Reading Rush's color-book descriptions, I couldn't help thinking about your Monarch story, and all the shades of golden orange.

Thank you. I read The Secret Books of Paradys for the first time in high school. (Interlibrary loan: a godsend. Cary Library only had The Book of the Dead, meaning that I read it first although it is by far the least of the quartet. The Book of the Damned is almost certainly my favorite, even though I agree with rushthatspeaks that "Empires of Azure" should be stronger than it is, especially with its structure of partly parallel hauntings. "Stained with Crimson" was one of the first vampire stories I read, although it is not a vampire story, and "Malice in Saffron" is just that good.) I am sure they had an effect.