Today I’m pleased to present the first bit of my second novel in the Cascadia Chronicles, The Red Falls.

The Red Falls is a sequel to The Blue Beacon and will continue the adventures of Eola, Ophir, Bajo, and Arrick as the mammal citizens of Cascadia reel and respond to a declaration of war.

There’s still a whole lot left of this story to write, but you’ve waited long enough for an update, so this is what I do have to share. I hope you enjoy more of this world we’re uncovering together!

Prologue

A bell rang over the front door of Abernethy Teahouse and a black-tailed jackrabbit robed in a dark gray cloak stepped inside.

“Holmes! Welcome! How can we help you today?”

“Evenin’, Warner,” replied the rabbit. “Just browsing for now, thanks.”

Warner was the proprietor of Falls City’s most revered tea shop, a thickset beaver who knew customer service sometimes meant giving the customer space. He nodded, set his head down, and went back to polishing the oak counter with a rag.

Holmes was not actually browsing, and while he would love a warm cup of tea even in late summer, refreshment was not his aim. Holmes was there to wait and watch. To while the time, he wandered the teahouse floor, glancing about at shelves stocked with boxes and jars of loose leaf oolong and spearmint. He scratched the fuzzy lobe of his long right ear idly, and kept one eye glancing outside the window.

Holmes was an agent of the Office of Information, Counterintelligence Branch. He was still new to his assignment, but had faced a fiery trial so far. Action was picking up as Old Way operatives worked around the city more frequently than ever.

Of course, those were the fragments of opposition which the OI knew of. Many of Holmes’ colleagues believed the infiltration of enemy agents was far more invasive, that even some herbivores sympathized with the Old Way. Holmes couldn’t guess at why planteaters would want to go back.

On the other paw, sources in the Old Way had gone quiet, and the wilderness was locked down even tighter than usual.

The OI needed a win, and Holmes was here following a tip and a hunch: a reliable source claimed vital documents were barely guarded and under threat of thievery. Holmes figured the Office of Data made for an easy target.

Warner finished wiping the counter and returned his attention to a dog-eared copy of And the Bright Sun Dawned, a best-selling treatise on the history of pan-mammalian language and its galactic implications by cat essayist Carlton Curveclaw.

Holmes circled around the back of the store slowly to avoid raising Warner’s concern, then returned to the front to see more clearly out the windows and onto Falls Street. There were mammals bustling by, elk pulling carts, porcupines and squirrels and rats and mice milling about or perusing the shops. The evening was ordinary, the late summer air dry and just a little cool. To those who paid attention, there were wisps of rumors of dangerous days ahead, but most went about their lives without worry.

Holmes found a chair his size, sat down at a counter facing outside, and set his eyes on the gray stone building across the street, only a few floors high. It wasn’t a building anyone would remember, which fit the Office of Data’s general ethos.

“Here, Holmes,” said Warner, startling the rabbit from his vigil. The beaver had a steaming mug of peppermint tea in his paw. “We made a pot of our own so it’s on the house.” 

Holmes took the mug and nodded his thanks to the shopkeep, then turned back toward the building across the street. Heat from the ceramic slowly seeped into his paw. He puffed across the surface of the tea, the peppermint clearing his airways, and sipped a bit. He kept his eye on the building all the while.

The building was a regional storage facility which held records and paperwork for Falls City and the surrounding fields and woodlands. Info of all types was collected and stored there: addresses, agricultural reports, census data, and financial statements. Most mammals passed by without a thought, but for those who wanted to understand Cascadia, to know what and who was where, these offices were invaluable.

When the mug was half finished and Holmes was settled into a flow of focus—all senses alert and intent—a long-tailed weasel in a dark green cloak and carrying a brown canvas satchel pushed his way through the building’s revolving front doors and onto the sidewalk.

The weasel took a moment, its eyes adjusting to the light, and glanced around the bustle of the street. There was something furtive in its movements which raised Holmes’ hackles. Then the green cloak twirled and the weasel struck off on a beeline south.

This is who you’re waiting for, the agent sensed inside.

He set down the mug on the counter, then moved toward the door. 

“Thanks for the tea, Warner!” the rabbit called back into the tea house, and Warner nodded and returned to his novel and the bell above the door chimed behind Holmes as he left.

Outside, the warm air and clamor of the street swept over him. The sun slowly descended toward the horizon, and creatures bustled home for the evening meal and time with family, giving Holmes plenty of cover. He tracked the weasel, following at a distance and from across the street, but close enough to keep an eye on his target, even as carts and ungulates slid past. He walked quickly, but not so fast as to draw attention.

Zzzzziiiiipppp!

Holmes felt a flutter of wind on his cheek and turned to find Benji, his hummingbird partner, hovering near his ear.

“Weasel in the green coat. I’m trailing. Keep an eye on him and stay discreet.”

The hummingbird chirped and flitted off on a circuitous route, bending around buildings to find a spot where he could quietly watch their quarry.

Holmes tracked the weasel down Falls Street, shoving his paws in his pockets, trying not to seem in a hurry, even as the weasel definitely was. There was a fine line in surveillance between speed and secrecy, however, and Holmes soon realized he was erring on the side of the latter. The weasel seemed to accelerate, slipping ahead through the downtown traffic, weaving around other creatures on the street. Then a flurry of donkey-drawn carts passed and the jackrabbit lost sight of the dark green cloak as the weasel ducked around a corner.

Holmes sped up, crossing the street as he did so, stressed at losing eyes-on. An elk-drawn carriage crossed in front of him and he dove and rolled under its wheels, startling the elk and the carriage’s various rodent riders.

The jackrabbit finally reached the corner and peered around and up the street, scanning the crowd. He caught sight of Benji, the ruby-jeweled bird perched in the foliage of a large maple, and he followed the aim of the tiny bird’s beak down back onto the street, where he picked up sight of the green cloak. The weasel was nearly a block ahead, headed east toward the tunnel which lead to the Falls City Elevator. 

Holmes wished he could catch up because the elevator ride would afford him time to examine the satchel and possibly even stop the weasel. He couldn’t tell if his target was armed or not, and Holmes only had a service dagger and a sling. Weasels are wily and strong, but Holmes had a size advantage and felt confident paw-to-paw.

But there was no way Holmes would reach the Elevator in time. He was only halfway up the street when the weasel vanished down the tunnel.

The stairs, thought the jackrabbit. They’d take longer, though, and he’d need to track the weasel until he caught up. Holmes waved up at Benji, and the hummingbird zipped out from the tree toward him.

“Watch that weasel,” said the rabbit to the tiny bird, and Benji rocketed off from a stock-still hover, spiraling up the bluff to the Elevator’s upper terminus.

The tunnel to the elevator was also the tunnel to the stairs, so when Holmes reached it, he paused at the side of the entrance to watch the elevator doors close behind the weasel. Then he took off, darting down the stairs and through the tunnel. Upon reaching the Elevator, he turned left to run up another long stairwell to a path which wound to the top of the bluff.

The rabbit’s legs churned underneath him, and passing animals glanced at him curiously. 

Creator, let the velocity of Lightning Ben live in me, the jackrabbit prayed.

The walk was long, but not steep, so Holmes was able to keep a quick pace as he rose sidelong up the face of the cliff. He reached a small waterfall which dropped in tiers down the side of the bluff and his lungs burned a little, but Holmes was in excellent shape and barely felt the exertion. He passed the final waterfall, which poured through a cut in the stone, and turned right along a sidewalk toward the top of the Elevator.

The upper terminus of the Elevator offered an expansive view of Falls City , and the old landmark’s perch at the top of the bluff was both the town’s key tourist stop and useful for public transportation. Because of its vitality, the Elevator was powered by the waterwalls and mills which still stood along the Great Western River, remnants of the prime mammals’ long reign. Even now, the Elevator was busy, crowded with creatures enjoying the late summer views.

