Villi Asgeirsson

Drafting ideas...

Amsterdam

A Trilogy – Completed

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Origins: Blood and Rain
In 2013, as I was finishing Under the Black Sand – my debut novel – I started thinking about what to do next. I had proven I could write and complete a novel, it felt like quite the achievement and I wanted to try it again! Apply everything I had learned, avoid some of the pitfalls and detours Black Sand had presented.

Blood and Rain would be that next project. The criteria were simple:
Shorter than Black Sand.
Linear, no flashback hopping.
Nothing supernatural.

I suppose I still wasn’t quite ready to leave Iceland behind. Gunnar, the protagonist, was an Icelandic reporter. He was bored and as the Spanish Civil War broke out, he saw his path to glory open. Unsurprisingly, as he arrived in Barcelona, he was perfectly out of his depth.

Blood and Rain probably served as a training ground. My characters were deeper, the events were real, if stylised and modified for the story. I think my writing style was emerging. Short, to the point, as little fluff as possible. And let strong characters run the story.

And that’s when Celestina appeared. She began as a love interest, but refused to play the role. Her backstory would be revealed and deepened throughout the trilogy, but it already dictated her every move. She wouldn’t let herself be “paired off.” She had her own purpose. In the end, she almost took over the book.

From Barcelona to Amsterdam: Mont Noir
Mont Noir followed. I hadn’t planned a series, but Celestina demanded more space. Here, Gunnar – now calling himself Frank – lives in Amsterdam. It’s early 1939. Celestina is still a thorn in Franco’s side, and someone in the German administration decides she could be useful in triggering a limited war between Germany and the West. She’s flown to Berlin, then to Amsterdam.

Mont Noir is shorter, leaner, more to the point. I dare say I was honing my craft. It also introduced new characters. Lodewijk, the aging diplomat who returns in the final novel, and Marleen, the beautiful jazz singer.

The Question That Ended It All: A Sky Without Stars
I wasn’t planning to create a trilogy. The spark for A Sky Without Stars came when I visited the Verzetsmuseum (Resistance Museum) in Amsterdam. One of the first things they ask you as you enter is this:
Under occupation, there are three choices.
Adapt.
Resist.
Cooperate.
What would you do?

I think it was in that moment that I realised, the Frank and Celestina saga needed to be completed. I had been absolutely clear with myself. I will NOT write a World War Two novel. Ever! It’s overdone, and there have been so many tragic and beautiful stories, that I can’t possibly hope to compete in that space.

But the question lingered. Each of my characters would answer it differently. Frank had never been a hero. Would he adapt? How long could he get away with it? Lodewijk was a patriot, but would he risk others for his own safety? Celestina had left the Netherlands at the end of Mont Noir. Where was she now?

On 6 January 2023, as I was preparing the Mont Noir launch, I was sitting in a Dutch Air Force canteen in Soesterberg. I had a few hours to burn. I opened a new Scrivener document. I typed the first line. Then the next. Within a month – 7 February, to be exact – I had a complete first draft. The story came out fully formed. The characters made their choices. I simply watched and wrote.

Now that A Sky Without Stars is complete, two things stay with me. First, strong characters are everything. Once they live, they drive the story. Second, I’m convinced Sky is my most layered and emotionally mature novel. Not necessarily the most complex – that honour still belongs to the debut – but it’s the deepest. It even closes an arc first opened in Blood and Rain and never revisited until now.

This book truly ends the trilogy. It completes the arcs for Frank and Celestina, bringing them roughly to where they wanted to be at the start of Blood and Rain. Roughly, because they have evolved, endured, changed. And so have their ambitions.

As I close this chapter on my writing journey, I can’t help but wonder if I will miss them. Especially Celestina, the character who began as a love interest and became the backbone of a trilogy. As I move toward new and very different projects, I suspect she’ll keep shaping the women I write.

Time will tell. Now I am going to celebrate an achievement that I honestly never thought I would reach.
Finishing a trilogy that grew stronger with every book.

A Sky Without Stars is out now.

Announcing: A Sky Without Stars

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It’s finally time. And I’m excited!

A new novel is on the way, my fourth.
And the third and final installment in the Frank and Celestina saga.

I never intended to write a series, but after Blood and Rain, I wanted to explore the characters further. Frank was interesting, but Celestina demanded more time. Why was she the way she was? Her backstory was touched upon in Blood and Rain, but not explored deeply enough.

Then came Mont Noir.
Celestina is on a warpath after what happens in Blood and Rain. Barcelona no longer offers hope. There are only ghosts. The only thing left is revenge. She is angry, but dangerous. Franco wants her out of Spain, the Germans need a job done. A deal is made. And Frank is the perfect scapegoat.

