It has begun!  I officially finished the first chapter of Saints 2 yesterday.  It feels so good to be writing again, back with my little dysfunctional family of devils.  I love them so much, and I’m so eager to see where this sequel takes them.  And I thought now would be a fun time to talk about what their world looks like, and what to expect from them.

When I started writing the first novel, Saints was just one book with possible sequels.  I had no idea where it might go, just that I had a story to tell and characters to play with.  The very last sentence of the first book is a massive cliffhanger, though, so I knew I had to figure out how big the arc of this story was.  I’ve read a few duologies recently, and I really like the feel of them, so I decided to give that a go for Saints.

It worked marvelously.  The story arc that we follow with the Saints is meant for two books.  Almost everything will tie up neatly at the end, with the villains dead and our heroes(?) will have survived to see another sunrise (most of them, HAHAHAHA).  Almost everything, you ask?  Well, when I was editing the first Saints book the first time around, I had this little thought–hm, wouldn’t it be fun to see Henry and Cole on their own?

And alas, Saints at sea was born.  I’m still referring to them as Saints because they are, technically, still Saints, but I’m adding on a little addendum to the new stories that will be created in this world–hence at sea.  So, at the end of Saints 2, after a lot of death and violence and destruction, when the dust has settled and our beloved Saints have returned to their black house with the red door, Henry and Cole will start preparing to leave.  Somewhere in the middle of Saints 2, they start talking about leaving the city, the island even, but, by the end, they’re not alone.

Sam, Landon’s youngest brother, has also had just about enough of Obera.  He wants out badly.  He doesn’t want to be live in their old family home and let the terrible memories there haunt him for the rest of his life.  He’s just started rekindling the once-broken relationship with his other siblings, too, so he asks Henry if he can tag along, and that, really, is the beginning of it all.

I don’t want to give much more away of who ends up joining Henry and Cole on their adventure out to sea, but there are a few others key characters from the Saints duology that will be going with them.  And don’t worry, there is an actual plot besides these boys gallivanting around on a ship through the ocean, but I’m not telling about that, either, because it’s exciting.

I’ve been really amped up about the Saints at sea series, though.  Because it is definitely going to be a series.  Probably more than a duology, and I can’t say for sure that it’ll only be a trilogy–I don’t know.  I only have a basic plot going for it right now, but once I’m finished writing Saints 2, I’m definitely sitting down to get it all figured out.

But this world has the potential to be so big.  The only space that I’ve really investigated is the city of Obera.  Sure, in the first Saints book, they travel through the Dying Lands (a desert that stretches for miles, and that everyone is terrified of), and end up in Exis (a city that is bordered on the northeast by the Dying Lands and the south by the Vast Sea, about a two-day journey from Obera if you go through the desert at a ridiculous, almost nonstop pace) for a small amount of time, but there’s so much more to play with.  There are four cities on the island–Obera, basically the capital and where we spend most of our time, Exis, Ithicarr, and Vrakk.  Beyond that, you’ve got the very mysterious Black Mountains (actually black!), White Cliffs of Ioth (oh yeah, think the Cliffs of Dover), the Dying Lands, and Ashwood.  And that’s just the island.  There are two other islands, which they consider the “border” islands since it’s kind of impossible to get to the actual island without encountering one of these.  There’s the Vast Sea, which is aptly named because people who leave very rarely come back.  Whether you’re gobbled up by pirates or just lost in this vast, unending sea, it’s a tough place to navigate.  But beyond the Vast Sea?  Oh man, oh man, oh man.  So much!

So, I got to thinking.  It would be super fun to not only explore more of the island, but more of the world.

And that is about where Saints: seer edition comes in.

Truthfully, right now, at sea and seer edition are the only two other ideas that I have, but big things are happening, guys.  I have a very, very small idea to write about Wesley’s mother (she lived on the other side of the Vast Sea and traveled with pirates), and possibly something in Ithicarr or Vrakk that probably takes place in the past.

But seers!  There’s a ton of magic in the Saints universe (I’m going to start calling it the Saintsverse soon, watch out), but seers are a staple in all cities.  They do all sorts of different things–palmistry, tarot, crystal ball gazing, herbal remedies, you name it, they probably do it.  Our very first chapter of Saints 2 is a new character, Corra, who is the daughter of a seer and one herself.  In Saints, they visit a seer, Ruya, who helps save Miles’s life (WHAT).  There’s talk of so many others in Exis, and then Corra’s chapter just cracks open their world in Obera.  So, I thought, why not?  Let’s take Ruya, and her gang of wild women, split a novel in half with Val the Destroyer, an actual leader of a hellcat (motorcycle) gang, and tell the tale of Exis.

BAM.

It’s gonna be crazy.  Exis, already, is probably the wildest, weirdest city on the island, and this is just going to be badass.  I’m toying with the idea of throwing it into the past and talking about before the cathedral gets burned down and while Miles still lives in the city, but not sure yet.  All I know is that Ruya and Val will definitely be in it, possibly Corra if it happens in the present or future, and that it’s going to probably be a standalone.  If not, a duology.  The seer edition story doesn’t have a huge plot arc in my head already, so I’m imagining it will be short.

And while I’ve only got two post-Saints ideas going right now, I expect more to come.  This world is so big, and has the potential to birth so many different stories.  I can’t wait to dig into it after Saints 2 and really see what it has to offer.  I always thought Ronan’s epic tale would be the story, but I think it might be shaping up to be my devils.

Get ready.  They’re coming for you.