Unfortunately for Holmes, there were no signs of the weasel. If his quarry had headed north or east, he would’ve crossed paths or spotted the green cloak. Instead, he spotted Benji, a shimmery dot hovering off the bluff, high above the city. The hummingbird’s beak was aimed southeast.

Must’ve taken the promenade toward Canemah, thought the rabbit. 

He jogged south down the path which meandered along the edge of the bluff, moving hurriedly, though not quite at a full sprint so as not to raise suspicion. As he moved, he glanced out at Benji, still tracking the weasel’s progress. The beak kept rotating closer.

If he weren’t in such a rush, Holmes might’ve enjoyed the view. The path was lined with mossed over chunks of flagstone, and the newer quarter of the city lay off to the right, a complex of glass and wood towers, restaurants, cafes, and shops which looked out over the water. Far out ahead were the falls, where the Willamette curled around a central caldera, wrapped around the basalt cliffs like a horseshoe, then tipped off the stone and plunged to the misty cauldron below.

The falls was a key location because it also broke up river commerce and travel, dividing the Willamette between its long run upstream into the southern reaches of the Willamette Valley, and it’s brief northern stretch, which flowed through Bridge City before joining the Great Western River. On the south side of the falls were giant locks, around which boats could move through to continue up- or down-river travel.

Around a bend in the path, Holmes finally spotted the weasel. His quarry sat alone on a bench in the midst of a clearing where creatures were gathered for picnics and to revel in the view. The green cloak crinkled up around him, and the canvas satchel was propped against his lower paws.

Holmes slowed to a stroll. The weasel seemed serene, which offset the tension the rabbit felt. He stopped, leaned against the trunk of an apple tree, and gazed around, trying to seem inconspicuous as he considered his next move. He could confront the weasel directly, though risking an open conflict among all picnickers could tarnish the reputation of the OI, and the Office needed all the reputation it could muster.

As Holmes considered his options, the equation suddenly changed. He was tipped off by Benji, the little hummingbird chirping and clicking in alarm from the branches of a nearby tree, and Holmes followed his avian partner’s attention. Further down the path and walking toward them, Holmes caught sight of a fox on two paws shadowed by a large and dangerous-looking Doberman. Both were headed down the path toward the clearing. The Doberman peeled off, standing to the side, but the fox continued on, and Holmes caught its eyes flick toward the weasel, who stood up when he saw the new arrivals and headed their way.

Holmes began to carefully move toward them, watching close. As the weasel neared the fox, he pawed the satchel off to the larger creature, an exchange so subtle even animals looking straight on wouldn’t notice. But Holmes was well-trained and watching, and now he knew fully this chase was worth any effort to stop. 

Now the jackrabbit had to act.

Holmes drew his sling with one paw, and service dagger with the other, though he kept both hidden along his forepaws. The sling was already loaded with a stone, though that hardly mattered. Between the weasel, the fox, and the Doberman, the jackrabbit was overmatched even with surprise on his side. Doubt flooded up in him. He wasn’t even sure what the satchel held. But then Holmes remembered if he let the trio go, the contents of the satchel, and whatever they meant in this escalating conflict, would be lost. Conviction forged within him. He shouted.

“Stop! Office of Information!” 

Every creature in the clearing, from picnickers to Benji to the fox and the weasel and the Doberman, turned to stare at the shouting rabbit.

“Drop that satchel!”

For a flash of a second, the fox seemed startled, but when he saw it was only a jackrabbit advancing, a smirk spread over his muzzle. He fired a glance at the Doberman, who charged.

Benji immediately recognized the odds against his partner and winged off to find reinforcements. Meanwhile, the fox and weasel used the Doberman’s charge to escape in different directions, fully expecting the powerful guard dog to wreak havoc.

Holmes was trained in all sorts of combat and tradecraft, but he was also accustomed to a long and peaceful age, so his training heretofore had been mostly theoretical. The Doberman running full-speed at him, on the other hand, was real and terrifying. Every instinct in the rabbit wanted to run.

Instead, the training took over. The sling uncoiled from his paw, dropping down to the rabbit’s thigh, and in another twirl of his paw, the leather pouch whirled clockwise, back and down, and Holmes fired the stone with a flick. The rabbit was only a decent shot, but the Doberman charged head on, closing the distance between them in a flash, and the dog’s speed multiplied the speed of the stone so that when it impacted on the Doberman’s head, there was a resounding thunk, and the big dog dropped like a timbered fir and skidded to a stop.

With the Doberman down, Holmes bolted out in pursuit of the fox and the stolen satchel. The red canine loped hurriedly south along the bluff toward the small town of Canemah.

Holmes was faster, though, and fifty meters on he caught up to the fox, and drove full force into the back of the larger beast. The fox sprawled, and the satchel swung free, rolling open against a stony outcrop near the top of the bluff. A few documents fell out and a breeze swept them over the edge of the cliff, but the fox was more intent on Holmes, spinning with a snarl and a drawn knife to confront his assailant.

Holmes brought up his dagger just in time to parry the fox’s attack, but he staggered back from the blow and the second lunge caught his shoulder, slicing in, immediately drawing a line of blood on the rabbit’s gray fur.

“Long-ears always gotta meddle,” growled the fox. “Maybe I should cut one off after I kill you.” 

Then he lunged again. Holmes moved to block but the fox hesitated his attack and this time the blade sank deep in the flesh above Holmes’ right paw, and the rabbit lost hold of his service dagger. It fell away in a clatter of steel. 

With a badly wounded paw, and armed only with an unloaded sling, Holmes’ courage faltered and he dropped back. Fear seized him for a moment, but he pressed it back, and when the fox lunged, Holmes ducked and rolled under his enemy’s outstretched paws, then kicked hard into the canine’s gut. The fox crumpled, the wind dashed from his lungs. He sucked hard for air, then snarled after catching his breath. But just as he lined up for another attack, the fox’s eyes caught something beyond Holmes. The fox froze. His eyes widened, then narrowed.

“Stop, brigand, in the name of the Canine Corps!” Holmes heard a gravelly voice call behind him. He turned to find an English bulldog, thick as a medicine ball, bowling across the lawn toward them. On the bulldog’s back was a squirrel rider with a drawn bow. 

Quick as a flash, the fox snatched up the satchel and bolted north down the trail. The squirrel nocked and loosed her arrow, which hummed over Holmes’ head, but the shot fell just a bit short of the fox’s lower paws and skidded past him down the path.

Holmes loaded a stone into his sling and flicked another volley after the fleeing fox, but the stone faded to the left as the red canine widened the distance between them, racing downhill.

Holmes felt confident he could have caught the fox, but not without the blood he was losing. The bulldog rolled up beside him, and the squirrel leapt from its back to check on Holmes. Benji flitted after the fox to keep him in sight, but Holmes feared danger for the hummingbird if he tracked the fox too long, and whistled for him to return. The tiny bird buzzed back and alighted on the jackrabbit’s left shoulder.

“Are you badly wounded?” the squirrel asked, pulling a scarf from her cloak and wrapping it around the stab wound on Holmes’ right paw.

“I’ll be okay,” said the rabbit, though he gritted his teeth as the dressing sent prickles of pain through his body.

“I’m Sergeant Sera Duniway of the Falls City Peace Officers and this is Sergeant Burly Barclay of the Canine Corps,” said the squirrel, nodding toward the bulldog.

“I’m Holmes Graytail. Counterintel for the OI.”

“What happened here?”

