Fallen Ribbon: A Year and Some Change

Time flies when you’re busy and your life takes unexpected turns multiple times.  As many may know, I published Fallen Ribbon on August 15th, 2024.  That year was a fantastic year for me, full of milestones and great experiences.  I met many new people between then and now, and got so much accomplished.  I can happily say I had a full and productive year.  2025 was a bit harder in its own regard and a unique experience in contrast, but so many good things came out of this year as well.

The Timeline:

December 14, 2024

I had my first book event and reading the day after my 30th birthday.  The timing of it may seem strange but there was a purpose behind it.  My parents were visiting me in Massachusetts for the first time since the pandemic and I wanted them to be a part of one of the biggest milestones I’ve ever worked toward.  Preparing for the event, I had to practice reading out loud because I planned to do a ready.  It made me realize how little experience I had doing so and that reading out loud is actually really hard.  But ignoring the distractions around me and letting the words flow out helped, and reading the same things over and over again for days beforehand.  A lot of my family and friends showed up to support me, including my son.  Even a bunch of coworkers came in to show the support which meant the world to me.  It was amazing how many people came on board, wanting to help, contributing, and even wanted to know about the book itself.  The amount of support I garnered was positively overwhelming, and I am grateful.  I realized I loved the idea of doing book events to be able to connect with people and promote FR.  I love talking to people about the world I am creating in FR and it gets my gears working, helping me get started on my second book of the series; GAT.

December-February 2025

I began drafting Book 2 and 3 of The Dark Nursery Diaries series.  Whilst doing that I finished Final Fantasy 16 by New Years Eve for my 2024 game, and that really got me in the mode of writing the setting of the 2nd book which is heavily influenced by medieval period themes in setting alone.  We’re thinking gothic architecture, vine covered castle walls, and full out fantasy battles.  I started doing actual writing of Book 2 and a few snippets here and there of Book 3, but have been primarily focusing on the completion of Book 2.

March-April

I coordinated with my editor and had her do some editing of Fallen Ribbon to fix any kind of grammatical errors, and then I fixed a minor plot error as well.  This would become the 2nd edition of Fallen Ribbon later in the year.  While fixing the manuscript, I visited my best friend for the first time in years which was a fantastic time and then somehow I wound up meeting basically the love of my life.  It was absolutely insane but I love it and he’s been the best thing to happen in my life in 2025.  He immediately jumped on the bandwagon of Fallen Ribbon.  I want to say he read it in less than two months, taking his time, which he has told me he is somewhat of a slow reader, so two months seemed fast to me!  He's entertained conversations about my world building, the culture I’m designing, and the lore I write into the story.  He's asked many questions about the characters' backgrounds and we try to keep the topics as generalized and away from any major plot points of the story.

After I finished the 2nd edition of Fallen Ribbon, I got busy and had many expenses I had to get through before I could release it, so I took a break from marketing the book to focus on writing the second one in my free time.  To date, I have gone through at least four pens and three notebooks worth of writing.  If I had to venture a guess, Book 2 is about a third of the way through its first draft.  Admittedly, I am unsure if I will meet my Late 2026 deadline to publish the book, but it’s still my goal.  There’s a chance I may have to push it off a few months.  I will know more details as I finish the second draft.

Announcements:

There are many things to come with both Book 2 on the horizon and Fallen Ribbon the 2nd Edition coming out!  I have finally uploaded Fallen Ribbon for distribution and it will be available again on Amazon, Barnes & Noble online, and many other retailers.  I will be keeping a monthly blog post that will come out on the last Thursday of the month after this one, starting December 18th since the holidays will be quite busy for me!

Fallen Ribbon Update:

·       First Edition copies of Fallen Ribbon are no longer available.  I have five paperback copies I will be giving away in a holiday giveaway raffle for the month of December.  Details to come.

·       2nd Edition copies of Fallen Ribbon will be available by December 1st.  Check back for updates.

Dark Nursery Diaries Book 2 Updates:

·       Written Draft 1 – On track for completion Late Spring 2026

·       Typed Draft 2 – On track for completion Early Summer 2026

·       Book Title Formally Announced – December 2025

·       Special Christmas Character Announcement

·       Cover Art Released – Early Fall 2026

There will be many more things to come in the near future, but that is everything to start!  I will also gradually start posting pictures of the book event on my pages.  Make sure you subscribe to my website’s newsletter, The Dark Nursery Diaries Newsletter to stay informed on all things regarding Fallen Ribbon and any future works!

Fallen Ribbon Reading of Chapter 1-3

The lovely editor who worked on Fallen Ribbon 2nd Edition: Bethany Berry

Post Reading and Lots of Gifts!

Book Signing