In the wake of an unimaginable loss, the people of Basilisk are faced with another insurmountable battle when one of their Sovereigns disappears without a trace...
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Season 2 of 'The Girl from the Ground' series (spin-off to 'The Boy from the Bunk...
The first book in this tetralogy was dedicated to one of my best friends, Andy, who I lost in May this year. Before his unexpected passing, though I hadn't yet written this book, I already knew the plan for it and the journey I was going to take one of the characters through.
Since then, when elaborating on the notes for this book, I realised the similarities between what I was suddenly dealing with in my personal life, and what my character was experiencing. To say my heart became entangled in this book would be an understatement, but true all the same.
This book is an adventure of grief, and my darling girl (who I won't name here for the sake of spoilers) feels as though she faces it head-on, alone in the collapsing universe - which is a lot like how this year has felt for me. Yet, there is a hum of hope piercing through the root of everything; a belief, no matter how distant or fleeting or terrifying, that there is another side and the only way out of the journey of grief, is through.
I'm still on that adventure, but I've come a long way over the past seven months - which feels too long of a time to have gone without seeing Andy's face, or hearing his laugh, or one of his crude jokes. But the silver lining is that there is another side of this feeling, and I'm finally in a place where I know that's true.
I've poured out my heart into this narrative, the characters, and their conversations, and it has been so cathartic to have a safe space to express my feelings and to also make something beautiful out of them. Maybe it'll be better to summarise all of this in an afterword at the end of the book, so I won't have to tiptoe around spoilers, but I just wanted a place to remember my friend, and this bittersweet adventure of affliction this year has taken me on, and to really testify to how long love lives on after death. And most importantly, that there is a way through even the deepest, darkest valleys, in spite of how far away the light feels.
I'd like to dedicate The Girl from the Ground - Season 2 to my friend Andy Morely, and all the hope, and heartache, and healing along with it.
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