“I’m not sure myself. I got a tip to watch for a thief at the Office of Data. A suspicious weasel in a green cloak walked out with a satchel and carried it to the bluff where there was a hand-off with the fox. I went to break it up but they sicced that behemoth on me,” Holmes jabbed a paw toward the inert Doberman. “I managed to put him down and caught up to the fox, but that’s where events took a turn. Then you folks rescued me. Thank you, by the way.”

“Yer welcome. And we won’t catch them now anyway, but we’ll put out a lookout page and at  least we got one Old Wayer to question,” said Sergeant Barclay.Which…I’ll go cuff him while you talk this out.”

Sgt. Duniway nodded, then continued the interview as the bulldog trundled off.

“Any clues about what’s in the satchel?” 

“No. I’m wondering the same thing. Must be important enough to fight over.”

Then Holmes recalled the papers which fell out.

“Some of what they stole blew off the bluff. Will you check that out, Benji?”

The hummingbird clicked, rose up, and dipped over the side of the cliff. A moment later, Benji returned, clicking wildly.

“I’ll head right down,” Holmes told the tiny bird, and Benji clicked his assent.

“There’s no quick way off the bluff and you need that wound treated,” said Sgt. Duniway. “I’ll track down the papers with your hummingbird while Sergeant Barclay takes you to the hospital for those wounds.”

By then the adrenaline of the chase was wearing off, and the throbbing pain from the dagger wound grew angrier.

“I could use some treatment. And thank you again for showing up.”

The squirrel offered her paw and Holmes took it and the smaller animal pulled the jackrabbit upright with ease, and they headed over to help Sgt Barclay apprehend the unconscious Doberman.

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Hours later, a bevy of cottontail nurses at Falls City Medical Center were still fussing over Holmes’ wound. They’d cleaned and stitched up the deep laceration with spider thread, forced him to rest, and checked in frequently since Holmes had the dashing charm of a spy.

By the time Holmes was discharged later that evening, the sun was down over the western hills and night was falling. Three of the cottontail nurses wheeled him out to the waiting room, where Sergeants Barclay and Duniway sat alongside the OI Station Director of Falls City, Felix Quill. Director Quill was a Norway rat who oversaw intel collection in the region around the falls. Holmes felt relieved because curiosity about the case was nearly spilling from his’ soul and the Director would have the answers.

“What’d you find?” Holmes asked even before they noticed him.

“Three papers,” Sgt. Barclay answered after a beat. “Two were contact lists for healers in the region. One was a list of supervisors at the docks and locks.”

“What do you make of it,” Holmes asked Quill.

The rat scratched his chin and smoothed out his whiskers.

“Both lists are of useful citizens. It’s reasonable to assume the other documents were, as well. Short of Old Wayers throwing a party for the Falls City’ leadership, this seems ominous.”

“Could be a routine intel grab?” Holmes replied.

“Could be,” the rat conceded. “But brazen if so.”

“What do we know about the thieves?”

“So far we know the weasel worked for the Office of Data and went by Ray Slythe,” added Sgt. Duniway. “That’s likely an alias, though. He was hired in the spring and mostly kept to himself. The Canine Corps is looking out for him.”

“The Doberman’s name is Rocco. He’s a low-level troublemaker who’s in custody and still unconscious. We don’t know the fox at all,” added Sergeant Barclay. “His scent went cold near the docks at Canemah. No one saw any unfamiliar boats, but we assume one picked him up.”

“It’s not a lot to go on,” said Holmes. “What’s the next step?”

Director Quill gave a closed-muzzle smile which the rabbit knew meant the answer wasn’t clear yet.

“You’ve done enough today already, Agent Holmes,” added Sgt. Duniway. “We’ll let you know if anything else unfolds on our end.”

The sergeants had reports to file before their shift was done, so they said goodbye and headed off to the Canine Corps precinct.

“Have a round of ciders with me,” said Quill. “I’d like to talk this out a bit.”

“Yes, sir,” Holmes replied, and the Norway rat and the jackrabbit made their way over to the McLoughlin Tavern along Molalla Avenue, talking all the way. They discussed the day's events and theories, certainly, but the conversation also ranged since the best thinking often requires some meandering.

After a tastefully detailed report on Holmes’ prolific dating life, the two OI agents turned back to the matter at paw. A fight with data thieves was rare and concerning, but the main question was What do we do with the names on the list?

“They’re likely in danger,” said Quill.

“Do we let them know?”

“Would you want to know?”

“Absolutely. At least to have a go bag ready.”

“Then tomorrow we’ll start with what we have, and see if the Office of Data has copies of what we’re missing.”

This seemed to settle the matter, and the two OI agents returned to their ciders. Holmes was hungry by now so he ordered a sugar snap pea salad adorned with ricotta, minced shallots, fresh mint leaves, and sliced almonds scattered over the top. When the salad and the next round of ciders were finished, Quill paid their tab and the two agents wandered out onto the street.

The evening was warm and quiet, almost pleasant enough to ward away the pain in Holmes’ paw, and as they made their way back to the grand pathway leading down the bluff to downtown, they were alarmed to find Sergeant Barclay charging up the stairs toward them.

“Good! I hoped you weren’t gone,” said the Sergeant.

“Is there a break in the case?” asked Holmes.

“Not quite,” replied the bulldog. “Something else changes the game.”

Quill and Holmes narrowed their attention on the bulldog.

“The Beacon changed.”

Holmes was confused for a moment. What beacon?

“From blue to what?” Director Quill asked.

“Red.”

Then Holmes’ mind clicked the news into place. A red light atop the Beacon meant war. For all of Cascadia. And if there was war enough to light the Beacon, then the escalation he and his colleagues experienced over past seasons was now real and imminent. Falls City was surely a target.

“What about the raptors?”

“The Beacon being red is all I know right now, sir,” answered the bulldog.

Having delivered the terrible news and without much more to share, Sgt. Barclay said goodbye, left the two OI officers with their thoughts, and rumbled on back to his precinct. Holmes looked at Quill, and the rat’s eyes was deep in focused thought. The jackrabbit knew right then that the evening wasn’t over. How could they sleep when there was endless work to do, and imminent threats loomed?

“Sir?”

The wizened rat blinked and turned to look up at the younger agent.

“How can I help, sir?”

OI Station Director Felix Quill paused to consider this, for his prodigious mind was already spun up and processing how all-out war might unfold around them. There were a million tragic angles and paths of action, and any path they took would require the aid of trusted OI officers like Holmes very much indeed. But he also saw the weariness in the young agents’ eyes and he knew there would be sleepless weeks ahead. He set his paw firmly on the jackrabbit’s shoulder.

“Your orders are to go and rest, Agent Holmes. I’ll need your help tomorrow.”

Holmes wanted to argue with Quill’s orders, because he knew even providing companionship could unlock the Director’s thoughts and strategy. But right then an unsettling throb bloomed in the rabbit’s forepaw where the fox’s blade cut his muscle. After the odd mix of ache and sting subsided, a profound exhaustion sank into his bones.

“I’ll be there in the morning,” said Agent Holmes Graytail, and he gave a casual salute and parted ways with his station chief and set off back to the one-room warren he rented near Abernethy Creek.

Quill’s night was just begun, but he had a little time, so instead of heading to their office near the Falls City Riverfront, he walked north from the stairwell along Center Street to the end of the bluff, which folded out into a broad vista of the Willamette and Clackamas Rivers, and all the way to the far-away glow of Bridge City. Off to the left, barely visible over the hills, was the dim light of the Beacon, shining red.

This will change us all, thought the station chief.

