Pandora Reborn Turns Five!
Celebrating my debut novel, first published in June 2018
Father’s Day in 2023 marked the fifth anniversary of the publication of Pandora Reborn — my debut novel. This horror tale chronicles an ancient witch who terrorizes a small town after she’s unleashed from a buried chest doubling as her prison. It falls on the shoulders of Ron Olsen, a teenaged newcomer to Deer Falls, to find a way to stop the witch before she destroys the entire Colorado town.
I’ve shared many things about Pandora Reborn in past Strange New Worlds newsletters:
Five fun facts about my debut novel.
Character Corner feature on Dean Lambert, a key supporting character.
The ancient witch’s origin story, told in the style of a medieval fairy tale.
Pandora Reborn introduces readers to an expansive fictional universe populated by assorted monsters, vampires, demons, werewolves, and witches. I plan to flesh out this universe through multiple novels, novellas, and short stories in the years ahead.
I've taken some preliminary steps in this direction. Two published short stories, In Hell's Shadow and Hiding From Shadows, occupy the same fictional universe that Pandora Reborn calls home. Several other smaller stories I’ve featured in past editions of this newsletter also form part of the same universe.
Before a bout of tendonitis struck me in mid-May, I planned to expand the Deer Falls universe in a profound way in 2023. My plans included serializing Snow Dragon — a prequel story to Pandora Reborn — on Substack this summer followed by publishing the first of two Pandora Reborn sequels in early October.
Those plans are no longer possible.
My Pandora Reborn sequel will be shelved until 2024 due to ongoing tendonitis issues. 2023 will be the first year where I will not publish a full-length novel since 2017. It’s a frustrating setback, but I’m left with no other option. Going an entire month without working on the story turned my original deadline to an unrealistic goal.
Resuming work on Snow Dragon will be my immediate focus once I’m sufficiently healed to move on from voice-to-text to normal typing again. I’ve targeted August for the novella’s debut episode. The exact date will hinge on how quickly I can complete a sufficient number of episodes to serialize weekly without interruption.
Wow! Sounds like an awesome story I’ll definitely have to check it out. Sorry to hear you’re having to slow down, it’s always frustrating when our bodies can’t keep up with our creative minds! I feel for you, as I’m also dealing with having to slow down while I heal from a long-standing issue, but I’m finally on the mend. Excited for you to get over the hump soon. Sending you healing vibes, John!