I love writing trilogies. Beginning, middle, and end are each fully represented. My husband jokes that even when I try to write a standalone book it turns into a trilogy. When James Tuck and I were shopping Robin Hood, our agent was pitching it as a single novel. Titan, the publisher that snatched it up, asked if we could make it a trilogy instead. I was shocked. It was funny because I’d been telling my husband just a couple days before that he was wrong about me not being able to write a standalone. So, I had to go downstairs and tell him that Robin Hood was suddenly going to be a trilogy. He laughed so hard he ended up having a coughing fit. I just kept saying, “It’s not my fault! I tried!”

So, I love trilogies and, apparently, they love me. For me the perfect trilogy has always been the original Star Wars films which I saw when I was very little. I believe it sums up the arc beautifully. At the end of the first installment the good guys have to win a battle in the larger war. At the end of the second installment the good guys have to take some serious losses (lives, limbs, liberty, etc.) and/or discover horrible secrets (I am your father). Then the final installment has the good guys triumphing in the war, coming back and winning against incredible odds.

I bet some people are thinking, “But what about the Psalm 23 Mysteries, there are going to be 23 of those! So much for trilogies!”

Here’s where I let you in on a little secret. It is a trilogy. Books 1-7 are Part I. Book 7 ends on a high note with Geanie and Joseph getting married and Cindy and Jeremiah really starting to realize how much they care for each other. Everyone looks like they’re about to live happily ever after.

With the release of Book 16, Anointest My Head With Oil, we have the end of Part II (books 8-16). In these books Jeremiah’s secret identity is finally revealed as are the feelings between him and Cindy. The books end with a significant loss AND the realization that the worst is yet to come.

So, now we are about to embark upon Part III (books 17-23). The stakes are higher, the danger more intense, and the real enemy’s face finally revealed. In the original Star Wars trilogy the emperor was not seen in the first film. He was heard as part of a hologram in the second film. He was fully revealed and seen in the flesh in the third film.

So, what can readers expect of these last seven books? There will be highs and lows, victories and defeats, and much, much more as we race to the final showdown. Are you ready? Strap yourselves in!