I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it!!!!!!! and oh my GOSH do I feel sick.

I ACTUALLY set up a book for Preorder and I’m so excited. I’m basically doing everything in a way that keeps me from realizing that I’m doing it. I’m tricking myself into doing the things by setting them all up and just letting them slide on by.

Not lets get into the details.

My first novella, Finding NiinTak, will be published officially on September 1, 2025. It’s a small little novella that offers a tiny introduction to the world of Valra, my primary story world. I love this little story, but first a little context.

I’m an English major with a deep love of cultural understanding. In my newest English class my final projects involved creating a website and social media platform for my “online presence,” because that’s a thing now. Apparently if you don’t have one of those you don’t exist. Who knew.

As part of this class, I really wanted to have something at the end to show for it beyond the website and platform and thought it would be really fun to do the whole process of publishing a book, near start to finish. That way when I had everything ready on the self-marketing side of things I’d also have something physical to show for it. An actual book to put on the webpage, something to promote.

Finding NiinTak is a bit of a coming of age story that follows a man who never earned his name. It takes place in the Shadowlands of Valra which is on the opposite side of the earth to the sun. Here’s the blurb, followed by a little bit of tribal lore, as well as the cover.

“All he wanted was to earn his name, to battle a beast like his father and really be part of his tribe. But when Mythrid called and showed him his task, he couldn’t. He wasn’t brave. His father died because of him. Now, the villagers call him NiinTak, nameless; a word for children before they’ve earned their own. But he’s no longer a child.

He’s failed for many years to help his tribe. He’s disgraced and exiled for his failure, forced to survive on what meager offerings the forest can give.

Then Mythrid appears again. They show him his task. To return to the place where his father died, to the place where he failed.

But he is not brave. He cannot fight beasts. But if he doesn’t, he’ll die in the icy tundra of the Shadowlands. Alone, nameless, never to return to the Land of Light.

Journey with NiinTak and his companions as he races against the rising tide to earn his name and bring Light back to the Shadowlands.”

And now for the cover:

This story has been on my shelf for years in various stages of development, but I think there has to come a time where I just let it go. It’ll be nice to finally let it go and just be, to mark it off of my to do list and finally be done with it. It’s such a small piece to a larger story that I’m thrilled to begin!

I think that someday soon I’ll do a larger video on my Youtube channel about the creation of this world, a few key features and cities central to a lot of stories that I tell. This planet and the stories from them are a facet of my love for things I don’t quite understand. They are an exploration of culture, how they’re created, developed, and change based on the world they grow in.

I AM debating doing ARCs for this story. Like I said, it’s sort of an experiment in the process of publishing so it’s unofficially/officially launching my self-published writing career, but I don’t know if that’s an avenue I want to explore yet. However, if YOU are interested in receiving a FREE copy of Finding NiinTak in exchange for an honest review on the major vendors, I would be open to learning the process! Just let me know!

Thanks for being here, and until next time, Keep Writing Forward!

-Anna