Thank you to all the readers out there who have taken a chance on my books. Thank you for picking up this series. I know that your time and energy are valuable and you chose to spend a little of that on me. I write because I have to. But you read because you choose to. And your support has enabled me to make a career of writing. This has provided for my family, allowed me to tell stories and experience endless moments of joy.
I’m writing these author notes for this book, Defects, to you almost ten years after publishing this book. The reason for this is that I’ve had a wonderful career as an author, and now have the opportunity to look back. These days, readers enjoy the insights I provide in my author notes at the end of the books. I didn’t always give those little peeks into my life, so I thought, why not do that for you now.
The Reverians was the second series I ever wrote. This book was the 3rd one. I’ve now written over 120 books in over 16 different series. I had no idea at the time that I’d go on to write so many characters and stories. And now looking back, I realize, I never really had a choice. I’m the servant of the creative mind. The compelled storyteller. The one who can’t rest as long as a tale needs to be told.
Since writing this much loved series, I’ve written others that are very dear to my heart. I’ve also written out of desperation, trying to simply make money. That never really worked very well. I didn’t start to really “make it” as an author until I believed in myself and wrote from my heart.
I’ve been blessed to craft a very popular universe known as the Beaufonts. That helped me immensely. But please know, the Reverians, was 100% written from the heart. It was only that I didn’t have the time, energy, knowledge or money to make it a big success at the time, although it’s had its share of praises. And it’s different than my newer series. It’s darker. It’s dystopian. It’s raw. And I love it in a way that I can’t say the same about for my newer books.
The characters in the Reverians are flawed in ways I’d never allow in the Beaufont world. There’s death. There’s wicked deceit. There’s tragedy. But with all that comes much bigger highs too.
I remember distinctly the inspiration that started the Reverians. I’ve always loved politics and dystopian. At the time, I felt very trapped in my own life. I didn’t feel lied to, like our dear Em Fuller, but I did think that I’d lied to myself. So, I wrote about a woman who raced through the woods, trying to find the truth and a better life. And at night, in my real life, I did the same, putting on my running shoes and setting off in the dark. It took me a long time to figure things out. It will take Em a long time to do the same in Austin Valley.
I hope you continue to the next book, Rebels. I wrote this series to have so many levels of depth. There’s symbolism in so many aspects of the books. The characters are meant to represent strong archetypes. The politics is meant to make commentary on our own society. We love and we fear rebels. That’s the absolute truth.
Looking back, I feel much like Em. I couldn’t shortcut it to the successful books. I had to carve my writers career through the different series, exploring my voice, finding the truth. And that truth obviously changes as we do. As we grow and learn.
I hope you keep reading about Em as she becomes a new person over this series. And I hope you continue with me as a writer, seeing how I’ve changes as I’ve written. I’m not close to being done after 120 books. And that is simply because there is always another evolution. We are human. We are meant to change, to explore and then to tell those stories.
I hope you enjoy my stories.
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Sarah Noffke