I’m going to go way back to before I started drafting Rose’s story. 
When I pitched this series of novellas, the vision never wavered. I wanted to start with the older sister’s perspective of the magical past of her family. Then, I wanted to explore her sister’s point of view. I wanted my readers to have the background of the Barros’ women’s present before diving into the past.

At first, one of my lovely critique partners hesitated about this. She suggested I started with Pear’s story, but, I couldn’t budge. The reasons for Pearl doing what she did wouldn’t be clear until you already knew the future. At every stage of the process, this was always my mindset. Sometimes projects write themselves a certain way, and who am I to get in the way of creative inspiration?

When it came time to sit down and write Pearl’s story, I wanted to start with two instances of her life changing to start the book. I had already created a small town which readers loved, and I wanted to get Pearl there as soon as possible. But, there had to be some understanding of where Pearlina came from. She wasn’t always the mother we knew from the first two books, and she came from a place not like The Burrow. I loved exploring that part of her past, and I hope that readers do too.
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I went back and read through Rose and Reen’s stories (something I rarely do after publication) to make sure I had all questions answered and loose ends tied up. There was a strict deadline for Pearl’s visit on land which helped focus the outline and then it all came together. Out of all the books, this one was the easiest to write. Maybe because I had already created her future while drafting and revising the first books, or the fact that I had the opportunity to get more into the fantasy aspect which I always enjoy writing.