I can’t believe I’m actually typing this.
Once Upon a Blue Moon is officially out in the world today.
It’s fine. I’m fine.
Truthfully, this is a day I wasn’t sure would ever come. Anxiety and I are old frenemies. My go-to response to anything exciting is: “Everyone will hate it and also me.” (Shoutout to intrusive thoughts for always being early to the party.) But I’m doing my best to shut that noise down and focus on something more important: this book is finished. It’s here. It’s real. And I am so proud of it. I hope you are, too.
Hazel and Blake (my two leads in this book) came to me during the first year of the pandemic. At the time, they were part of a cozy little paranormal rom-com idea. Nothing too serious. Just magic, moonlight, and maybe a kiss or two. But as I kept writing, something shifted. Bianca started to take up more space. Then Ravena appeared, fully formed, with a mysterious past and plans of her own. Suddenly, this wasn’t just a love story. It was the beginning of a battle for Moonridge. Sure there is romance, but there’s also mystery, and the stakes really grew. Suddenly it wasn’t so much about Blake trying to figure out how to handle boobs, and Hazel worrying about using the restroom as a guy. The stakes were much, much bigger.
And then it grew even bigger because a bigger bad showed up. (Because of course it did.) But I’m getting ahead of myself. They don’t come into full view until book two.
To say that the story exploded in my hands in the best possible way would be an understatement. By fall of 2024, I had committed to making this a series. As soon as I sent Blue Moon to my beta readers, I dove straight into book 2. I wanted to make sure my idea would work and I would have enough content. And boy, do I ever. As of today, I’m switching between editing book two and plotting out books three and four. Yes, each book will have new leads falling in love amidst paranormal chaos. Spoiler alert: You’ve already met two of the leads for books three and four if you’ve read Blue Moon. Their love interests will be introduced in book two.
I’m getting ahead of myself. More to come on that. For now, all I can say is I hope you fall in love with this town and these characters, because there’s so much more coming and it would really suck if no one read it. 🙂 I can’t wait to share it all with you.
One last request, if you read Once Upon a Blue Moon, please take a few minutes to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads (or wherever you share bookish thoughts). It makes a huge difference, especially for a debut indie author. And if you want even more Moonridge in your life, sign up for my newsletter to be the first to know about sneak peeks, exclusive extras, and early reader opportunities.
Speaking of early reader opportunities, I’m hoping to have Book 2 ready for early readers around the beginning of September. If all goes as planned, It’ll be available on NetGalley, BookSprout, and StoryOrigin.
One last note, we are working on building an automated contact page so you can send in questions, theories, or character crushes, and I’ll be answering some of them on the blog. He’s hoping to be able to build it so it will weed out spam and hate mail to keep my anxiety at bay. Fingers crossed.
This journey has been weird and wild and wonderful, and it’s only just getting started.
Thanks for being here.
Welcome to Moonridge. 💙
Love,
Avery
