Raintree: Sanctuary (Raintree Trilogy #3) Book

War with their archrival, the evil Ansara clan, is unavoidable. For Mercy Raintree, a war means she must assume her position as guardian of the Sanctuary--the sacred Raintree home place deep in the Smoky Mountains. But doing so threatens to disclose her most prized secret--one Mercy has kept to herself for six years.

As the solstice looms and the battle heats up, Dranir Judah Ansara gathers his forces, intending to wipe every Raintree from the face of the land. Including Mercy, whom he's claimed as his to kill. Then he comes face-to-face with her--and with her daughter, Eve. Will Mercy's closely guarded secret change not only the outcome of the battle--but also Judah's own bitter heart?

This trilogy was five-years in the making. What started as, more a less, a creative lark for the three of us soon became a creative adventure that in the end bordered on a creative obsession. Since we were not contracted to write these books, we had the freedom to do whatever we wanted with these fantastic people--two ancient races with incredible powers, the "good" Raintree and the "evil" Ansara. For lack of a better way to explain their supernatural powers, we refer to them as wizards. Linda Howard coined the phrase that is found on the back cover of these books: There have always been those among us who are more than human.

From the beginning, one thing was understood--that each of us had authority over her own book, the plot and the characters, so long as everything fit within the basic framework of the overall "big picture." Considering the fact that each of us has a strong personality, it is a miracle that we seldom disagreed about anything concerning our Raintree books. It was as if we each instinctively knew when something was right or when it was not.

I think our being good friends who respect one another was a key factor in the success of this trilogy, as well as the fact that we went into this project as equals. During the process of planning, plotting and writing, we each voiced our opinions and jointly decided on each aspect of the basis plot thread that was woven throughout the three novels.

Somewhere along the way we realized that these three stories would have to be told simultaneously, so each story runs from Sunday or early Monday to the following Sunday. This meant we had to share a timeline and check on any phoneconversations or secondary character interactions. Man, did we burn up the e-mail on this one! Of course, since the stories are so closely related it meant a few in-person brainstorming sessions, which was not exactly a chore. Plotting and planning is usually done alone, so this was a new experience. While writers are usually control freaks - yes, even us - this shared plotting was a lot of fun. I suppose it might've been less fun if we hadn't agreed on so many aspects, but when something was right we all knew it.

When it came to the overall story which runs through all three books, nothing significant could be written without checking with two other writers. It's amazing how details that seem so small can rise up to impact someone else's story, so it was always best to check with the others. At the same time, each romance is uniquely our own, written in our own styles and with out own types of characters.

Between the necessary interaction and trying to work around three busy schedules, it's a wonder this project only took five years.

Okay, we'll confess: the project took five years because our "research" trips (to casinos, to the mountains -- multiple times) were so much fun. Yes, we actually worked on the project on each of those trips, but it seems logical that our brains would need to rest while we communed with the neon one-armed bandits. Right? After all, the first book was set in a casino. And the last book was set in the mountains. I can't believe we didn't manage a trip to the beach . . .

We're delighted that Silhouette Nocturne let us share our adventures with you and hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Linda Howard Raintree: Inferno - May
Linda Winstead Jones Raintree: Haunted - June
Beverly Barton Raintree: Sanctuary - July