I have another exciting announcement to make! Because apparently, this year is going to be marked by forward momentum.
Those of you who have been around for a while might remember my first ever series, the Sagittan Chronicles. It was my "practice" series, as I like to call it, where I learned how to do everything from writing a book to publishing to cover design to marketing.
But there was one problem with the series: the title.
When I initially wrote the series, I picked the name of the planet (Sagitta) off a National Geographic star map from the 1970s. Literally, I closed my eyes and pointed, and that's how I got the name. That was before I learned I really need to google everything before I published, and I had zero awareness of anything related to astrology, other than that it was a thing that existed.
Once, in college, a guy asked me what my sign was, and confused, I replied, "A stop sign." So yeah. Not my area of expertise lol.
So you can imagine my shock and surprise the first time someone asked me if my book was about astrology. After that, I spent years fielding questions about astrology at every event I attended. A couple years ago, I finally gave up on trying to even market it, and focused solely my other books. So, as the 10th anniversary of the series approaches, I decided to do something crazy, and retitle everything, starting with the series name. No more astrology associations for me haha.
Meet the Zirian Chronicles!
If you've already read the series, back when it was titled The Sagittan Chronicles, it's mostly the same thing. It's all the oldies but goodies, reedited and repackaged. I got rid of some of the tenacious typos that made it through my first couple redesigns and did some basic language massaging, but the stories are by-and-large the same. I also redesigned the ebook, and in a couple months (if all goes according to plan), the paperback editions will be available as well. I've also created Google AI narrated audiobook versions, which you can find in the Google Play store!
As with my other series, book 1, now titled Sundered Sky, will be free on all retailers (hopefully, that's already happened, but Amazon does like to be difficult sometimes). The audiobook version on Google Play is also free!
I'll be honest, most of my redesign decisions were made with improving my marketing options at the forefront of my mind, but I'm very excited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the series (March 28th) with this brand-new redesign. (And, if you are a patron, you get digital copies of all the new edition ebooks for free!)
The series has five books, one prequel, and two short stories, and I left it openended in case I feel inspired to write more in the universe in the future. The books, while they have some tie-ins and crossover characters, can be read in any order. The series is in chronological order, however, if you read them 1 - 5.
The over-arching question of the series is how different people and cultures react to major technological change—or at least, that was the intention when I initially wrote it. It's set on a planet called Ziri (previously Sagitta), in a civilization who has a technology called Doors, which allow them to travel great distances quickly and easily—think portals, like in Stargate or Narnia.
In book 1, the Doors change from being able to go to only 1 other location, to being able to go to multiple locations, which creates chaos across the galaxy.
Each book is about different people, how the Doors affect their personal lives, and what steps they take to adjust to the the changes.
I think if I had to pick, Singular Cipher or Fall of the Flighters is my favorite of the series. I actually felt a little sad when I published Fall of the Flighters originally (2021), because I knew since I wasn't marketing the series, hardly anyone would read it.
But, with the new titles and redesign, I'm much more hopeful a few readers will like the series enough to make it to the end!
Below, if you're curious, you'll see the whole series evolution with all its various iterations over the years. It's interesting for me to see such a clear visual representation of my own growth.
If you have any questions about the series, please let me know!
You can find them on all retailers, if you're curious to check them out. Thanks for sticking with me!
