Hello fellow Ravenites! Officially, October 6th was the official release date of Darkhaven, book three of The Raven Chronicles series. However, some last-minute edits pushed it back a few weeks.

It "only" took me two years to write, edit, and publish this book. The reason wasn't because of writer's block or imposter syndrome, though both of these came into play on more than one occasion. It was just so many horrible tragedies that struck during this time. During my first edit of the manuscript, I lost my brother. Though he had health issues that he dealt with, I was not expecting the call that early November evening. The words told to me: "He's gone," will be forever etched into memory. It's been nearly a year now since he passed, and I still can't believe it. My brother was so excited when he learned I had published my first book in 2022. He told everyone he knew that his little brother was a published author. I sure miss you, Donny.

While my brother was the greatest loss in my life during this time, he wasn't the only one. Two dogs and several kitties died. Two or three were somewhat expected, Shroder, part border collie and terrier, was twenty-one when he died. However, Sam, an orange tabby, was barely an adult cat. He was completely healthy, until he wasn't. He was so full of life until he began to not feel well. We were going to take him to the vet on Monday, but he didn't make it that long. We rushed him to a vet that was open late that weekend, and he died while there. It's still a shock as to how quickly he went from being a goofy and playful boy to dying right in front of us. This same story was repeated several times during the writing and editing of this book.

To add to all of this, right around the time Darkhaven was released to the public, my wife broke both her arms while visiting her mom in Massachusetts. She is currently on the mend, though it will be a long, slow progress.

Through all of this, I never gave up writing or editing. Darkhaven is my favorite of the series to date. The story overall came to me easier than the others. With all three, I knew the beginning and ending to all three stories, though Magic Scorned did change some from what I first imagined. The middle is what I always struggle with, but Darkhaven was easier than the others. In fact, I had so much to tell, that Darkhaven and Book Four are basically one story broken up into two books.

Originally, I had planned for The Raven Chronicles to be a trilogy, but as long as I have new book ideas, I will continue the series. Each book gives me new ideas to further the story, and I enjoy writing these characters. As long as the ideas are good, at least I think they are good, I will continue the series. Right now, I see six books to complete the series, but that could always change. I have other stories in mind outside of The Raven Chronicles, but nothing I'm as passionate about... yet. That could always change, so stay tuned!

Once again, I would like to thank you all for joining me on this crazy adventure. All my life, this has been a dream of mine, but the timing was never right, or the story was wrong for many different reasons. I originally thought I started writing Magic Reborn in 2018, but I came across some notes where I began in 2017. The notes were mainly about the main character, Raven. Even in the beginning, I had her as a bounty hunter, though her becoming a mage came later. Her sister, Elysia, wasn't even a consideration until I began writing Magic Reborn in earnest. She became an idea while writing a scene early in the story. From there, other characters followed. From that, three books materialized, and as I mentioned before, three more are planned.

Thank you for reading this blog and my ramblings. I truly hope you enjoy Darkhaven as much as I enjoyed writing it. Raven is not going anywhere anytime soon. Now, the side characters, I can't promise anything (he he he). Even Raven might be in trouble when I write the final book. I guess you will have to find out then.