THE DESCENDANTS Series by Destiny Hawkins
Get a behind-the-scenes all-access pass to Destiny Hawkins' THE DESCENDANTS series!
This series is a gripping dark fantasy where a powerless girl must survive in a society that doesn't accept the weak...or the defective.
All books are related by the connection of Rayah and Carmen.
This is a series about the two girls and how they survive in their dystopian nation.
The first three are focused on Rayah! Now, it’s time to work on the fourth!
What is the sub-genre and trope? Did your characters lead you to this genre or was that decided before the story began?
The subgenres are dystopian, fantasy, romance, scifi, and young adult. This was decided before the characters were made.
Are you more character or plot driven?
I am both character and plot driven, but I will say that I enjoy creating the characters more. I believe the plot is only as good as its characters.
With many main and secondary characters, how do you keep them separated in your mind? Do you have a story/vision board above your workspace?
Honestly, each character has a backstory that makes them who they are so it’s fairly easy to separate them.
There’s no way I could confuse Sandra, our bully, with Lithaly, our free spirit.
I know from previous interviews that characters take on a life of their own. Were any of the characters in this series determined to take their own direction instead of where you initially wanted them to go?
Well, Rayah is starting to become a character I really didn’t expect, but I love her even more for it.
Are any of the male POVs based on anyone you know?
No males based on anyone specific.
Are any of the female POVs based on anyone you know?
No females based on anyone specific.
Was there any one character/scene that was harder to write about than the other?
Yes! Artemis is a character I have trouble writing with. He is our antagonist, and he is ruthless.
What is your favorite book in the series?
Book Three! But I just finished it and it is not yet published.
I know that we aren’t supposed to have “favorites” as far as our children, but seriously, who’s your favorite character and why?
My favorites are Rayah and Carmen, the two main characters.
They are both my favorite because although they both have different struggles, they find a way to move forward, even if they have two different ideas of what forward is.
Series question - Who is your favorite couple and why did you decide on their dynamics?
I can’t say my favorite couple yet! Once readers get to book three, they’ll know who that will be!
How do you get inside these character’s heads to find their perfect HEA?
I give them backstories that are traumatic, for the most part.
These characters have to learn from those experiences and grow from them.
Both will create their HEA how they perceive happily ever after.
What scene in this book/series sticks out the most for you? Why?
In book two of the series, when Rayah is finally given a hint of what her powers are and what she is, she finds that she is still unhappy with herself.
Her powers are both beautiful and unique, but they don’t fit the standards of the nation she is living in, therefore she could never truly be who she is.
This is something she struggles with though a lot of the series, but she’ll grow to understand herself and what she wants for her life.
Series - Were any of the books harder to write than others?
The third book was the hardest because of the major scenes. I decided not to hold back.
This question is if you write in MULTIPLE POVs not just the hero and heroine - I love the multiple POVs in a book. It’s not just the hero and heroine, but we get inside the heads of multiple characters throughout this series. I feel that it gives the story further depth. Do you think you will write another book or series following this multiple POV outline?
Well, as many know, kindle vella is a thing now!
Once I have them up and running, each story will be about the side characters while still aligning with the series.
How long did it take you to write this book/series?
It took five years for the first three books! Keep in mind book three is not yet released!
How did you come up with the title for your book and series?
I came up with The Descendants Series, because it is about how things are passed down.
Powers, heritage, personality traits, abuse, wisdom, love, and more!
It isn’t just about magic in this series, but about how all of these things are passed down in a society with inhumane rules. These characters then grow to become who they want to become.
If you met these characters in real life would you get along?
I would get along with Soren! He’s the fresh air of the series.
Did you know in advance that you were going to write this as a series or did one of the characters in book one demand their own story?
I was aware from the beginning that this would be a two character story.
Can you give us a hint as to what we can expect next? Whether a new book and series or a sequel to an existing series? Can you share a small tease?
Look forward to many books in this series!
We will be following the characters through their lives and into grown a$$ adulthood.
Watch how these girls grow and what it takes for them to be the best Lighters they can be.
Bio:
Her favorite genres to read and work in are Fantasy, LGBT, Paranormal, Romance, Dystopian, Sci-fi, and young adult.
She's been a writer since she was nine years old, with Caged being her very first novel, and she has more to come!!!
Much...much more.
GoodReads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8641987.Destiny_Hawkins
BookBub:
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/destiny-hawkins
Newsletter Sign-Up:
https://www.subscribepage.com/thedescendantsseries
Check out my interview with Destiny Hawkins
https://readingbydeb.blogspot.com/2021/08/interview-with-destiiny-hawkins.html#more
Blurb:
Fail the tests and become a slave. Display defectiveness and be put to death.
Monroe Academy was built to separate the weak from the strong.
Pass the biyearly leveling and be released into society upon graduation.
Fail to be promoted and be stripped of rank and forced into servitude.
That was a rule that applied to all but Rayah Bardeau.
A student of Monroe Academy, branded as a Null because of her absence of Lighter energy.
With her mother standing as a slave in her place, Rayah was given until the age of twenty to make level six, but at nineteen-years-old and with only eight months until her twentieth birthday, she was only a mere level one.
The same level she’s been since she was ten.
With the stress of her upcoming test, the loss of a friend, and the constant wrongdoings towards her, Rayah could only dream of escaping from Lytonia, and escape she did.
Only, when she awakened in her dorm, she couldn’t distinguish if she had only dreamt of meeting Soren, a wild and adventurous defect in the Wild Lands, or if she had somehow used her Lighter Form to get there.
But only the elite ― the most powerful of Lighters ― could tap into their Lighter Forms.
Right?
And what was the dark energy she used when she and Soren were attacked by Depleters?
Was Rayah really as powerless as she thought?
Was she a defect?
And if she used dark energy, could she call herself a Lighter at all?
Content Advisory:
The following book contains vivid depictions of violence and death. Reader discretion is advised.
Blurb:
She was given a second chance to prove that she could fall in line, but with her lack of power, that would be impossible.
Rayah's entire life, she'd always been different from everyone else, and in Lytonia, being different was treated as a crime, but in her case, she was granted a pass.
In only a few months, she had to present her abilities to the council and prove to them that she was worthy of walking the halls of Monroe Academy, but Artemis, her tormentor and superior officer, would stop at nothing to keep her from excelling.
Being powerless and not proving herself meant that she would be transitioned into a slave, and Artemis would become her master.
What Rayah realized was that she wasn't as powerless as she thought.
For weeks she had been able to do things that only the elite lighters could do, and even though this meant that she was strong, it made her more different than she could have ever imagined.
Rayah went from being weak to possibly being as strong as a God's Daughter, and she couldn’t tell anyone.
The standard colors of a Lytonians powers are white, royal blue, and turquoise blue.
Hers were black…
THE UNBROKEN (Book Three)
Coming Soon!
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