Alright, This is it. Game time. Take a deep breath. Roll your neck, do that thing you do where you drum your tongue against the inside of your teeth. It's not that hard… Now type.
No man is an island.
…Really? That’s it? That’s your big opener? Alright, whatever works for you, man!
It’s a funny one, isn’t it? I have spent large portions of my life proud of the fact that I neither needed, wanted, nor had anyone behind me to support me. Every achievement was my own. The role of the loner was one I played for years, and I played it well. The start of the Coronavirus lockdown in early 2020 was, for me, no different than any other time before it. The main and only deviation from my normal routine was that I no longer had to wake up in the mornings for the school run.
And that is where you first met ME… the helpful, friendly neighborhood voice in your head. Aren’t you lucky… what do you mean, “shut up?” That's not a very nice thing to say to your muse.
Later mornings meant later nights, later nights meant terrible TV, and with nothing better to do, I finally sat down to do something I had half-considered doing for years. I started to write.
The writing became a story, the story became a series, and the series, amazingly, became something of a hit. Three years after I first put pen to paper - or fingers to keyboard, to be more accurate - I am excited, honored, and humbled to be able to welcome you to the first book of the NewU Chronicles. This is what that writing became.
Hold on, back up. What do you mean I’m not your muse?
Despite my long-lived insistence that I was better off on my own, “alone” is a word that I could never use to describe how this work was written. From the earliest days of publishing my story on different websites, it has had readers. Some of those readers have become friends. Some have come and gone, and others have weathered the test of time, but all of them have supported me, encouraged me, and badgered me into bringing NewU this far.
My editors, by far and away, deserve the highest praise and thanks. Some of whom have grown to become the closest friends I can ever claim to have had. The rest of them just enjoy mocking me for my undeniable ability to produce typos, including my own name.
Seriously, man. You were joking, right?
A special thanks has to be given to Julie, my infinitely better half (hubba hubba.) If there was any one person who gave me the confidence and the support to keep going when the words just wouldn’t come out, it was her. Her endless love and support have helped me more than words can convey, the ultimate irony for a writer. Friends like Sophie, the wonderful co-writer of one of my chapters and the woman who came up with the character of Evie, who had always taken an interest in my work and who has always been there to cast an appraising eye over these words of mine, since almost the beginning. Sarah and Kiwi, both of whom took time out of their lives to immerse themselves in my work and provide honest, critical feedback that was needed to make it better, at a time when my confidence was at its lowest. These people and so many more are worthy of more love and gratitude than I am capable of giving.
Hey, stop ignoring me! I’m trying to have a civilized conversation here.
Then, of course, there are my readers and supporters. From comments on individual chapters, to emails, to the massive involvement some people have had in the Discord server. The reception that my work has received is not just incredible; it has blown me away. Some people, although I'm not saying who, have even managed to correctly guess the final outcome of the story. No, I'm not saying who it is or what they said; I'm going to leave them in suspense.
Finally, I would like to thank you for attempting to read this monster of a story. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it and…
Hellooooo… I'm not going away just because you pretend you can't hear me!
Oh, Jesus fucking hell, shut the Christ up!!!
I… Erm... I don't think you were supposed to type that.
Shit! Now look at what you made me do! I am trying to sound all sincere and genuine, and you've gone and fucked it all up. This is just like that cute girl in Walmart all over again!
That was NOT my fault!
How can you possibly say that wasn't your fault?
Like this, watch… That was NOT my fault.
That’s it. I want a new voice. Who do I speak to about getting a new voice?
That’s cold, man. That’s real cold. I'm gonna have to give you writer's block for that!
Oh no, you don't! Not again. Come back here! Don't make me get out the… Oh, erm, right. Where was I? … yeah, got it. Ahem. I hope you enjoy the story; I hope you enjoy the series as it progresses. I hope you choose to join our growing community of readers. I have spent the past three years wrapping myself up in a growing mesh of friends and supporters to the point that I have been forced to confront the fact that I am not an Island…I am, in fact, landlocked. But I would like to leave you with the words I have left readers with at the end of every chapter for the past few years.
Stay Awesome.
Damion. (Aka The Novalist)
