilogy for Connor and his friends. To me it’s a book about hope and possibilities so to tie everything up too neatly would have felt like a cheat.

It was also a hard book to write in terms of expectations (not just my own). I actually had a few false starts with the final book. “Where to start?” was the question I kept asking myself. It wasn’t until I was on a road trip to New England for my birthday last year that I understood I had to cut the 5,000 words I had already written. That early draft picked up the story in the moments directly following the end of the second book. It wasn’t even fifteen minutes of driving on this trip, though, when a coyote crossed ahead of me on the highway. I know a good sign when I see one. So I introduced the “Wilds” of the North American packs who figure prominently in the first part of The Night Is Found.

Since the first book had a prologue, I felt that the last one needed an epilogue to bookend everything. That final scene is an image that I’ve carried with me since well before I even started writing The Night Is Found. As it developed in my thoughts, it became more and more of a love letter to fans of Arden. It caught me off guard just how many readers connected with him and I hope the epilogue serves as a thank you to everyone who saw beyond his roughness to embrace the fiercely loyal man that he truly is.

Of all the books that I’ve written, this is the one where I left my heart on the page. I will miss each and every one of the wolves of Magdeburg long after the last reader has closed the final page on the series.

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Here's an early notice about an author event featuring Kat Kruger.

On Thursday, September 18, 2014

at 7 p.m.

author Kat Kruger

will give a talk at

the Toronto Public Library 

(Spadina branch)

Toronto, ON

See the TPL website for details here.

See more about Kat Kruger's writing at http://katkruger.com/ or at her publisher Fierce Ink Press website.