Dark as Dawn, Bright as Night: FAQs, Table of Contents, and Glossary
A serialized novel published in weekly installments
Death is only the beginning for Mae as she faces an ancient goddess of light and a self-made demon of the dark in a battle to save her father and her soul.
Welcome to my first serialized novel, DARK AS DAWN, BRIGHT AS NIGHT!
New installments go live every week on Fridays beginning June 8.
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FAQs
What is DARK AS DAWN, BRIGHT AS NIGHT about?
Hesper Wright is in the business of making ghosts. Her clients are looking to cheat death, but their afterlife as one of Hesper’s shades, is servitude at best, oblivion at worst. She always follows the rules, though, even if she did make them up herself: no negotiating, no substitutions, and no children. Those simple caveats have never failed, and after centuries of work, her power has grown.
But when a desperate mother begs Hesper to give her teenage daughter, Mae, a chance at life after death, Hesper is tempted. The girl is special, a scion of an ancient force. With Mae under her control, Hesper could act on the desire for vengeance that’s fueled her shademaking from the beginning.
Mae’s father, Ten, won’t make it easy though. He’s forged an alliance with Hesper’s sworn enemy, Blythe, a former goddess from the Dawn anxious to atone for the mistake that got her cast out of that realm’s golden halls. Ten sees it as a rescue mission that recalls his days in the military, but he’s about to find out that this battle between light and dark has no heroes, only rivals with their own hidden agendas.
Mae’s fate, then, rests in her own hands. To keep Ten safe and save her soul, she’ll need to step into her newfound power and realize that death is only the beginning.
Who might enjoy this story?
DARK AS DAWN, BRIGHT AS NIGHT will appeal to adult readers of upmarket horror, urban and new adult fantasy, as well as lovers of ghost stories and folk tales.
Any trigger warnings?
Sexual content, suicide, strong language, human sacrifice, death of children, neglect.
Table of Contents - Updated Weekly
Episode 1: A World Full of Weeping - Deep in a Pacific Northwest rainforest, where Tennyson Ellis goes to make peace with his demons, he finds himself pursued by a presence he can’t easily explain away.
Episode 2: Soul and Shade - Mae navigates the afterlife, Ten relives the worst day of his life, and Blythe realizes the powerful tool that’s just fallen into her grasp.
Episode 3: A Fireside Chat - Ten makes an unsettling discovery and ends up in an equally unsettling conversation with Blythe.
Episode 4: Visitations - Blythe makes Ten an offer, and otherwordly visitors pursue Mae.
Episode 5: Devil Dogs (Available June 21) - Ten follows Blythe to the edge of Hesper’s land. When he makes his way on alone, he’s surprised by what he finds there.
Glossary
Quintessence: The five animating elements of a person. These can be broken down into:
Bounds: name, blood, passion. These tie you to the earthly realm.
Diessence: soul, shade. These persist after death.
Warden: A lowly servant of the Dawn responsible for gathering the diessences and delivering them to mornrills.
Hunter: What Mae calls Blythe.
Mornrill: Waterways that act as gateways to the Dawn.
Keeper: A guardian of the mornrill. Responsible for crossing diessences from the earthly realm to the Dawn.
Fractures: The soul half of a diessence after the Wright has harvested the shade.
Snag: An especially volatile diessence that tends to “haunt” the places that have meaning for them in life.
Slipping: A ghost’s ability to slide into another’s body.
The Gray: What Mae calls emissaries of the Sluagh.
The Sluagh (pronounced slew-awh): An ancient band of fae, revered and feared in their time.
Canker: The doglike creatures that guard Hesper’s property.
I'm looking forward to this!