Writing Whisper Beneath the Roots — my first full dive into the world of The Tumblepatch Chronicles — was… a trip. A weird, wonderful, stressful, kind of magical trip. The kind where you’re either lost in the woods or about to stumble into something ancient and glowing. Hard to tell which.

First time self-publishing. Which means I was the writer, the layout department, the hype machine, and the guy yelling at himself for using the word glimmering too many times. Learned a lot. Messed up a few things. Learned more. Got some great feedback (thank you, truly). And after reading it a thousand times myself, yeah — I can see where a real editor would’ve made a difference. The second half especially gets a bit repetitive. Some parts drift into the abstract a little too hard. But I was chasing something fun, witty, a little offbeat. With heart. With emotion.

Maybe I rushed it. Probably did. I just wanted it out in the world. Next time? I’ll slow down. Bring in the professionals. Do it right.

That said — I’m proud of it. Faults and all. It’s the start of something bigger.

The second book’s already outlined. Story’s mapped. I’m leaning more into a traditional fantasy feel this time, while keeping that same weird, whimsical tone. We’ll go deeper into the spiral magic, the memory threads. New characters are on the way. And yes — Guildmaster Bristlebaum and Acornimus are absolutely coming back.

I’ll share more soon, once the words start turning into chapters.

Thanks for being here.