I have hope today.

You’d think that’d be a normal thing in a person’s life. I like to think I have hope for us as a society, a nation, and a world on a daily basis. Events over the last two years have tested that hope. There’s only so much screaming at the void one can do, however, before they give up.

I haven’t given up. I’m just being more selective at what void I scream at.

My writing has been one of those things that has tested my optimism over the last 2 or 3 years. Yes, it was my decision to leave my former publisher. I do not regret it in the slightest. It was my choice to both sign with my former agent, and to sever that relationship. She’s still an amazing person that I’m glad to know, and I know supports my career. I don’t regret the two years spent in that partnership.

It gave me the chance to concentrate on the writing, not the promotion. To grow as a novelist, and weather some rather spectacular storms as a person.

Through it all, however, I still dreamed of being traditionally published again. Some days, it was freakishly hard to hold onto even a shred of that dream. But I did.

I’m understanding who I am. Not just as a person but as a novelist. A friend. A professional. I’m becoming the person I was born to be.

Part of that is taking that deep breath and querying books. I believe in the Heroes of Avoch series. I think they’re well-written (but editing will still have to happen), compelling, relatable, and will find their audience. I have firmer plans in my head on how to promote it, schedule events, and boost the visibility of the titles than I ever had with any of my others.

These will be the first books out there under my new pen name. One that I feel better represents who I am as an author, a storyteller.

Goddess willing, I’ll be able to share some great news in the next 1-2 months. Until then, thank you for reading this. Having my back as I continue on this journey. Writers create in a vacuum, but we can’t do it unless we have people who support us. In a lot of ways, readers are a writer’s found family. You give us a reason to keep daring to dream.

BB/Chan Eil Eagal Orm