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Haunted Echoes, While We Wait

Dear Reader,

A couple of months ago, I was all fired up to release stories from the Mystic Dark miniseries. I set everything up and almost pulled the trigger. Then I thought I'd give Kindle Vella one last try.

I write long serial fiction as an ever-expanding saga set in the dream. Kindle Vella is supposed to be a serial site. So I tried it.

The results? It was a colossal waste of my time. So I want to apologize to my readers who waited while I tried this out. But it was mostly my fault.

All the frustration inherent in bottling up my enthusiasm for a living series (one I'm still writing in because it's not done yet) may have ruined any hope Grim Dark would do well in Vella. I stopped talking about it while I waited for it to be available for me to post everywhere.

Let's be honest. I chafe at restrictions of any kind, and I don't take orders well. If you can handle the restrictions, which I can't, don't let me stop you. Perhaps it will work out better for other authors.

But what I found was zero discoverability on Vella if I wasn't actively driving traffic, which tells me it operates purely on a pay to play basis as far as I can see. Y'all know I don't have any money.

If you write, I recommend you do your own experimentation, but I won't be using Vella in the future unless something radically changes with their discoverability algorithm.

Facing the truth because I swore to be honest on this blog about my author journey: It all boils down to the reality that I refuse to be told what I can do with my stories. One of the huge reasons I chose to self-publish is likely the main reason Vella won't work for me.

Yeah, yeah. I hear the background noise. Maybe I should've known how this would turn out? Sometimes you have to learn the same lessons more than once. Or maybe that's just me. Either way, the truth will set you free.

Haunted Echoes

So while I mentally sabotaged my experiment, I ignored that in favor of writing another story. Because when an author gets blocked on one project, what they do is go to another one. At least that's how I deal with it. Out of that doomed foray, all was not bleak. I couldn't continue on the miniseries itself, but I could begin a standalone extra tale.

Allow me to introduce Haunted Echoes. And maybe the title fits not only the story but also mirrors my frustration with restrictive publishing practices. This tale has over 10k words and is climbing. I know where it's going and even how it ends, which is a rare luxury for me. The muse took pity on me for my previous mistakes.

I haven't sat down to write the book description because I hate those pesky irritating things, and even with help from AI, I still can't write quality book descriptions. Never the less, I have written the character introductions. Do you want to meet them? Okay, first, the legalese.

Warning:

This is a work in progress and

is subject to change at any time.

Read at Your Own Risk!

Danika Klein

Meet Danika Klein

Danika Klein was a human woman supernaturally gifted with the ability to draw the path of infinity into the dream. It wasn’t always a pleasant experience, and although she doesn’t completely understand how it works, it didn’t stop others from hoping to exploit her talent.

With a bit of cold, dark luck, she escaped the clutches of men who would enslave her and abuse her abilities, but that luck seemed short-lived as the weather turned nasty on an early spring night in a dark forest west of Chicago, Illinois. 

Just as she believed she chose death on her own terms, Danika found herself trapped in a secluded cabin with an unstable man who despises her existence yet refuses to allow her to leave, claiming she needs to heal. 

He might be unbalanced, but everything about Rorik Skog Vaettr ignites her soul. If he finally decides she’s healthy, will Danika have to leave her heart behind when she flees the wilderness? Or will the fates conspire to keep her locked in the forest?

Rorik Skog Vaettr

Meet Rorik Skog Vaettr

Rorik Skog Vaettr was an outcast immortal forest spirit. The Vaettir Council sentenced him to exile when they found him guilty of failing to protect his small forest home after a fire burned several thousand acres of land in the Leaindeail. 

He knew a human started the blaze, but he had no way to prove it. It didn’t matter; Rorik was responsible, just as the Council decided. 

After wandering the dream aimlessly, he found a tiny unclaimed place far away from his Scandinavian homeland to claim for himself. He took a new residence in Elburn Forest, a nature preserve in the Domhain between Chicago and DeKalb, Illinois. 

Humans entered his domain to hike the trails, but his solitary nature meant he rarely saw them. At the end of March 2016, the weather was still too unpredictable, and his abode was far from any trail, ensuring his isolation. Preferring his life of solitude, Rorik kept a watchful eye on the land to ensure what happened once didn’t repeat.

No preparation was enough to defend his heart from Danika Klein. When the half frozen woman fell in his front door, the dream tilted, leaving Rorik unsure of his place in it and wondering if it would ever balance again. 

His bitter hatred for humans wasn’t enough to keep him from feeling pity for the broken young woman. The longer she stayed, the stranger his life became, and the deeper his attraction to her grew. 

Rorik resented the loss of his solitude. He should have sent her back to her own kind, but her near death and extreme anxiety had him needing answers and desiring something more. 

Would the fools chasing her bring the Haunted Echoes of his tragic past to destroy his home in their quest to enslave her? Or would he find a far more diabolical force at work with a beautiful woman at the heart of a prophecy, threatening to destroy everything he worked to obtain, along with the magic of the dream?

This was supposed to be a short post. Well, we all knew that wasn't happening. I need to get some work done. I will leave you with my never ending plea for you to please be kind and leave those honest reviews when you read. Until we chat next time, have a wonderful weekend and a spooky holiday if you celebrate All Hallows' Eve. Thank you all once again for supporting my work and please, Welcome to the dream...

Be Careful!

Happy Reading,

Ophelia Kee

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