A blade of whispers. A boy without direction. A world on the brink of chaos.
Erikson Gray was never supposed to matter.
He is a blacksmith’s apprentice in Grafton Notch, far from the centers of power that shape Lucardia. Then, deep within the forbidden Acheron Forest, he discovers an ancient sword buried where no sword should be.
Its name is Lightbearer.
And there is something alive inside it.
The blade speaks to Erik. It knows things it should not know, remembers a past the empire has tried to forget, and possesses a power that quickly draws the attention of people far more dangerous than a young blacksmith is prepared to face.
Forced from the life he knows, Erik falls in with an unlikely group of companions, including his enigmatic uncle Brant and the disgraced Knight Agar. Together they move through a realm beginning to fracture beneath the ambitions of rulers, soldiers, priests, and older powers that have waited a very long time to return.
But the struggle surrounding Lightbearer is larger than politics.
In Lucardia, the dead do not simply pass into whatever waits beyond life. Their souls have value. Religions have been built around what happens to them. Entire systems of power depend upon truths that few people have ever thought to question.
Lightbearer remembers differently.
As Erik begins uncovering the sword’s history, he also begins discovering uncomfortable truths about his own. Bloodlines, old betrayals, forgotten wars, and the legacy of people he never knew all pull him toward a conflict that began long before his birth.
And through it all, the sword keeps whispering.
Sometimes it protects him. Sometimes it tempts him. Sometimes the difference is difficult to tell.
At its heart, Dawn of the Lightbearer is the story of an ordinary young man discovering that the world he inherited is not the world he was taught to believe in—and trying to decide who he will become once that illusion is gone.
It is also the first doorway into Lucardia: a sprawling, interconnected world of complicated people, buried histories, dangerous faiths, strange magic, and mysteries that grow larger the deeper you travel.
Begin with Dawn of the Lightbearer. Then follow the questions wherever they lead.
Writing Log:
3/20/21 – Reached 100k word mark
4/4/21 – First draft complete!
4/5/21 – Cover created
4/16/21 – First full read-through complete
4/17/21 – Editing process begins.
5/1/21 – Teasers out, 1st draft synopsis complete
5/3/21 – Major chapter rewrite
5/5/21 – Second read-through complete. Third read-through begun
5/13/21 – Still editing 🙂 First chapter available if you click the book cover above
5/21/21 – Editing continues. Just when confidence builds, I find something that douses that flame. Keep telling myself it will happen 🙂
5/22/21 – Available soon for pre-order. Release scheduled for July 2nd. Just in time for Fourth of July weekend!
5/23/21 – Third read-through complete. Edit for content done- holes plugged and this part of the story complete. Edit for grammar and remaining typos begins… ugh. Deadline will keep me moving.
5/30/21 – Did another read-through and started close edit on Friday. Up to chapter 10 of 34. Once close edit done, will do a final read-through and then start formatting for layout.
6/1/21 – After very productive weekend, completed first close edit pass.
6/2/21 – Second close pass begun. Book is polishing up nicely. Finding less and less fixes. Thinking of producing a family tree, timeline, and map, but will get the content done first and do that if I have time.
6/5/21 – Updated sample chapter with a more edited version. Here. Enjoy!
6/8/21 – Second close edit pass complete. Need to do a few housekeeping things and then will start to format for publication! Will then do a pass or two for good measure depending on time, but still have a little under a month before the deadline.
6/10/21 – Going through and cutting as many adverbs as I can. Tedious, but tightens prose. Stupid adverbs 😦
6/12/21 – Mission against adverbs complete. Time for the final read-through and then it will be time for formatting publication!
6/16/21 – On chapter 23 of 34 of final read-through. Worked on some ads. Should be able to start formatting for publication this weekend. End in sight!
6/19/21 – Finished final read-through and started formatting for Kindle. As I have some time before the deadline, I may do one more spot check.
6/24/21 – Final read-through and formatting for Kindle complete!
6/25/21 – Finished back mater for the book- timeline, map, diagram of the Galleass Lion (an important part of the story), thank you, and other material. The book is now finished, uploaded, and waiting for July 2nd!
6/25/21 – Official start of chapter 1 in book 2, titled The Mourning Son!
7/2/21 – Dawn of the Lightbearer is now available on Amazon!
