I don't think too many people are reading this yet, but if you are, welcome!
For months, I've been very open that Amber's character is based on me and that Foothills was actually supposed to be her story, with Michael's, Ellen's, and Ben's chapters cropping up once in a while. As the books continue, the characters are separated from each other more, which is why added points of view were included in the first book, which I know now was a mistake.
Plus, I live for books with extra perspectives and don't mind many of them. A book series I've been reading for years usually has about eight to twelve in each book, so I admit I was a little shocked to see that people felt I was using too many since the series I am reading and many others I've read usually have a lot, and I enjoy it, especially if it's a background character who is just as interesting as the main ones. Many of the books I read are popular, so I truly thought having many points of view was common. I genuinely apologize to readers for adding so many because I felt that adding other perspectives also helps with showing instead of telling. It's why I chose to give Ellen perspectives on her visions as opposed to her telling everyone what she saw each time. I'm kind of struggling with the third book because there is a lot of telling about what Jerry was up to at Foothills. I would have preferred to give readers the food fight chapter, so I put it at the back of the book.
These books were originally supposed to have just four points of view at the most, with sometimes a background character cropping up in later books. Jerry was meant to have chapters because I wanted to keep the school tied in when the main characters leave Foothills. So what changed? Usually, when I want to get writing tips, I read through the negative reviews on books I've read to see what to avoid, and one of the main complaints I saw was about self-insert characters, and I panicked. So, I rewrote most of the first and second books with other points of view to switch Amber's with others. This was back when I wasn't open about Amber's origin, and so I worried about getting the self-insert complaint. Now I don't care because I don't want readers to think I condone bullying.
Many of Ellen's and Michael's chapters in the first book were originally Amber's, and Sierra's chapters were all Amber's at one point. Most of Ben's were always his, but some of his were Amber's too. I'd say eighty percent of the chapters in the first book were Amber's originally.
Carly and Rachel were originally meant to have one chapter each in the first book, but no one else outside the foursome. Rachel's chapter was meant for foreshadowing about the switched parents bit, and I didn't want to use the main characters since they don't find out until later in the book. Although, in the original story, Carly died when the dark magic wielders showed up, and Sierra showed on New Years covered in blood, and most of Amber's family except the parents rejected her, until Amber convinced them to let her stay. Carly got a reprieve when I decided to write in her head. As I was able to soften myself to Carly, I decided to do the same with Sierra too, and it's why three of Amber's chapters became Sierra's instead. The only chapter Sierra was meant to have was in the second book.
Jared, Amber's boyfriend, was never meant to have a point of view, but I changed one of Ben's to his just to not write blood and gore through a child's eyes.
Since I wrote it, obviously, I can't see why people struggle to understand who is narrating since I know the book and characters so well, but I believe after reading a few reviews, I've figured out the problem. The reason the characters mainly sound the same is that most of those chapters were Amber's first, with some changes to make it Michael's or Ellen's. The majority of Ellen's outside her visions were Amber's.
I can't really do much about it now, but the third book is written with mainly Amber's, with the other characters' chapters their original chapters, so I am hoping people won't struggle to identify the narrator in the third and fourth books. Plus, the characters won't be together as much. In the fourth book, they'll be separated once they leave Foothills with their own missions.
I've been rereading some of my favourite series that have many perspectives and have studied how those authors write them, so I am hoping that will help.
However, I apologize to readers for not only changing Amber's chapters but for not changing them enough. It honestly bothers me I didn't do it properly enough that people have to go back to the start of the chapter because it means people aren't enjoying the story. I know if I was reading a book that I was stopping to go back to the start of the chapter often, it means I am not enjoying the story because it's taking me out of the story. I've wanted to write these characters into a book since I was a child when I created them, and I worry I'm not doing them justice.
As I've said before, Amber's bullying experiences are my own, and the fae realm is a fictionalized environment I grew up in with a similar attitude that bullying toughens you up. I wanted my book to show people with that mindset that they are wrong but also to show others like me they aren't alone. But by adding the other perspectives, it has ruined people's reading experience. Not only that but making the decision to make them sound young makes people not want to read the first book or to continue the series. So that's another regret.
I don't plan to take it down again like I did with Zartoto to give it a makeover, but there are times when I feel I should, so I might do special editions in the future if I can find all of Amber's original chapters to see if the first book would have worked better with her perspective mainly.
I reduced Ellen's chapters and Ben's in the third, and I will do the same in the fourth. Jerry, Ellen's brother, was meant to have a bigger role in the books, but I will be putting his chapters in one of the special editions I plan to write. Mason was also supposed to have a bigger role, so he will also get a section in the special edition. The special editions will always be free to download at the back of the fourth book.
They contain spoilers, so I'll be putting bookfunnel links for them on social media and in the back of the books. However, I never want anyone to feel like the books are a cash grab, so anything new added after the fourth book is published will always be free. This series isn't popular, and I highly doubt it will ever be because of the first book, but I still don't want anyone to think I am doing this for page reads or more money. The chapters I'm adding to it would probably be considered filler. It's just meant as a gift for the readers who do like my books.
I have to be honest, I don't know what filler is. I just write everything that I think of for the story for myself, and while a lot of sections feel like it could have been taken out, I honestly don't know which ones because anything I added I felt was important. I didn't add them for page reads because the first two books were written before I even decided to publish, and when I did decide to publish, it's when the first book got a makeover to change Amber's chapters. I just wrote something I'd like to read until people advised me to publish my stories to show Amber's story because I am very open about how much I hate bullying.