In Mont Noir, we uncover more of Celestina’s past. Her motives, her desires, the traumatic events that shaped her view of the world.

That should have been the end.
But then I had the privilege of visiting the Verzetsmuseum in Amsterdam, the Resistance Museum, which remembers the occupation of the Netherlands from 1940 to 1945. I was looking at the artefacts, listening to the stories, and something struck me. They have to come back. Frank and Celestina must meet one last time. The loose ends must be tied. The story needs a true ending, the conclusion it deserves.

That’s where A Sky Without Stars was born.
Inside that museum.

The novel begins in Amsterdam on the eve of World War Two. It follows the bombing of Rotterdam, the occupation, the persecution of minorities, resistance networks, espionage, escapes, and ultimate sacrifice.
A Sky Without Stars goes deeper, darker, and more human than anything I’ve written before.

I’m glad I wrote it.
Their story begins in Barcelona in 1936.
Continues in Amsterdam in 1939.
And ends here, in 1942.

This is the final chapter.

I’ve worked on this novel since the day Mont Noir was published.
Today, I can finally show it to you.

I can’t wait to share it with you.

Mont Noir, where are you?

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It’s hard to believe it’s finally – almost – here. My third novel!

I wasn’t going to write a sequel to any of my books, but life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. That’s also why it’s taken so long to get it out. The spark came in 2013, when I was visiting Belgium. On the border with France, I saw a sign, Mont Noir. What a cool name! I have to use that some time.

After Blood and Rain was published, in 2017, I started thinking about the next project. What would it be? I’d fallen in love with Celestina, the fierce anarchist we got to know in Blood and Rain. No, not a sequel. Maybe a fantasy thing? I plotted a story where the peasants are fighting a war against the gods. Celestina was not amused.

Mont Noir. The name kept calling me. Okay, fine. I came across an article that explained how Wilhelm Canaris, the head of German Intelligence had phoned Anthony Eden, the British Foreign Minister, in early 1939, informing him that a German invasion of The Netherlands was imminent. The Dutch War Scare, and I found old newspaper articles that confirmed this happened. It was a lie, but Canaris wanted to scare the west into preparing for what was to come. He disliked the Nazi regime and hated how the west was in denial about the danger posed by Germany. And so I had my story. Celestina had to go to Amsterdam.

It’s been years in the making, not because I write slow, but because I write sporadically. Work is busy, the house needs to be cleaned and fixed, and I wrote a series of short stories last year. All this time, Mont Noir slowly developed.

Recently I had it read by a few proofreaders and they loved it. It’s time to release the beast into the wild.

Publication date has been chosen, 12 January 2023 it shall be. You can check the book page here.

The Sun that Shone like Eating Horses – a short story

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Jim Darn was thinking about Jackie Doran again. Jackie was a cold-blooded angel with red hands and pretty fingernails.

Jim walked over to the window and reflected on his glorious surroundings. He had always loved sunny Amsterdam with its curvy, crowded canals. It was a place that encouraged his tendency to feel eager.

Then he saw something in the distance, or rather someone. It was the cold-blooded figure of Jackie Doran.

Jim gulped. He glanced at his own reflection. He was a funny, popular beer drinker with sloppy hands and curvy fingernails. His friends saw him as an adorable, adventurous author. Once, he had even helped a striped injured bird recover from a flying accident.

But not even a funny person who had once helped a striped injured bird recover from a flying accident, was prepared for what Jackie had in store today.

The sun shone like eating horses, making Jim hungry. Jim grabbed a glowing sausage that had been strewn nearby; he massaged it with his fingers.

As Jim stepped outside and Jackie came closer, he could see the red smile on her face.

Jackie glared with all the wrath of 3162 admirable relieved rats. She said, in hushed tones, ‘I hate you and I want to go away.’

Jim looked back, even more hungry and still fingering the glowing sausage. ‘Jackie, I want you,’ he replied.

They looked at each other with needy feelings, like two graceful, greasy goldfish singing at a very understanding accident, which had punk music playing in the background and two clever uncles sitting to the beat.

Jim regarded Jackie’s red hands and pretty fingernails. ‘I feel the same way!’ revealed Jim with a delighted grin.

Jackie looked happy, her emotions blushing like a hilarious, tall hat.

Then Jackie came inside for a pleasant drink of beer.

This story was generated by A.I. after I fed it a few words and ideas. Is it any good? Is artificial intelligence able to create stories like a human?

This story is the sixteenth installment in the Moments series