With Tangled Knots, I've reached a milestone in this series based on the All Souls Trilogy. In Deborah Harkness's second novel, Jack Blackfriars is an eight-year-old child in Elizabethan England. He reappears in the third novel as a young adult who's been a vampire for over 400 years. The author sketched in a few details of his life, but left most of it a mystery for us to speculate about. And that's what I've been doing for the past 18 stories. It's now time to merge the timelines!
In Tangled Knots, I cover Jack's reunion with Diana and Matthew as well as the events leading up to it and what happens afterward. As with Jack's early history, much of what I describe is fresh territory. The novels are written from Diana's perspective. When she returns with Matthew to the present, she first becomes aware of Jack when he shows up in New Haven. But the years before New Haven were the most difficult in Jack's life. I felt they needed to be included despite the painfulness of the topic. Much more enjoyable was spending time with Jack, Marcus, and Matthew in New Orleans. I also get to feature Gallowglass and Ransome Fayrweather, Marcus's oldest son.
Throughout the series, I've made it a personal challenge to remain true to canon while also allowing Jack to experience love. Weaving his relationship with Leonard into canon events in The Book of Life was particularly thorny. Diana mentions Leonard briefly. Could I fit the canon treatment into my AU? I gave it my best shot and I hope it makes sense for those of you who have read the novels.
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