Masquerade: Behind the Masks

Before Thicker Than Blood’s release this August I mentioned a masquerade scene within the book. This scene was one of my favorites to plan and write for the book. I’m finally fulfilling my promise and writing a post about it. The main reason I wanted to talk more about it was because these scene also required some research and more elaborate planning than your normal scene might. Without further ado, let’s find out what’s behind Alaire’s mask and others. (Don’t worry though no spoilers.)

The thought behind the masquerade scene was actually inspired by the dance scene in Cursed With Power. Celestria and Alaire first dance in a ballroom, then in Shadows and Embers Leal and Rahela share a dance at one of Esmour’s parties. There is also an additional dancing scene in the second book, but I am unable to reveal it due to it involving spoilers. If you’ve read the book, however, you know which one I am referring to. Finally after these scenes I realized this could be parallels in the series. Each book have a unique dance scene that somehow affects the main character. And thus the masquerade scene came to life for Thicker Than Blood.

My favorite part about working on the masquerade scene was exploring creativity options. Masks, dresses, and even planning out who would be dancing was all part of the work. During the time when I started planning the scene and later on writing it for the first time, I posted several inspirational pictures of masks on CWP’s Facebook page. Personally I cannot wait to hear reader’s reactions to how the scene turned out.

Finally the most important part about these dancing scenes in the series is that they are important. They need to impact both the character(s) and the reader otherwise it might seem like unnecessary fill in material. The ballroom scene in CWP was definitely something that came to me in the later revisions. When I finally did add it into the book I loved how much more it added to the plot and also the characters’ depth. In SandE the dancing scenes fit in nicely and also played an important role yet again. Lastly in TTB the opportunity presented itself again. If the scene would not fit in the novel, however, I definitely would not try to force. While I’m working on the fourth book now a dancing scene is the furthest thing from my mind. It’d be interesting if it was able to sneak its way in, but we won’t know until it’s finished.

If you’re interested to read more about the masquerade, and find out who wore what mask, pick up Thicker Than Blood. Also, I’ll leave links for both Cursed With Power and Shadows and Embers. SandE has also recently been added on Barnes and Noble’s website, so now the entire series is available on there as well. I will be posting again in the upcoming days with more, but until then enjoy the start of fall and find a good book to read.

Lindsey R. Sablowski