Afterword: Book 1 - Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Chapter 1: Chapter 2

(original chapter title: Chaotic Origins)

I started writing Ranthia's saga on January 4th, 2024. I finished, substantively, on August 8, 2024 for the first two books.

...415,218 words later.

I mean I knew going in that my first chapter was a bit rough. I knew about a few specific mistakes.

I made it through 5 chapters of painful rolling edits until I finally accepted the obvious truth: The opening that I had written was BORING.

I skipped forward as much as I could, in an effort to get Ranthia out of her childhood years. Rewriting the first several chapters was painful for the same reason. I don't enjoy writing a child MC, not even an adult's mind in the body of a child.

So I decided to rewrite the opening. In doing so, I expanded it; I told stories that I had glossed over or omitted. I wanted Ranthia's growth to feel EARNED, I wanted to add some humor and personality, and I needed to give it more emotion.

I'll leave it up to you all to tell me if I succeeded. My beta read feedback for the new opening was great.

And a sincere thank you to everyone that might ever read these notes. I started writing Ranthia's saga, in large part, because when my (now former, hence my gratitude) job was falling apart around me I reread Selkie Myth's story (Beneath the Dragoneye Moons) to refresh myself before I read Mandate of Heaven. I'd long enjoyed Pallos and considered BtDEM one of the best reads I'd found from Kindle Unlimited (...even if I'd nearly bounced off Book 1 originally -cough-), but that time the world and the stories just truly took root within my mind.

By Adventures in the Argo, Ranthia was born.

I liked Ranthia from day one, but as life fell to shambles she really helped to prop me up. I'll forever be grateful to Selkie Myth for not only creating such a vibrant world in Pallos and for giving me the opportunity to share Ranthia's journey with you all. Ranthia transformed how I saw Pallos and many of its inhabitants, so I look forward to seeing if others can take anything new from the world with her guidance.

I've learned so much about writing throughout this process. I'd long considered myself experienced, but... yeah, it's kind of hard to go back to things I'd written hundreds of thousands of words ago. Some chapters were salvageable, but others simply provided seeds for my new opening chapters. This is also the first time I've ever, y'know, widely shared what I wrote; before now I only shared with a few select friends. Now this.

It's terrifying, but it's also amazing. I owe so much to so many people that I don't even know how to begin with that. From Selkie Myth to my beta readers to my friends who supported me to, yes, each and every one of you: Thank you.