Back home, wrapped in a light cotton comforter, Holmes was suspended between the worlds of consciousness and dreams. For him, the war and the day’s earlier chase and the ensuing investigation were too much to ponder at once and right now. Instead, the mercy of denial set in, and the rabbit’s mind turned slowly around memories of life as a leveret here in Falls City, how the pew cushions felt on Sunday mornings as they listened to sermons about the goodwill of the Creator and Lightning Ben resting over them all, how he and his siblings and cousins and neighbors would gather at Storm Park and play lemonball like laughing banshees until the sun was well down and the ball was hard to see in the dusken dark.

His mind drifted that way while, toward the gray slate of sleep, where the dangers ahead felt far away, and there were only warm recollections of early life. But the reality of war kept knocking, and his mind eventually spun up, and Holmes knew sleep was out, and he got up to brew himself a cup of Darjeeling and ponder his next steps.

Cascadians, thank you for opening this message. I trust you are transitioning smoothly into the cooler days of the years. I have very big news to share!

Let’s get right away to our top story:

The Blue Beacon is now on sale in all formats.

Get the First Edition & Merch

Get the Audible Edition

Get the Kindle Edition

That top button will take you to our own proprietary store, where you can buy the full-color paperback, stickers, the map (though we’re still waiting on a restock) and whatever other merchandise we dream up in the future.

Regarding merch, there are now new sticker designs featuring The Blue Beacon’s two cutest characters. You can order them along with your copy today!

(Note: the Print Edition is also available on Amazon, but for the same price. I’d encourage you to buy the book directly from us. And please let me know if you plan to buy in bulk!)

Today I’m especially excited to have the Audible Edition up, because I had a ton of fun reading my own book aloud. Wow, what a day! A new story is officially brought to market. I can scarcely believe it. But I can thank God.

Thank you, God.

The target audience so far digs the tale.

Bringing The Blue Beacon to market was an Orlo the Granite-sized burden for my artist self, and I feel relief at having this product finally, fully on sale.

What’s uplifted me through the marketing phase, though, is ongoing reader feedback. I know this is a strong story, and the 330 copies I’ve printed so far are like seeds scattered, and they’ll take time to find roots. I expect slow growth. This week, however, a handful of parents informed me their middle-schoolers crushed the book in a day or two. Some of them aren’t even big readers! Well, this is simply the very highest of praise because that’s who I wrote The Blue Beacon for.

I also wrote this novel for my neighbors, and one of them, Carla Asplund, listened to the audiobook recently on a road trip and raved to me afterward that her only disappointment was the story ending so soon. This could be an issue with the architecture of the story, and I have made a note to spend more time on the end of Book 2. Still, I suppose it’s wise to leave readers wanting more. Thank you for the support, Carla!

Now I hope for word-of-mouth to spread like fire, for Gladwellian tipping points, and for those fallen seeds to grow roots which reach water and good soil.

And I pray for a great story to tell in Book 2.

Updates on what’s ahead for the Cascadia Chronicles

With regards to Book 2 and and my Inner Artist’s boredom with marketing, last week I took a walk along the path of the first chapter, gleaning details from the landscape and buildings. Especially the trees in that golden summer light. The timing for this research is super-convenient since The Blue Beacon takes place in late summer and Book 2 will pick up where Book 1 left off.

My next goal is to write Book 2 quickly through the rest of the year. I plan for the second novel to be longer, so I’ll loosely aim to have the manuscript finished by Spring 2024. Maybe sooner. I haven’t finalized a plan yet, though that’ll be part of my work over the next few weeks.

And when Chapter 1 is ready, you folks in this Substack will be the first to see it. Until then, thank you—as always—for following this journey. What a joy to go this far!

Now onward, little book! Godspeed.

Cascadians and Green Roomers,

I have a few things to report:

First, of our 200 Kickstarter & BackerKit orders, only 13 orders remain outstanding because they’ll either be delivered in person or I don’t have a shipping address yet. The rest are fulfilled! Hurrah! If you’re a backer and haven’t received your order yet, let me know!

Second, the Kindle Edition of The Blue Beacon is now available on Amazon. There are two 5-star reviews so far, and this morning the ebook was dubbed a Top New Release, got a sweet little badge, and is currently ranked #1 for new releases in Children’s Mammal Books.

Buy The Blue Beacon today!

The Audible Edition is pending approval though I expect to go live in the next week. More print editions will also be available soon, and you can still preorder the print edition here.

Lastly, I got a timely reminder from Breena Bard’s Instagram yesterday that submissions for the Oregon Book Awards were due at 5pm on Friday evening. So I cobbled together a nomination in the Middle Grade & Young Adult Literature category, paid the $50 submission fee, and rushed downtown to drop three copies of The Blue Beacon in person. I wasn’t sure they’d be mailed in time! This is the first award I’ve submitted the novel for, but it’s a doozy since being honored by my home state would be a dream. For now, that’s still all it is, but at least I took some steps toward that goal.

With the Kickstarter campaign nearing an end, this will be the main source of Cascadia Chronicles news, so expect more posts as I bring the The Blue Beacon to market and dive into Book 2. There’s more to come! Thanks for following.

Today, notice arrived from Gorham that The Blue Beacon’s First Editions are printed. After paying the final invoice, they'll be shipped from Centralia by Old Dominion. I expect to receive them, at the latest, either late this week or early the next. 

Now I feel a little like an avalanche is coming. Meanwhile, I’m busy with this other stuff.

Audiobook editing

One mathematical rule for audio is that each hour of recording requires 2-3 hours of editing, and that's after you're used to it. I'm a moderately experienced audio editor, but it's kind of like guitar, where I don't play enough to pick it back up again without cobwebs. Also like guitar, I find audio editing to be gratifying work once I'm in the flow. To tidy up a series of missed takes and noise spikes and flubbed lines with a combination of visual alignment, fine motor movements, and listening skills is rewarding.

Unfortunately, I discovered that some of my recorded chapters aren't showing up, so the last few chapter may need to be read again. I still feel confident of reaching my end-of-August delivery deadline for digital files, especially with the eBook ready to go.

The right book at the right time

I'm currently reading Shoe Dog, Nike founder Phil Knight's autobiography ghost-written by J.R. Moehringer. Moehringer is also the ghostwriter behind Prince Harry's Spare and Andre Agassi's Open, and he's widely considered to be the finest ghostwriter alive.

As such, Shoe Dog is a precisely-told tale about a wild-eyed SE Portland kid-turned-entrepreneur with a uniquely Oregon-centric dream, and how he brought that dream to life. Knight's dream is personal to many of us who live here since we wear his shoes and the company he built sustains our state, and many folks we love. His story is a fiery distillation of what it means to be an Oregonian, and reading it alongside launching my own PNW-based product is a major jolt of inspiration.

Reading Shoe Dog now also reminds me of an idea I heard: The right books reach us at the right times. This is an incredible comfort, both as a writer (because it relieves me of anxiety over who who reads what when) and as a reader (because I don't have to feel so guilty about all those stacks I haven't got to yet).

The second book

Speaking of more books, this week I charted out a loose weekly word count target for Book 2, and wrote some scenes in the early chapters. While the story is still very early in the process, it's fun to get back to these characters, especially since rereads of The Blue Beacon have them so fresh in my mind. I know some arcs, but what makes a story great are the details, and there are hundreds of small ones left ahead to uncover.

But before that, I gotta get Volume 1 on the market! The wait won't be long now.

Dear friends of Cascadia,

We are nearly there! I still have trouble believing The Blue Beacon is a real book sometimes, so near to release into the world. And yet here we are! Day by day, steps are taken.

As such, I figured I’d apprise you of some of those steps. But before I do, a reminder: there’s still time pre-order The Blue Beacon, or change your existing order.

Preorder The Blue Beacon

This option is only available for a few more days! On August 1, orders will be locked and shortly thereafter I’ll order the books from our Centralian friends at Gorham Printing.

