Aria and David Griffey

Hoo boy, where do I even start?

It has been five years (ouch!) since I posted anything on this blog, though not from lack of trying. I think my most recent draft dates to 2022, which is still two years old, but hey, that’s better than five. Anyways, as you can probably imagine, a lot has happened in my life since I wrote about how good the City of Ember film is, so here is a very brief rundown. In the past five years, I have:

• Taken about a year and a half of college classes (don’t have a degree, though)
• Got a job at Kroger in the middle of the pandemic doing curbside pickup (which I have since quit)
• Met, dated, and married my husband (we met at said Kroger)
• Opened a used bookstore in my hometown, at which I now work full time (supported by my husband; we have yet to turn a profit lol)
• Been on TV talking about said store (twice)
• Gotten pregnant (which I am still; we are expecting in mid June)
• Drafted and edited significant portions of a steampunk adventure novel with my husband (which is the novel referred to in the title of this post)

So I hope that gives you a decent rundown of what I’ve been up to!

On to what we’re here today to discuss: my next novel! Or perhaps I should say my first real novel, since the other books I’ve published have technically all been novellas or even shorter, but I digress. This new book is a New Adult steampunk adventure novel, the first in a planned trilogy, entitled The Heart of Resistance. I am cowriting this series with my husband David, but we are planning to publish under a single pen name: A. D. Griffey. We have been working on this project for several years now, and are currently in the revision stage, smoothing out some bumps in the latest draft before we send the story off to a copy editor and beta readers for feedback.

And that’s where you come in! We are looking for 10 or so individuals to read and give feedback on an edited draft of The Heart of Resistance. Take a look through the blurb below, and if you’re interested, please fill out our beta reader questionnaire! We would love to have your assistance in this exciting new project.

Arthur Pendington, former captain of the Imperial Airship Formidible, is out for revenge against the Empire that made him a murderer.

With nothing but his wits, a rag-tag crew, and an ill-gotten airship, Arthur plans to destroy the remaining Imperial Dreadnoughts: weapons of terror that rain destruction on the Empire’s enemies and civilians alike. Losing them would cripple the Empire’s military might, but against such menacing machines of war, this one-man rebellion—the product of either madness or obsession—is all but a hopeless endeavor. Nevertheless, Arthur means to see his plans through to the bitter end, even if he destroys himself and the few friends he has left.

Arthur’s quest for vengeance pulls an ex-rebel engineer, a runaway workhouse orphan, and the princess of a rival kingdom into his orbit, and puts everyone in his path in danger from all sides. Though the Empire he contends against is corrupt to the core, his own motives and methods are far from heroic. Arthur unknowingly entangles himself and his crew in a web of danger, intrigue, rebellion, and international politics, which will change himself, his friends, and the course of entire nations.

I think that this is unironically the best project I have ever yet worked on, and I cannot wait to share it with you. If you would like to be among the first to read the story, please fill out a beta reader questionnaire! The reading period will begin in early May, so the sooner the better ^_^