The Final Gauntlet Author Commentary continues with a look at the intriguing character of Annabelle Waterhouse. SPOILER WARNING is in full effect as I will be talking about events in the novel, including the very end of the book!

Who is Annabelle Waterhouse?

By the time I reached The Final Gauntlet, I knew I had to answer the question posed at the beginning of the trilogy. Who is the doormaker?

The question wasn’t obvious from the first instance, but it stuck in my mind enough that I fleshed it out more in Book 2. The opening scene of The Gifts of Kali originally had no shadowy dame running off. It was merely the gunrunners finding the door with Shiva.

That needed to change, but in what way?

The edits during Kali really fleshed out my starting point for this book. I had an answer, of a sort, in the form of a young red-haired woman. But who the hell was she?

Annabelle Waterhouse didn’t come fully formed. Part of her was pulled from the images I had snuck into the previous books. The full picture didn’t focus until I had my bad guys: the Daughters of Salem.

She really pulled from their story, and that was intentional. They grew organically together. The Daughters from pure menace to possible sympathetic villains, and Annabelle from this vague misshapen walking accident to someone trying to find herself.

It was that notion of trying to find herself that made her click in my eyes. That was the entire purpose of this trilogy: Soriya’s journey to become the Greystone. Her way. Self-discovery was crucial to each of the three books, and Annabelle fed right into that.

The parent connection

Annabelle’s search for her parents brought a deliberate wrinkle to the narrative. It came early and I tried to make it prominent in the early stages of her time with Soriya. I needed that connection between them at the forefront.

Why, you ask?

Oh, no reason. None at all. Just a little something called foreshadowing for Greystone Book 8, 9, and 10… That’s all.

I know it’s silly to be planting seeds at the end of a trilogy. It should be about closing doors, not opening new ones. But the moment was there and I took it. I had to. Soriya’s parentage has been an open question mark since the very start of the series. It has to be addressed, so when the chance is there to mention it, I go for it.

Connection to the Daughters of Salem

This was a little more tenuous. I left it vague for a reason. Were the Daughters telling the truth when they tried to convince Annabelle to open their door? Was Annabelle’s mother really one of them way back when, and therefore a victim of circumstance?

That’s not how I saw it, but I didn’t see the need to answer those questions definitively. Better to leave some wiggle room in case an opportunity arises in the future. Never let it be said that I won’t string you along if there’s a chance at an Annabelle versus the Daughters sequel somewhere down the line.

Final moments

I honestly thought about ending the novel with Soriya. It’s always her story and should stay with her.

But Annabelle was calling for one last scene. Like the others in this book, she needed a closing moment–even one as open-ended as this one.

She predicts her return to the city. That was on me. Those were my predictions more than hers, I’ll admit. Annabelle’s story isn’t finished. All that power in her and we let her hide in a cabin in the woods until the end of time?

No way.

Annabelle Waterhouse has a HUGE role to play in the main series. I promise you that.

I loved writing her character in this book, and the strength she came to own at the end. Where she goes from here will astonish you.

Next time:

Saying goodbye to Urg and Eddie.

Thanks for reading.