What’s Currently Happening

The last week was spent making final edits on the manuscript. Through recording the audiobook aloud and reading back through the printed edition, I found over fifty changes, from typos to word alterations. I also added credits at the back of the book for Kickstarter supporters.

Then yesterday I sent those final edits to my typesetter, Hammad, at HMD Publishing in the UK. I found Hammad through Fiverr, which was an invaluable tool in building this book. Through Fiverr, The Blue Beacon’s production was international. I got cover design help from Serbia, the book’s map was hand-drawn in the Netherlands, and the final layout is happening this week in England.

I also ordered Eola and Bajo stickers and map postcards, and they arrived over the last two days. The stickers are super awesome, and I’m 95% happy with the postcards. They look great, they’re just a little too large to fit inside the paperback, and I hoped the map would serve double duty as a bookmark. I’m still mulling this over.

With the eBook expected any day, the print edition will be ordered in the first few days of August. While I will await shipment, I’ll record the last few chapters of the audiobook, and then get to editing and preparing to pack and ship when the First Editions arrive.

What I Learned from This Process

• Kickstarter is a super-effective tool for launching a book. It mobilizes community, promotes authentic marketing, and, while a lot of work, was mostly fun to assemble. I definitely plan to publish this way again.

• People respond to passion. The other day I watched an artist drawing sand art pieces at Seal Rock, etching massive near-perfect circles carved in the beach with a rake. How many years of dance and drawing went into developing her craft? Yet her passion was clearly evident, and we all marveled at her work. I can only hope The Blue Beacon is well–made enough to earn similar marvel. It’s no small risk to put on a show, and I feel honored at how many folks—both within my community and total strangers—have showed up in support. Your generosity of resources and attention strikes a hopeful chord within me. Thank you!

What I’d Do Differently

There were a few missteps:

• Stretch goals unprepared. My friend Jer warned me to have stretch goals ready, and while I had them in mind, I wish I’d had a better idea of how to structure them. It was unreasonable to set goals at every $5k, and smaller steps would’ve felt more reachable. I will be further prepped on this next time.

• Focus more on updates. This was more advice from Jer which I didn’t follow until late in the game. Proper updates provided the most efficient marketing by keeping supporters informed of the process, and that engagement apparently shows up strong on Kickstarter’s algorithm. While I got better at posting as time went on, being steady with updates toward the start would’ve built momentum through the campaign’s middle.

What I Did Right

• Prepare most everything except Stretch Goals in advance. I planned this campaign generally right and even with missteps, most everything ended up better than I hoped.

• Had videos made by Aaron Donley. The trailer and pitch video hit the exact right tone of what I was looking for.

• Wrote a good book. After further reads, I still appreciate the steps and the details and I tear up most every time at different scenes. I helped birth this book so I know I can’t be properly objective, and I can’t say for sure it’s a hit, but I do know it’s a good story with cool characters and a fun introduction to the world of Cascadia.

What’s Next

While I await the arrival of the final First Edition files, I’m turning my attention to other projects. Like this update, for instance. Or the river cruise I’m taking up the Willamette later to research one of the story paths for Book 2. If you follow on Instagram, I plan to post about this journey there.

I’m also looking into where to release The Blue Beacon more broadly. From local bookstores to Amazon to setting up my own shop, there are a lot of options and decisions to be made about what, when, where, and how to get this book in front of buyers. What I’m relying on most is the quality and word-of-mouth among folks with whom the story resonates. They’re gonna be out there! I know it.

The Blue Beacon keeps rolling forward!

Where we're at

On Monday, my company, Green Words LLC, received a deposit of the funds we raised together from Kickstarter. Now they go into operation. So far those funds have paid for an order of postcards from Moo featuring a full color map of Cascadia and two celebratory Mexican lagers.

The next step is to order books and stickers, and then deliver it all to you. There are two good reasons I haven't ordered yet from Gorham Printing, however.

• Reason 1: To give backers a chance to add to their order, and newcomers a shot at their First Edition. There is now an open pre-order store on BackerKit, which is a well-regarded and super helpful resource for successful Kickstarters. Get your copy today!

  Pre-order The Blue Beacon

• Reason 2: Real quick before I get to the second reason, I have a confession. There was one aspect of this campaign which was not complete: The Blue Beacon's audiobook. At launch, I only had about a third read and recorded. While I'm still on track to deliver all digital goods by my August target date, this impacts the printed book's timeline because I'm actively re-reading the book aloud and making minor edits as I go. This will result in a tidier First Edition for you all.

So that's where we are, flush into the Fulfillment Stage of The Blue Beacon's development. As we near the delivery date, I keep hoping this story finds and resonates with readers, and I have cause for optimism! Over 4th of July in the Wallowas, one of the cleverest and most gregarious middle schoolers I know, Aidan, gave me a seal of approval after reading the first couple chapters. He also had a lot of ideas about how sea life could fit in. 🐋 To get that sort of excited feedback was altogether thrilling.

So that's where we're at and I'm having a blast sorting it all out. I'll keep you in the loop as we get nearer to production! In the meantime, check out BackerKit for more!

Preorder The Blue Beacon

Cascadian Chroniclers,

Our Kickstarter campaign has ~21 hours to go!

Currently, The Blue Beacon stands at $9,688 pledged and 166 backers. We blasted past our initial goal and we’re on pace to break the $10k mark by tomorrow morning. If you haven’t pledged your support yet, now’s the time!

Support The Blue Beacon Kickstarter!

I’m feeling very psyched to wrap this up and move on to the next stages. Those next stages include:

• Setting up a BackerKit page to continue pre-orders.

• Making small edits to the manuscript before I send my order to Gorham Printing.

• Changing the book cover option from glossy to matte.

I’m also blasting out Reels to practice my filmmaking and share updates on where this process is at. Here’s one about the most intriguing characters in The Blue Beacon…

Jordan Green

Jordan Green on Instagram: “30 hours left in The Blue Beacon’s Kickstarter campaign so I’m bringing a new video on the most intriguing characters in the book and some of their inspirations. Follow the link in bio to support the book today! #thebluebeacon #cascadiachronicles #authorsofinstagram #pnw #novels #middlegradebooks #adventurestories #fantasybooks”

June 28, 2023

And here’s another talking about a change I’m making to the cover.

Jordan Green

Jordan Green on Instagram: “The Blue Beacon Kickstarter enters its last 24 hours! Man, what a journey the last month’s been. I’m so happy this was a success and we’re only $500 away from hitting $10k. Also, there’s a little announcement in here about the cover. Should be a fun last day. Onward to the end of the campaign! #thebluebeacon #cascadiachronicles #authorsofinstagram #pnw #novels #middlegradebooks #adventurestories #fantasybooks #kickstarter #kickstartercampaign #oregonwriter #portlandwriters #portlandoregon”

June 28, 2023

And I don’t know if I’ve ever sent you the short trailer for this book but it’s one of my favorite things about this campaign and Aaron Donley made it for me and it’s the most charming of clips.

Jordan Green

Jordan Green on Instagram: “Oh you know The Blue Beacon has a trailer and it’s a jam! The Blue Beacon is an action-adventure story set in the post-human ruins of the Pacific Northwest, where animals have built a society around what we left behind. The star of this novel is a plucky young badger named Eola, who’s journeying with a marten, a raccoon and some sort of squirrel to Bridge City on a secret mission which will change Cascadia forever. This story is especially for fans of Redwall, The Rats of NIMH, Wildwood, or Warriors, though with actual North American mammal life and real life settings, this a new fantasy novel meant to be enjoyed by all ages. Get your copy on Kickstarter today! Follow the link in my bio for more. 🎥- @jordangreenwords and @donleyaaron #redwall #warriorscats #warriors #ratsofnimh #chroniclesofnarnia #wildwood #wingfeathersaga #cascadiachronicles #thebluebeacon #pnwwriters #pdxwriters #portland #portlandoregon #oregonwriters #oregon #fantasy #fantasybooks #fantasybookstagram #authorsofinstagram #actionadventure”

June 12, 2023

So that’s where we are and I’m so thrilled to wrap up the active campaign and move into distribution. It’s not like I love the the shipping & handling process, but the motive of getting this book into reader hands is a powerful driver right now. Also, I wanna see what the new matte covers look like since all mine are currently glossy.

