Dear Reader,

I relaunched my book “In The End You Were My Hero” on Royal Road about a month ago after getting a better understanding of how the algorithm operates. I was previously getting 30-60 readers on average, had 3 followers, and one rating, now I get about 22 readers on average, have 1 follower, and zero ratings. At first glance, it seems like the relaunch was a failure and I have a book without the ability to build a strong presence on Royal Road… but I honestly think it’s too hard to tell yet.

The first iteration received a review early, which I believe contributed to it getting a lot more views on average, however this recent iteration passed 200 pages just last week- an important milestone for the platform that signals to readers that the series isn’t likely to get put on permanent hiatus- and it went from an average of 15 views per chapter to an average of 22 views per chapter over the weekend. The series also has an incredibly flat retention funnel- readers who read chapter one are unusually likely for the platform to read through the entire story, rather than drop off chapter by chapter like a waterfall. Only time will tell how many of these readers who read my story by keeping the webpage open without reviewing, commenting, or reviewing will get around to doing any of the above in the coming weeks, but the stats suggest a steadier, more stable growth then the previous iteration simply because it matches the platforms expectations better.

I remain optimistic for how the series will continue to grow. In other news, I’m also hard relaunching my book “As a Wish in the Apocalypse”, running both series at the same time. They serve slightly different reader bases, but share enough elements that I think readers of one will enjoy the other.

Writing an incredibly different world and character each novel I write is very challenging, but also incredibly fulfilling. I doubt it’s for everyone, but with my ADHD, it makes each project feel fresh and new. However, I recognize it has it’s flaws- people can get attached to either a world or characters or both together, and rarely want to let go of one or both. So for As a Wish I have two goals: Write a novel 90k words long, and try to keep the series running with the same main protagonist if not the same core team. These are two very different and equally significant hurdles for me and perhaps I shouldn’t be trying to tackle them with the same novel, but this novel is uniquely suited to tackling both of them if my theory that the more characters I have, the more I can write, is true. Being a survival apocalypse adventure story I can introduce new characters, phase old ones out or relegate them to smaller roles as their arcs conclude, and introduce new plot lines over time if needed by expanding on the nature of the apocalypse, and each town is an opportunity to introduce a fresh way to survive the apocalypse.

In other news… Writing 10k words a week can be difficult, to no one’s surprise. Specifically, without the routines and habits to support it, the hours required don’t make themselves available. My current issue though is my creativity muscles still need more training. Every thousand words or so, my writing stalls and I have to make a conscious decision of where to take the story next. For a long time, I just wrote- I let the characters decide where the story was going and figured it out with them. And to some extent, I think I will probably always do that, but I found I keep wanting to hit the next major plot line and rush to it before it’s fully ripe, because I connect ideas in my head- you’re learning about A, and B is related, and therefore, learn them both now. That makes for a lot of exposition and reduces the number of scenes the story needs. That would be fine for a tight narrative, which I’m used to aiming for, but is disastrously when I’m trying to write a longer novel than I ever have before. It’s also cutting out some of the fun of discovery for the reader and the scenes that give heavy stories some levity and the scenes needed for character relationships to develop more naturally.

That’s all I have for this update. My new novel starts uploading to Royal Road starting tomorrow if you’d like to take a peek.

Step into an eerie world with an apocalypse fresh off the press- wishes become superpowers, and despair twists people into Nightmares, enemies of humanity.

Traveling alongside two brothers with something to prove and collecting survivors with nothing to lose, Dervla must navigate a shattered country while wearing a dying girl’s face, speaking with a dying girl’s voice, and fighting to fulfill a dying girl’s wish. 

Dervla isn’t who she says she is. 

And she’s not who she thinks she is.

In an apocalypse where everyone is clinging to a persona just to stay alive, what happens when you become the mask you wear? Or worse… don’t?

What to Expect: 

Secret Identity (x3): A calculating protagonist concealing her ongoing identity crisis as the line between the person she is, the human she says she is, and the wish she thinks she is, grow further and further apart. 
Unique Apocalypse Setting: Human wishes grant reality-bending powers but corruption can use those dreams to twist people into Nightmares- enemies of humanity. 
Remnant Progression: Survivors can harvest, graft, and steal from dying Nightmares to evolve lethal biological, physical, and conceptual weaponry and tools (spears, wings, powers) to survive. 
Survival Road Trip: A nomadic cross-country trek navigating winter elements, crumbling transit lines, predatory enclaves, scarce resources, and of course: Nightmares.
Found Family: A grounded, character-driven dynamic built around dry banter, unspoken debts, and half-earned trust. 
Bittersweet Tone: Atmospheric dread, tactical stakes, and deadpan situational humor. Deliberately avoiding endless grimdark misery.

Love, Eden