For the first time, this moment of thrusting a new book out into the world doesn’t make me feel celebratory. It’s the final book in the EarthCycles trilogy, and I’ve come to love the characters deeply and to treasure the world that they’re building far beyond our own failure. 

I don’t want to leave. 

The series started with Song of All Songs, which introduced Meridia, a woman denigrated for being half Melfar in a world dominated by Mundani. The story follows her growth as she faces challenges that eventually enable her to find joy in her Melfar identity while also claiming the Mundani identity she inherited from her mother. It’s a heroine’s journey and it continues in the second volume, Book of All Time, in which Meridia (somewhat unwillingly) rises to a position of leadership and responsibility. 

In the new book—Beyond the Endless—Meridia faces identity-shattering conflict arising from her very human desire to be a good mother as well as the leader that both Melfar and Mundani need her to be. And all this in a world that is suddenly much bigger and far more dangerous than Meridia had ever imagined. The resolution of Meridia’s journey at the end of this book still brings tears to my eyes—tears of hope for our own human future. 

I launched the first two EarthCycles stories in the depths of the pandemic and did my best to make their publication eventful. But it was all on Zoom and I don’t want to issue another book that way. I’m also not sure I’m ready to invite people to an in-person event. Not yet. 

So this time—for now—I’m just letting a book enter the world like a flower blooming, gently and naturally. I’m hopeful that those who appreciate flowers will notice. 

Maybe we’ll have a party come summer.

You can purchase a copy of Beyond the Endless through BookShop.org and credit your purchase to your favorite indie bookseller. My favorites are Reverie Books and Malvern Books and Bookwoman. Stay tuned to learn which of these might soon have signed paperbacks on hand for you to buy in their store. And if you favor ebooks over printed ones, you can buy that on Amazon. 

Once you have a copy of the book in hand (or downloaded to your reader), send me a photo of yourself with the book and I’ll send you a personalized bookmark, adorned with what may be a tiny waif of the Ancient Carnelian, containing its Song of the Wide Path, the symbol of friendship between Melfar and Mundani or perhaps between any humans who are labelled differently. Email me at:  donnadechen@donnadechenbirdwell.com