Support The Blue Beacon!

Onward, friends! Thank you for all your care and support!

Your very grateful writer,
Jordan Green

There are 5 days left in The Blue Beacon’s Kickstarter campaign. As we currently stand, 147 backers have pledged $8,918, leaving the book 446% funded.

Get your copy of The Blue Beacon

All in all, I feel good about how well this campaign performed. The Blue Beacon will find plenty of new readers, and I’m told there’s often a spike of supporters toward the end of a campaign, so I’d estimate we’re on pace to unlock that Bajo sticker at $10k.

While the next five days will provide a more complete picture, I also have regrets. Like, I would’ve spent a little more time in the middle of the month marketing and I would’ve written more updates. Updates and staying connected to readers seems vital, and I think I was just pretty okay at that. The next big mission in this process—printing books and fulfilling orders—is another challenge, especially since there remain some minor late-stage edits to make.

The other thing I’m up to which you may or may not know is shooting Reels about this publishing process on Instagram. So I’m sharing those with you! (Sorry in advance about all the hashtags.

The first is about the main character in The Blue Beacon, Eola Lightstripe.

Jordan Green

Jordan Green on Instagram: “Let’s talk about Eola Lightstripe, the main character in The Blue Beacon. She’s a plucky American badger, and the brightest eyes of this novel as she makes her first trip to Bridge City. This video has three other things I love about Eola Lightstripe. One of those is that while Eola is definitely a uniquely character, she’s also based on my late wife @mindy_ellen. Today is Mindy’s birthday, who isn’t here to celebrate, but I know she’s glad for the work of this novel and she lives on both through memories & stories and in spirit, safe with God. HBD, Mins.💚🙏🏼 #cascadiachronicles #thebluebeacon #writersofinstagram #novel #fantasynovel #anthropomorphic #badger #badgers #eola #eolahills #cascadia #authorsofinstagram #kickstarter #kickstartercampaign”

June 12, 2023

This one is about how The Blue Beacon came to be made over many years and stages of development.

Jordan Green

Jordan Green on Instagram: “Last night I reflected on how The Blue Beacon could’ve finished up earlier, then remembered how the final product would be way different. Sometimes a story takes many years to gestate. Here are three stories from childhood, young adulthood, and more pandemic days about how The Blue Beacon came to be. #fiction #fantasyfiction #anthropomorphism #redwall #cascadiachronicles #thebluebeacon #pnw #oregon #oregonwriters #pdxwriter #portlandoregon #novel #adventurenovel #adventurestory #writersofinstagram #authorsofinstagram”

June 8, 2023

I made this one about The Blue Beacon’s primary inspirations: Redwall, classic talking animal movies from the ‘80s and ‘90s, and Erin Hunter’s Warriors series.

Jordan Green

Jordan Green on Instagram: “There’s nothing new under the sun and every artist stands on the shoulders of giants. Here are three important inspirations for The Blue Beacon. #redwall #ratsofnimh #warriors #brianjacques #erinhunter #erinhunterwarriors #middlegradebooks #novel #fantasynovel #animals #animalstories #oregonwriters #pdxwriters #writersofinstagram #authorsofinstagram”

June 21, 2023

In this clip, I talk about my mission with The Blue Beacon: to entertain readers; to impart a passion for the creatures and land of the Pacific Northwest; and to build enough momentum to keep these stories going.

Jordan Green

Jordan Green on Instagram: “An artist’s mission statement can be an effective guidebook for their creative journey. The three main missions of The Cascadia Chronicles project are: 1) To entertain readers; 2) To impart a passion for the natural world and the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest; 3) To keep exploring these characters and telling stories set in Cascadia. #cascadiachronicles #thebluebeacon #writersofinstagram #pnw #pnwlife #pnwwriters #portlandwriters #artistmission #missionstatement #fantasybooks #anthropomorphicart #oregon #novel”

June 16, 2023

I know, it’s a lot, but just one more! Here’s my most recent Reel, talking about three major aspects of my creative process in making this book.

Jordan Green

Jordan Green on Instagram: “It’s last week of The Blue Beacon @kickstarter campaign!!! I’m feeling great about what’s built so far and to finally get The Blue Beacon to readers. Here’s a bit about the book’s creative process, including workflow, Story Circles, essential research, and writing to an audience. Back The Blue Beacon and reserve your copy today! Link in bio. #thebluebeacon #cascadiachronicles #writersofinstagram #oregonwriters #portlandwriters #oregonbooks #fantasybooks #novel #novelist #middlegradebooks”

June 22, 2023

While there’s still a slew of work to get The Blue Beacon shipped, this campaign feels like a strong debut for the Cascadia Chronicles so far. The first book will soon be out and finding readers, new markets will open up (from local bookstores to Amazon) and the next adventure needs to be written. Meanwhile, I’ll have learned lessons and gained readers from my first Kickstarter campaign. By the time I launch the next book, I’ll be a seasoned vet.

Thank you for following along in this process. You are some very cool folks and I’m grateful for you.

Now go Kickstart The Blue Beacon!

Before all else, I owe you Cascadia Chronicles/Green Room readers a heaping cornucopia of thanks.

While I felt confident in meeting my fundraising goals, I did not expect The Blue Beacon to fund in a few hours. It was a rush of a day, and immensely gratifying.

The campaign currently stands at $7,274 pledged, 363% funded, has 113 backers, and 22 days remain in the campaign.

Fund on Kickstarter

Here’s a graph of the project so far.

Outside the funding itself, the most substantial effect of this onrush was the campaign earning a Projects We Love badge from Kickstarter, intended to set aside their standout projects. This badge is an honor, and also means we’ll be featured more often on the site’s main page.

How everything felt

On Launch Day I was ready to go.

• I believed in my product, in the high quality of The Blue Beacon’s story and design.

• After months of research, consideration, and assembly, I felt confident in my campaign strategy and build-out.

• I knew I had an excellent video, written by me, shot by Lana, and directed and edited by my esteemed writer compatriot, Aaron Donley.

As previously mentioned, I was confident in meeting my goal early in the campaign. That was part of my strategy, to receive pledges well enough over the target that my funding percentage number (currently 364%) casts The Blue Beacon as an underground hit.

The problem was, I wasn’t ready to capitalize on this strategy.

Missteps & Reconsiderations

According to what I read, the best way to build off a fast-funding is with a steady plan for Stretch Goals. Stretch Goals are basically bonuses, where each milestone a project hits (in The Blue Beacon’s case, every $5k) unlocks a new item for funders.

I was strongly advised to have those goals prepared in case the project funded faster than expected. And while I had a rough draft of Stretch Goals in mind, I didn’t have a design ready, which proved to be a problem when I was funded by Hour 3 whilst out on the town at meetings.

Eventually I got around to finalizing my list and laying out the design. Behold: The Blue Beacon Stretch Goals.

The goal of this campaign was more than funding a project. It was to get a strong book launch, and as many copies of The Blue Beacon into the hands of readers as possible.

