Nananananananana BATMAN!

He's back! I'm really looking forward to Williamson's run and am *so happy* Fear State is done!

Panels from Batman #118 pretty much say it all.

Two Years Later...

(⊙＿⊙') Oh wow! I suppose I call it my "neglected blog" for a reason. But! I'm back! And I have news!

The Children of the Morning Star series is complete! Not only that, but books 1 & 2 have been revamped (ha ha) and the entire series is relaunching October 19, 2021! But what does that mean?

The easy answer? It's the same story with an improved reader experience, beautiful covers, improved blurbs on the back, bonus material, and the conclusion!

The long answer (which, come on, you know is my favorite answer) involves looking back at the history of the series. I wrote "The Arrival" in 2007. Well, technically, I started writing it decades before that, but I digress. I wrote "Confessions of the Second Born" immediately afterword and tinkered in patchworked segments on what would become "Last Born Daughter." In 2008, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. In 2010, I had a major health set back. In 2013, my medical team brought up disability and I began amending the schedules and duties of my job. I stopped tinkering with Book 3. In 2014, I could no longer work and had to leave a job that I loved. In 2015, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had a double mastectomy. I had right heart failure. I endured multiple surgeries and much pain throughout 2016. In 2019, I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type III. In 2019, I also became immuno-compromised and began living a life with masks and sanitizer, avoiding crowds, and steering clear of all sickness whenever possible. That should be fairly familiar to everyone by now. ;)

Amidst all the cancer stuff, I'd curl up on my bathroom floor and just cry. And since it was breast cancer and your chest tends to heave when you cry, it hurt. A Lot. I needed a win. I published "The Arrival" in 2017. As you can see, life didn't get easier. I published "Confessions" in 2018 to make my own happiness and began working on Book 3 again. In 2020, I published Book 3, "Last Born Daughter." And now, in 2021, I've completed the series with Book 4, "Eternal Light Descendant." Writing was (is) cathartic and a welcome exercise by my providers as stress relief and an escape from a painful body.

So, what prompted the rewrites and revisions? Honestly? Feedback, honest reviews, and my personal growth as an author. "The Arrival" read like a debut author searching for her voice. "Confessions" was better, but contained a bit of eye-glazing repetition. "Last Born Daughter" was amazing and helped me see the possibilities of putting in more effort (not that I was lazy about it before). I'd learned a lot and grown as a writer and reader, and I found my voice! I'd published the first two books as a hobby and I really wanted to go back and add my current voice, make them all "sound" the same and look the same. To fix the issues and redundancy. So I did. And it wasn't easy. Or stress-free.

"The Arrival" was heavily revised and rewritten to include flashbacks in line with the other 3 books. It is now called "The Arrival Reawakened" and the feedback has been great! Bonus content includes a deleted scene and a new character scene.

"Confessions of the Second Born" was heavily edited and cut down by thousands of words. It includes bonus material: Interviews with an Unwilling Vampire.

"Last Born Daughter" remains largely unchanged with only a few additions that tie in closer to the finale. It features an updated Bonus Chapter that previews the first part of the finale's first chapter.

"Eternal Light Descendant" is the brand new finale. The End. ^_^

The first three books are linked to the originals on GoodReads as Revised Editions and the final book is also there awaiting its first review! All books are available anywhere books are sold. The older versions are still out there, so I urge you to look for the revised editions for the best reading experience, but really, the story itself has not changed. Thank you to everyone who's been on this journey with me! It's bittersweet to see "The End" in text at long last.

Avalon Hall by Ruth Miranda ^_^

Avalon Hall is available for Pre-Order now and launches October 3!

The Short:  Fans of modern paranormal fantasy and Arthurian medieval fantasy rejoice, for Avalon Hall celebrates both, weaving them together through magic and Ruth Miranda’s distinctive voice into an engrossing and entertaining tale.  It’s an interesting, fresh, and unique concept, and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire journey.

