I was thinking about this the other day…but I seem to have a thing for pretty dresses and balls in fantasy!
In Son of the Siren, Lirien and Kitra are invited (er, ordered) to attend the Midnight Revel, an outdoor ball held by the fae rulers of Autumn Wood. Lirien and Kitra get outfitted (including hair and makeup!) by a quirky giantess named Bella Morgana, the master seamstress for the fae. They end up looking beautiful, but it’s not all fun at the ball–dangerous games are afoot.
I’m wrapping up The Name and the Key and also have a ball–this time, a masquerade. A quirky costumier named Roland Archduke, whom the Mariner Opera Palace employs, rents a pair of themed costumes to Lily. Lily is the Sun, and Andresh is the Moon, which fits the Celestial Ball perfectly. The two end up looking beautiful, but it’s not all fun at the ball–bad things happen to Andresh and Lily has to come to his rescue.
Um…lots of similarities there. I wonder how forgiving readers are when they read back-to-back books from the author and they contain a large element like that…does that kind of repetition annoy them? Does that become part of the author’s identity or genre oeuvre?
I love costumes. It’s a big reason why I did ballet and theater for years, and why I cosplay now. It seemed inevitable that it would show up in my writing. I’m just surprised it’s appearing twice. Heck, it might even appear in The Step and the Walk (book two of The Name and the Key trilogy). I mean, wasn’t a ball historically the main way people socialized, entertained, and partnered up? This seems to be my thing.
I sure hope my readers won’t mind!
Kristina Elyse Butke 
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