With that in mind, the other aspect I’ve second-guessed was my funding target. The $2,000 goal was basically the minimum I needed to make a launch feasible, and everything else would be extra. Yet did setting the bar so low show a lack of ambition?

I think $2k was the right call, though, especially for a first-time campaign. All in all, the strategy seems sound, though it’s natural to wonder how a higher goal might’ve changed dynamics.

Fund on Kickstarter

The Joy and Pain of Marketing

With the campaign live, I’m now in Marketing Mode. And while I’d readily admit to preferring Creative Mode, part of what’s fun about this project is how many different fields I’m learning. And promotion is increasingly vital to authors as publishing paradigms shift.

My main steps last week were to gently post about the book in Reddit and on Facebook. I say “gently” because those communities tend to abhor self-promotion, so you have to come in humbly and say, “Hey, guys, I’m a fan like all of you and I think I made something you’ll enjoy.” And while I did build some familiarity with the project, this process generally yielded modest returns.

I’ve also judiciously sent out eBooks and some of my first 27 copies to folks and media outlets who might be able to help, who might write a review or who might spread the word. If you’re one of those people, let’s talk!

I also plan to keep making videos for Instagram telling behind-the-scenes stories. Another marketing project is this newsletter, because my Cascadia Chronicles and Green Room readership were by far the campaign’s strongest supporters. 💚🙏🏼✊🏼🎉

What I’m pleased by is how much more meaningful it is to market a product I believe is well-made and which readers will enjoy. And since my role with The Blue Beacon is to be more of a conduit of creativity than the novel’s only true builder, the pressure’s more bearable.

For inspiration, I recall a line Jeff Tweedy penned in Wilco’s “What Light”":

And if the whole world's singing your songs
And all of your paintings have been hung
Just remember what was yours
Is everyone's from now on

Obviously, we’re not there yet. The paintings aren’t hung and only a few handfuls of folks know The Blue Beacon’s song. But there are a lotta weeks left in this campaign, and a lot of readers left to find. For now I’m riding the wave of gratitude and buckling up to keep on building the foundation you helped lay down. Thank you, again. And stay tuned for more as we march on through this campaign.

Fund on Kickstarter

Friends of the Cascadia Chronicles, the moment has arrived! This morning marks the launch of a 30-day Kickstarter campaign to produce The Blue Beacon’s first print run. Here’s where to go!

Get The Blue Beacon on Kickstarter

There’s a lot to explore over on the Kickstarter page beyond this video, so check it out! The campaign’s barely an hour and a half old, and already streaking toward the first funding goal. I’m feeling humbled and grateful.

If we blow past our first fundraising goal, I have lots of stretch goals in mind to keep up momentum. In other words, you can expect plenty more posts over the next month as I keep you updated on progress.

The Cascadia Chronicles and Green Room newsletters represent my core readership, so I’m relying on you guys to carry me through! But I also promise a beautiful book in return for your support.

Thank you very much for being part of this, my friends. Let’s keep this baby rolling!

I hope you’re enjoying this glorious Memorial Day weekend and I won’t take much of your time. I’m just trying to keep you folks in the loop about this Kickstarter and prep you for what’s ahead.

With a video in place and most every detail decided, The Blue Beacon Kickstarter campaign is ready to go. I even considered launching yesterday to surf some of my own birthday goodwill, but ultimately decided it’d be wiser to go on a bike ride than spend all day stuck in front of a Macbook.

Instead, I’m scheduling the campaign for next Tuesday morning, May 30th.

What I need from you

After months of research and considering how to do this right, a general plan for making this a successful Kickstarter has emerged.

My plan is to set a reasonable target goal so the first print run is funded fast, hopefully in the first day. A strong first day will propel the campaign into Kickstarter’s attention, and they’ll hopefully add momentum. After that, I’ll spend the rest of the campaign updating supporters, finding new ones, and building on The Blue Beacon’s initial success.

My point is, be ready next Tuesday!

For now, the Kickstarter’s Upcoming Project page is live, so you can go there to sign up and be notified as soon as the campaign launches.

Besides that, I’ll certainly send a message to all Cascadia Chronicles and Green Room readers when everything goes live. I’m so super psyched to bring this book to market, you guys! And I’m relying on all of you to turn this spark into a warm campfire.

Until then, thank you for all you’ve done to bring The Blue Beacon to fruition. The next 30 days are gonna be fun, and I plan to share plenty of the journey.

Let’s gooooooo!!!

Readers, there’s progress to report.

Last week I received the first 27 copies of The Blue Beacon and I love how the book looks. Here’s a video of the unboxing.

With the books in hand, I was able to film a Kickstarter video and put the finishing touches on the 30-day campaign. We are sooooo close.

For those unfamiliar, Kickstarter is a site built to fund creative work through crowdsourcing. Learning how to do a Kickstarter was a whole process, but I feel thrilled about how the campaign is coming together. Since this project is ready to go, a Kickstarter campaign will mostly serve as a way to take pre-orders for The Blue Beacon’s first major print run.

Since I posted that unboxing, all sorts of folks are asking how to get their copy. You’ve been patient in awaiting this book and I’m so eager to share it with you.

I’ll also need your help, especially on that first day. The goal with Kickstarter campaigns is to get family, friends, and existing network to fund as much as possible on Day 1, then use that momentum to draw in other supporters. So stay tuned for more announcements very soon and we’ll make this project happen together.

Thanks in advance, friends.💚

I am pleased to report The Blue Beacon’s first edition is finalized.

A print version was always the end goal and, after locking down the layout and cover this week, the mockups look better than I imagined. The final copy feels so close I’m getting whiffs of fresh-cut pages.

So much work goes into properly making a book, and while technology allows authors nearly all the tools they need to make their art into reality, there’s a reason most of these steps were historically done by dedicated experts. Editing is different from cover design, which is different from layouts, which is different from printing, which is different from marketing—and I’ve worked in publishing long enough to feel competent at some of these tasks, but never all of them. Nevertheless, I wanted to make this book the right way.

So I called on a glorious amalgam of artificial intelligence, friends, and Fiverr, and tomorrow morning I will send The Blue Beacon to the printer.

The Blue Beacon will be self-published. I’m taking this path for many reasons, ranging from pride and cowardice to hope and a dedication to artistic integrity. But the reality is self-publishing doesn’t mean I won’t find a publisher later.

My vision for The Cascadia Chronicles is to become a commercial hit, and if it becomes a hit, publishers will probably want to see if they can add momentum. And if they don’t, then I keep a larger portion of the profits. To be a hit, though, above all, The Blue Beacon has to be a beautiful, both inside and out, and I believe this book is a good work, and this series will be worthy of a loyal readership. As long as the foundation’s strong, I trust others will come along to build on this project.

The question I faced after deciding to self-publish was where to publish. Should I print-on-demand with large conglomerates like Ingram Spark? Or should I find an offset printer, with added difficulty and a higher cost?

Print-on-demand may be simpler, but after some research I learned the print quality is still lower tier. This felt like an answer to my question. Offset printing was the obvious choice.

The next question was: Which off-set printer do I use? And how will I pay for a print run?

For advice on printing, I reached out to my neighbor Laura Stanfill, who runs Forest Avenue Press, and she pointed me to Gorham Printing, a bindery in Centralia, Washington, which is respected by publishers throughout the Northwest. And, when you think about it, shouldn’t the first volume of The Cascadia Chronicles actually be printed in Cascadia?

After calculating out some costs with Gorham’s convenient online pricing tool, the next question was how to launch. Specifically, should I raise funds through Kickstarter or find another avenue, like IndieGoGo or pre-orders?

While I’m still mulling this over, Kickstarter seems the clearest path mostly because it’s a familiar hangout for fantasy readers, and because the right campaign could provide a jolt of publicity. There’s a learning curve to Kickstarter, but writers like Brandon Sanderson are using crowd-funding quite effectively. I think I can learn how to build a proper campaign.

