Blog Tour-Restraint by Randi Cooley Wilson

I’m brushing my teeth when Asher swaggers into the bathroom. He leans his hip against the counter and just watches me. It’s starting to freak me out. I squint at him before spitting.

     “Can I help you?”

     “Huh?” he asks.

     “You’re staring.” I tip my toothbrush at him.

     “Am I?” He tilts his head to the side and crosses his arms.

     I spit one last time and start my flossing routine and gargle my mouth rinse, all while Asher just stands there, observing me. Seriously, what’s he doing?

     “Curious about dental care?”

     “Curious about you,” he shoots back.

     “Okay.”

     He shrugs. “I like watching you do normal, everyday things.”

     I blink. “Did you get clocked in training today?”

     “No.” He slides his hands into the pockets of his pajama bottoms. “Want to have a sleep over?”

     “Sleepover?” I repeat, less than enthused.

      “Pajamas, pillow fights, gossip. You know, sleepover,” he clarifies, like I’m an idiot.

      I sigh. “You’re freaking me out. What the hell is going on?”

      He reaches for me and grabs the hem of my tank top, pulling me towards him. I stumble a bit and have to place my hands on his shoulders for balance as he tugs me closer. “I want you in my bed tonight. I was hoping you’d fall asleep in my arms.” His eyes lock onto mine.

Guest Post by Randi Cooley Wilson:

How do you go about your research for your world building?

Creating The Worlds Within The Revelation Series (Revelation and Restraint)
If you’re an avid reader, like myself, then you know the importance of good worldbuilding. Fictional universes are more than just the ‘setting’ of a story, they’re the foundation that supports the storyline. Worldbuilding, especially in paranormal and urban fantasy books, have to create an imaginary background with coherent qualities that push the realm of what we consider normal, yet still allow the reader to believe the world could in fact, exist.
As an author, I design my worlds using a combination of the top-down and the bottom-up approaches. First, I create a general overview of the worlds using broad characteristics and then I develop the rest of the fictional universe in detail. After each realm is created, I then use a bottom-up approach, where I focus on a small part of the world that’s needed for a certain scene. This allows me to write in great detail about the realm and have the characters be well-integrated within the backdrop.
Whether it’s a bench under a tree on a college campus, a particular room in a home used for character dialogue, or the Fae Kingdom, each backdrop is created with detail, as well as, time and location accuracy.

I did a lot of research for the worlds in The Revelation Series. Since this storyline is filled with a new type of supernatural protector and bad guys yet to really be explored within the genre, I had to do my homework. That included discovery on: gothic architecture, regional dialects and lifestyles, as well as, topography and geographical landscape.
While the series takes place in contemporary time, there are tons of paranormal abilities such as: realm jumping, dream walking and astral projecting that the characters can do leading to new worlds. Once I had a handle on the regions and locations that all my protectors, supernatural creatures, and demons would have lived, or been created from, I then designed the worlds based off those locations using real-life information (land, scenery, plants, rocks, etc.) before incorporating them into each fictional world.
The goal for me in both Revelation and Restraint was to take the reader into new places with details that made sense to the storyline and characters. As a reader, you want to get lost in the story and immerse yourself in the fictional world created. For me, the constructed world within novels, if done well, can take you on a journey you never expected to experience. Hopefully this series, has and will do that for you. Happy reading.

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