I need your feedback💕

Should I expand THE SHARD AND THE SERPENT?

I am looking into potentially expanding THE SHARD AND THE SERPENT. Let’s talk about what that means and ultimately why I canceled preorders for book 2.

First, I want to give you some peace of mind. I know hearing an author say, “I might redo something”, can be anxiety-inducing if you loved the original version and/or already spent money on the original. Should I officially decide to do this, anyone who can provide me with proof of receipt will receive the updated version(s) digitally at no cost.

An extended version of a book is also not a complete redo. The same major plot points would still exist, but expansion would take place among the worldbuilding, the romance, and the Shard Daughters lore. It will feel like getting a ton of bonus content—not a complete change to the story you know and love.

Depending on the expanded material, there is also potential that the book would be split into two, possibly three, ‘volumes’. So when I say expanded, I am talking EXPANDED.💅🏻😂

But why do this, Jinapher? I just wanted Aleksi and Ruel.

I hear you, and I’m sorry to disappoint you with that THE SHARD AND THE KRAKEN preorder cancellation. But I just couldn’t in good conscience go through with publishing Aleksi and Ruel’s story when Rayze and Warrick’s has been begging me to come back.

Typically, when I get this feeling about one of my books, it’s imposter syndrome or writing improvement. It’s been a year since THE SHARD AND THE SERPENT published, but I wrote it nearly three years ago. It would be natural for me to look at it and say, “Oh, I could’ve done this and this,” because I’m a better writer now. I’m understanding my voice more, the craft, and storytelling at a level that I hadn’t at the time of its initial conception.

That feeling is usually fleeting. I get it, but then I recognize it for what it is—my growth—and I move on to the next project. I will likely feel that way about all of my art, forever. I don’t know an author who doesn’t. And when I published THE SHARD AND THE SERPENT, I published it knowing it was my best work I’d ever created at that point in time.

But that sense of not being done with it has been haunting me. Every time I sit down to write Aleksi and Ruel’s romance, my mind takes me back to Rayze and Warrick. I just can’t seem to let them completely go.

Every story in my multiverse feeds the next. If I’m hung up on one, then it becomes impossible for me to feel confident in the next, and the last thing I wanted to do was put out THE SHARD AND THE KRAKEN and then have to take them BOTH down because I hadn’t made up my mind yet about an expansion. That would’ve been disingenuous, and I always want to make sure I’m delivering the best book I can possibly create.

And admittedly this has been an incredibly rough year for me. Working on two familiar characters is bringing me a peace I desperately needed.

I know I’ve been really absent. I barely post to socials, and I’ve barely posted here. I’ve had so much going on, and the idea of just sitting down again with Rayze and Warrick is helping me not be a stress case.

So yes, you’ll be getting a ton of bonus content with this expansion, but I’m doing this for me too. I’ve lost a lot of my passion in this last year, just feeling exceptionally battered, but I don’t want to give up. This expansion is a way for me to show up again. It’s a start, at least.

I already posted about this to my IG story and I only heard YAY from the crowd, but I wanted to reach out to my dedicated readers here too.👇🏻

Please leave a comment on this post. If you read THE SHARD AND THE SERPENT, does the idea of an expansion excite you? Does it not? Your honesty will greatly affect my official decision, so don’t be shy. I know I obviously can’t make everyone happy, but I will certainly take the majority ruling into account.