Dawn of Chaos and Fury by Melissa K. Roehrich - 63

It’s a Sunday morning as I write this. My house is quiet while my family still sleeps. My coffee is hot. The sun is shining, and the Border Collies are wrestling outside my window. It’s almost as if the universe knew I’d be writing this note to you this morning.

This note is one of the last things I write as we prepare to launch a book into the world. I save it for the end because it’s when I’m so close to being done. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. A tunnel that consists of drafting and editing, spending endless hours at a computer and having to miss out on family things due to deadlines. Some truth? When I’m in the middle of all that hard, especially during edits, I hate the characters a little bit. We’ve spent so much time together, and we’re all a little (okay, a lot ) sick of each other. But this point? When we’re almost done? When I can take a breath, look back, and reflect—especially at the end of a series? Yeah, this point is surreal and bittersweet.

I’ve said before, The Legacy Series was something that was never supposed to see the light of day. It was something I started writing just for me in between two of the Darkness series’s books when I needed a break from that world. Obviously, it became something more than a fun, little side project. It became the series that changed our lives. Yes, things were going great with the Darkness series. We were doing just fine, but this series? This series—with messy characters, challenging world views, and fractured hearts—took us to heights I’d only ever dreamed of. But therein lies the secret.

I dared to dream.

The Legacy Series is a lot of things, but I hope at the end of the day, you realize that your balance is just that. Yours. It might look different from others. The world might sneer and try to force you back into the box that makes them comfortable. But their comfort isn’t your responsibility. As long as your balance isn’t harming others, yourself, or the world around you, it is yours to claim.

To be clear, there’s nothing easy about it. It’s hard. Sometimes lonely. You’ll question your sanity more than once. You’ll push boundaries, and you’ll learn to set boundaries. You’ll fail. Good gods, will you fail, but if you’re weak enough to fall, you’re strong enough to get back up.

Make sure you get back up.

Because at the end of the day, we have to be a little mad to dream.

At this very moment, I’m not sure what’s next. By the time this book releases, I’m sure I will have announced my next series, but at this exact moment in time, I don’t know. I’m debating a few different things and waiting to see which characters become the loudest. It’s both freeing and absolutely terrifying. I like to have a plan, and in usual fashion, the people in my head are laughing at me and my plans. With that being said, while The Legacy Series had closure, if there were some minor things that felt like a door was left open a crack, rest assured it was on purpose. There’s so much to come in the Chaosverse.

But whatever comes next, I hope to see you there. I can promise it will have mental health rep. I can promise it will have emotional whiplash. I can promise we’ll be back in the Chaosverse soon, but until then, make sure you get back up. Know your worth. Be wild and untamed.

May Chaos reign-

XO- Melissa