The Beast of Ashwood Manor
Re-release coming soon
The Beast of Ashwood Manor was my debut book in 2023. I needed a distraction from the Shadowborn series, which I was struggling with at the time. Taking a break from it, I revived an old story I had started a year or two prior about a young man who went into the woods, found a manor, and was transported to another realm. It was heavily inspired by Beauty and the Beast, and I put my own spin on it. Deciding it was finished, I published the book under the pen name that would eventually become my main author handle.
Ashwood surprised me, as it seemed to do well in Kindle Unlimited, but it seemed to drop off at the beginning of 2024. Reviews were in, and while some were good, others were more critical of the book's ending. I didn't originally plan for Ashwood to be a duet, but that's how I had decided to end it, with hopes of wrapping up the whole story by book 2. But book 2 tanked, and more readers were upset at the ending being underwhelming. Needless to say, the books didn't jive well with readers. After putting the Shadowborn series out, I realized I still wasn't done with The Beast of Ashwood Manor. I didn't want to give up on it. So, I updated the cover and made a plan to revise the first book as a standalone.
There are lessons to be learned here. For me, it's that I need to spend as much time with a book as I can before I release. I also really like to listen to what readers are saying. Of course I want to write what I want, and I always do, but I also want to listen to my audience and see what they want in terms of character relationships and plot development. Ashwood was a quick read, and I can see now how it felt rushed. My hope is to bring the book back as even better than the first version. Sometimes books are released too early, and revisions may need to be made. This isn't something I plan to do with my future books, but I am glad that Ashwood was able to teach me how to slow down, revise, and carefully consider my audience.
The book will be re-released sometime in early 2025, and will be a standalone MM Paranormal Romance. A novella will eventually be put up on my site to download for free, as an afterward story.
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