Do you like Hallmark movies but wish they had more black magic and murder? Did you enjoy the Twilight series but wished the characters were slightly more emo? Well, have I got a book for you!

I'd like to introduce you to Eden's Winter, my first novel, my emotionally charged love fest, my literary Cinnabon. It'll make your teeth hurt, but in a good way.

I'd wanted to write a sappy romance novel since I was around seventeen. Eden and Aria have been living rent free in my head for decades, and it's high time those two moved out. I spent my twenties working out a plot and imagining scenes and dialogue in my head as I fell asleep at night, but I never had anything solid. Eventually, I lost all my files when I got a new computer, so I ended up shelving the idea sometime around 2014 and forgetting about it.

By 2022 I thought back to my novel, and with a touch of regret I figured it would never get written. It was around that time that Eden came to me in a dream. He is a stubborn fellow, as you will soon see. I was sitting in a mall food court, of all places, when Eden came and sat beside me, even though a crowded mall is the absolute last place you would ever find Eden, if you know him at all. He's a bit of a recluse. Anyway, he crossed his arms and gave me this look that said, "Why haven't you written my novel yet?"

Who am I to say no to Eden?

Without my original files, I had to start from scratch, thinking the story would be really short and telling myself the book will be as long as it needs to be. I "finished" the book in 2023, and it turned out to be over 400 pages. I put that word "finished" in quotes because I ended up rereading it in 2024 and rehashing the ending a bit, and then re-editing it again in 2025 when I was getting ready to publish it. It's probably never going to be perfect, but I had to stop somewhere. And now I have gifted this story to you, dear readers. Eden and Aria are your problem now. 🤣

The story follows Eden, an emotionally damaged man whose only concern is getting revenge on the town that had his mother executed for witchcraft. Not only is he suffering from severe childhood trauma, he's also convinced himself he's insane and hears a voice in his head that he spends the whole book talking back to. The voice is unhelpful at best, and an asshole at worst. It likes to remind him that if he falls in love, he'll lose his ability to use black magic, something he acquired for the sole purpose of carrying out his revenge. 

This is where Aria comes in. Eden had developed quite a crush on her as a boy, and he hasn't forgotten about it. Unfortunately, in the twenty years he spent away, she has since gotten married to an abusive man who hits her when his dinner is too bland.

Fate brings Eden and Aria together again, and it isn't long before Eden has second thoughts about this whole revenge thing. Aria makes him long for a normal life, but the voice in his head reminds him that he gave all that up in exchange for his dark power. It's really a story about love's triumph over darkness, as well as a not-so thinly veiled allegory for mental illness.

Eden isn't your typical leading man. Rather than write him as a cocky, overconfident brute, I decided instead to make him flawed and imperfect. He's stubborn as hell and makes bad decisions. He suffers from crippling social anxiety. And yet he loves fiercely despite not believing he's capable of such emotion. Aria, meanwhile, is overly trusting and hopelessly unsure of herself despite how kind and compassionate she is. She's lonely and craves the love that her husband isn't giving her.

Long story short, I hope that you will give my novel a chance and bless me with a purchase, and I hope even more that you actually enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.