The Long:  Avalon Hall is like two books in one in which Ruth Miranda explores Arthurian legend through the past and present by serving up a slice of modern paranormal fantasy in Part One and a slice of medieval fantasy in Part Two.  A tidy epilogue bridges them as a platform upon which the reader must eagerly await the next installment.

In Part One, fans of the The Blood Trilogy will recognize a few faces and places as they are swept into majestic Avalon Hall, a modern day academy for witches with its own resident vampire and too many secrets.  Surrounded by gates, magical barriers, forest, and a misty lake, Avalon Hall’s setting is perfect for the mystical mysteries the characters either keep or must uncover before they can understand the true powers within themselves, of the school, and of a history enveloped in legend.  Be forewarned that the cliffhanger into part two is a sheer drop, so watch your footing.  ;)

In Part Two, the reader is whisked into the heart of medieval fantasy and the early origins of King Arthur’s tale.  Miranda’s voice shifts here, and appropriately so, to fit nicely amongst nobles and castles and the magical world of Avalon—a world they must carefully curate and maintain through strict tradition and strategy.  Themes of personal freedom and gender roles/equality glide along the undercurrents and punch the surface to add ugly truths atop the romanticized legends of the dark ages.  Life, death, love, hate, sorrow, joy, betrayal, loyalty —all of these things blend the past with magic to build the foundation for a future that must be protected at all costs.

But what happens when that future comes crashing into its foundation while still in its infancy?  Well…this is a trilogy, so stay tuned!

My Thoughts:  As with anyone, my reading habits skew my views, but they’re particularly pertinent here because I may read a lot of paranormal fantasy manga, but I don’t read many fantasy novels (I do read some – I read a bit of everything as long as it sounds interesting).  As a fan of Ruth Miranda’s The Blood Trilogy, I am partial to Part One.  If you’ve read it (no spoilers from me), this fills in the gap.  I envisioned the twins on the island listening to this story, and, for me, that made it even more interesting.  Many of these characters were minor or secondary characters in The Blood Trilogy and you get to revisit them and/or learn more about them, so you not only get this new story with this new trilogy, but you also get a companion tale from within the same universe that encompasses most of Ruth Miranda’s books.  Avalon Hall holds true to Miranda’s writing style, but it’s subtly tweaked in ways that match this story and its needs.  The modern Part One doesn’t punch as hard and fast as The Blood Trilogy, and it doesn’t need to.  It’s a sweeping tale in which Miranda holds nothing back and explores many of the same hard-hitting gritty bits of reality like domestic violence, self-discovery, and self and peer acceptance, while pulling the reader into the lives of these magical characters in a realistic manner.  The shift into the past in Part Two is abrupt and I think it’s beneficial to the reader to know that going in.  I loved tales of chivalry and knights in my youth, but they’re not usually in my reading piles these days.  That said, I enjoyed it and I was sucked in.  The flow slows a bit at first, which I think allows the reader to recover from the momentum of the previous section and adjust so they can sink into the lives of characters that were merely glimpsed in the present.  Part Two carries a palpable emotional weight that is easy to identify with.  These characters feel real despite originating from historical legend and being wrapped in magic.  The story is simply crushing at certain points and that speaks volumes of Ruth Miranda’s skill at adapting her voice and writing style to support the setting and era as she deftly weaves her words. 

Overall:  Avalon Hall is essentially two books in one:  a modern paranormal fantasy with the intrigue of legend and a plunge into that legend for a delightful Arthurian/medieval fantasy.  Ruth Miranda’s distinctive voice and writing style draws the reader into both parts with skillful shifts in her techniques that match the settings of both present and past.  She delivers a thoroughly captivating pair of intertwining tales that are not only fascinating, but also tackle real life issues that you can sympathize with or that make you think.  Miranda’s fans are sure to love Avalon Hall, which also serves as a welcoming invitation to new readers to discover her magical writing!