This will be the first three chapters of KALI'S TALE, the fourth novel in The DeChance Chronicles. I am hoping with the Wattpad success of the first book in the series, HEART OF A DRAGON, that these three chapter introductions to the subsequent novels will entice readers to follow along with Donovan's adventures. Here are the dedication, acknowledgments, and author's note from the book. What follows will be chapters one, two, and three...
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the people I've met since moving to North Carolina, to the long walks by the Perquiman's River, and the old graveyard on King Street, in Hertford. To Dreams, harvest festivals, magic and Alchemy.
Special thanks/acknowledgments
I would like to thank, first and foremost, the love of my life, Patricia Lee Macomber, and my wonderful children, Stephanie, Bill, Zach, Zane, and Katie, who put up with my enthusiastic outbursts about the world of Donovan DeChance on a regular basis, and who have always loved and supported me. I’d like to thank Kurt Criscione, the keeper of the series bible for this and other works of mine, all of which seem to constantly intertwine, David Dodd, for helping me turn Crossroad Press into something more than a hobby, and Aaron Rosenberg, for not only handling most of our print books—but for teaching me how to do it myself. Last but not least, I’d like to thank the words, and the magic, for being my companions in life.
“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times, and to get up eight times.”
—Paulo Coelho - Alchemist
Author's Note
This will mark the fourth book in The DeChance Chronicles, which starts with the novel Heart of a Dragon, moves on to Vintage Soul (which was actually written first – long story for another time) and the novella My Soul to Keep which is the origin story for Donovan DeChance, and not to be missed by fans of the series.
This book also accomplishes something I have intended for some time. In this volume, The DeChance Chronicles make a direct connection and crossover to another series I write, O.C.L.T. In that series, I've written the novel The Parting and the novella The Temple of Camazotz. The characters Rebecca York and Geoffrey Bullfinch appear in this novel, as does Cletus J. Diggs, from my book The Not Quite Right Reverend Cletus J. Diggs & The Currently Accepted Habits of Nature. This book takes place largely in Old Mill, North Carolina, which is Cletus' stomping grounds. My books and my stories have long shared certain locations – San Valencez, Lavender, and Friendly California, Old Mill, North Carolina, and Random Illinois. If you enjoy this book, you should look up the titles above – you'll find some old friends waiting.
If the story The Preacher's Marsh, which involves a legend mentioned in this book, appeals to you, that novella is also available. In North Carolina I've found that all roads lead to Highway 17, and in my writing, it seems the same may be true.
There will, with the grace of whatever power watches over me, be many more Donovan DeChance books in the future, and many more adventures for Cletus J. Diggs and for the agents of O.C. L.T. I hope you'll join me. I'm always ready to tell a story.
David Niall Wilson
Just off to the side of The Great Dismal Swamp
