Canada Day, eh?

Happy Canada Day to those of you who are Canadian, like myself, or who are maple-leaf-inclined or aligned! And also a big happy Fourth of July to my friends in the USA! And, of course, just like last year and every year before it, the Fourth of July is also my birthday. 

Birthdays often bring thoughts of one’s own mortality upon witnessing the passage of yet another year. It is at this time that some people wonder how their decisions over the course of their life have affected their overall karmic balance. Interestingly, this leads us directly to a question I wanted to address from a reader on Goodreads.  

They asked, “Is Thomas Sinclair a Karma Houdini?” That is a great question, and I always appreciate them. Of course, you don’t need to go through Goodreads to reach me. You can always drop me a line with any questions or comments at katie@katieberry.ca.  

Back to the topic at hand. For those who are unfamiliar, a Karmic Houdini is a character in a story who repeatedly escapes the consequences of their actions. Much like in real life, the bad guy sometimes gets away with things and dodges accountability.

Longtime readers will know that karma plays a big part in my stories. I believe that what a character does, either good or bad, should echo through their arc and affect not only their lives but the characters around them. Most of the antagonists in my novels do get their just desserts, eventually. Sometimes it’s within the current novel, but other times, the threads of a character’s story are left deliberately loose, as with Thomas Sinclair. If you’ve read the Abandoned series, you know his story thread doesn’t stop at the end of CLAW Emergence Book 3: Return to Darkness. 

There are other examples of characters not escaping their karma in the Lively Deadmarsh series, as well, since they are part of the same shared universe. Sadly, if I were to say anything more at this point, it might spoil your surprise upon reading ABANDONED II: Continuum. Generally speaking, if I don’t resolve a character’s arc within one of my novels, it will be resolved at some point across the greater connected universe. So no, there are no true Karma Houdinis in the Berryverse—only stories still unfolding.

In light of what happens to Kitty, Sandy, and Doctor Brown at the end of CLAW Emergence: Return to Darkness, the reader also wondered whether there would be more after Book 3. Would the story continue, or would it be an all-new adventure? Well, the answer is both yes and no.

Thomas Sinclair’s thread has not yet played out; he is still spinning his little web of deceit in the background (see the ABANDONED series for further information). And though our trio from 1895 Lawless may have exciting adventures abroad, they will still be part of a greater story connected to not only Emergence but also the present-day CLAW series, making the stories both old and new. There will be several altogether, which I am looking forward to tackling in the near future.

Speaking of the present-day CLAW series, Resurrection is getting EVEN CLOSER to release! I would now say we are talking somewhere around late August, if things continue to progress smoothly in my non-writing life—so, fingers crossed. And for those of you who haven’t read the CLAW Emergence series yet, what are you waiting for? Reading it will make Resurrection even more enjoyable and answer more of those nagging questions. But that being said, if you haven’t read the prequel, you will still enjoy CLAW Resurrection, and, I believe, have a monstrously good time doing so.

Now, onto this month’s DOUBLE audiobook winners. I have once again forgone the autographed paperback this month due to the unresolved issues at Canada Post. So this month’s two lucky winners of an audiobook of their choice are teriarledge@XXXXXX.com, and meson_reflex.0m@XXXXXX.com. Congratulations to you both!

Once again, a happy birthday to one and all. I will see you again next month with an even more accurate release date for CLAW Resurrection.

Good health and great reads to you all,

-Katie B