My hope is to build a solid base for an intial print run, and then transition into further marketing steps. I know some of you are publishing folks and business mavens and successful Kickstarters, so what’s your take? Is there anything I should reconsider about this plan? Do you have tips or ideas for a successful Kickstart?

Subscribe now

Many years of work and thought and preparation and resources have gone into this project, and the result is a book I’m proud to be part of. As I move toward marketing, I plan to do so wisely, but on some level I have to hope for luck and trust The Blue Beacon finds its right readers.

While I feel more confident with each step, I won’t deny this is a little nerve-wracking. With that in mind, please pray for The Blue Beacon, that it succeeds and finds a substantial audience; that the story both gratifies readers and makes them crave more; and that this book sells well and leads to more stories in this saga. If I may be so blatant, please pray this book becomes a strong source of provision for me and my family.

Thank you, again, for following along on this publishing journey. I’m so pleased to finally share my first novel with you. It won’t be long now.

Jordan

I like to read books, sure, but what I also like to do is listen. This is a practice learned in part from Mom, who read Charlotte’s Web and Little House in the Woods and many more novels to us aloud when we were small and out of the bath. Later, I learned of books-on-tape because Uncle Bill would get them from the Multnomah County Library so he and Dad could listen while they worked. They’d have to reserve those audiobooks at the library, and then wait for a giant binder of cassette tapes to be available for borrowing. Those were the days, I guess, but it’s even better days now because I have a giant library of Audible books just hanging out in my pocket.

Here’s another thing: I love reading aloud, and I kept up Mom’s tradition by reading to Lana before bedtime, everything from Sandra Boynton (whose board books are an absolute treat) to Mark Twain. From those performances, I always felt I had a knack—or at least a passion—for speaking stories out loud, and I intended The Cascadia Chronicles to reach audio form eventually. And while the Substack app does have a built-in audio option, patient readers had to endure Siri-esque reading and egregious mispronunciations of “Willamette” in order to hear this story out loud.

This is all a roundabout way of telling you the first third of The Blue Beacon is now available in audio form. At the top of the Prologue, and in Chapters 1 through 11, you’ll find a media player, and by clicking play, you’ll hear me reading croaked epithets from an angry bullfrog, or a song about bolas. Hopefully this story will eventually be read by Wil Arnett or Nancy Cartwright, but in the meantime paid subscribers can hear the dulcet tones of yours truly telling this story. You can start here:

The Cascadia Chronicles

The Blue Beacon Begins

Two hundred years have passed since the disappearance of humanity and the dawn of interspecies communication. The cities and towns of the Pacific Northwest are now resettled by the Cascadian Alliance, a coalition formed to protect the flourishing of all mammal life. Outside of the brief and bloody Avian Wars, a prosperous peace endures…

Read more

3 years ago · 10 likes · 6 comments · Jordan Green

I’m tackling this project in thirds, so Chapters 12-23 are on the docket next. For now, I just wanted to let you know what’s out there. Thank you for encouraging this next step! Once the audio is through, figuring out how print copies is on deck. Usually publishers deal with all this, so thank you for your ongoing patience, and thank you for reading.

Sincerely,
Jordan Green

The Blue Beacon was written and produced by me, Jordan Green.

Map by Chaim Holtjer.

Artworks were generated by Midjourney with prompts from the author.

Dedication

For Mindy and Lana Green.

Dr. Mindy Green, MD, was there from the beginning of this, and I miss her. She believed in this story long before it took shape, and I couldn’t imagine I’d eventually write as a way to slip time and walk alongside her again. Eola Lightstripe is her own badger, but she’s certainly inspired by the boundless brilliance, joy, and abundant life Mindy brought everywhere she went and to everyone she knew.

This story is also for Lana, our daughter. Her heart for animals, art, characters, and storytelling—along with her keen mind—is my clearest inspiration in telling this well. Lana’s insight and help is woven through the The Blue Beacon.

I am also grateful to…

Karyn & Richard Green (aka Mom & Dad), for appreciation of beauty and creation, for frequent check-ins, for reading us stories aloud, for editorial notes and encouragement, for teaching us careful craft, for building a safe world around us, for loving God, for gentleness and love, and vastly more.

Tyler Green and Kailyn Smouse, for living these worlds along with me, for love and steadfast friendship, for being cool and funny, and vastly more.

Phil Smouse for being my battle buddy.

Rachel Drake for cheer and OHSU tours.

Lincoln, Ines, and Lewis for being future readers.

Bill and Debbie Green for art appreciation, steady support, and Vanagon rides to meet Brian Jacques.

Adam Green, Dan Green, Emily Tobin, and David Green for being the finest of family to grow and laugh and play with.

Graig Flach for faith & intellect, and an early passion for fantasy books.

Coleen Davis for inspiring greatness and living it herself.

David Flach for care and support for this work early on.

Vic Flach, Jr., for lifting up the gift of artistry.

Dr. Lewis H. Flach, DMD, for being the greatest of grandpas.

John Bachman, James Carter, and Stephen Himes, for prompting the early drafts and for being adventurous friends.

Bill and Karlene Bachelor for their love of animals and for caring for us so well.

Ashley Kennel, for added momentum, constant fellowship, and tenderness.

And to many more wonderfully made folks…

Top Tier Readers: Howard & Michelle Andrews, Barry Arreola, Sarah & Trevor Asay, Jonah Attebury, Molly & Liam Barrans, Jenifer Bowman, Aimee Delap, Dave & Karla Delap, Craig & Gloria Drake, Kim Fisher, Jean & Mat Gradias, Ben & Jordan Griffin, John & Mary Jane Kennel, John & Damiana King, Henry Longan, Alishan Merjanian, Jon Mark Moorington, Jason Nolan, Blythe Nordbye, Sara Oyela, Russell Pitman, Jody Rutherford, Lori Schlott, Kathy Schweitzer, Shawn Strannigan, Tiffany Taylor, Jeremy & Cori Veatch, Lisa Marie Wagner, wdngirl2, Marilyn Weisenburg, and Patrick & Rachel Wilson.

Fellow artist & writers who were especially encouraging or inspiring: Amanda Allquist, Sarah Asay, Breena Bard, John Blase, David Burke, Martin Cizmar, Maurice Cowley, Alli Dahlgren, Aaron Donley, Mary Everitt, Terrell Garrett, Chad Gibbs, Dan Gibson, Glory Guy, Deborah Hocking, Chaim Holtjer, Jennifer Jackson, Aaron James, Cody Kimmel, Seth King, Shane Leavy, Taylor Leonhardt, Andrew Maudlin, Susan McChesney, Rick McKinley, Donald Miller, Levi Rogers, Laura Stanfill, Santino Stoner, Jay Taylor, Lisa Wagner, Alyssa Walker, and the inimitable Donna White.

Those who provided business advice and friendship both tender-hearted and gold-standard: Trevor Asay, John Blase, Tara Brown, Chris Hayes, Bryan Norman, and Jeremy Veatch.

Other inspiring creatures, places, and works of art

By God’s grace I live in a beautiful place—Portland, Oregon—which encourages creative individuality, love for the created world, and a wondrous setting for stories.

To Hillsdale, for being a welcoming neighborhood.

To the Oregon Zoo, for having so many otters.

To all the creatures I had the pleasure of observing up close: Rachel, Red, Shawon & Bo, Gerb, Ryu, Nöel, Athena, Rory, Lola, and Stampy.

To Lily, for being nearby all these years.

To Teddy and Leo, for being good boys.

There’s nothing new under the sun, and this story is cobbled together from too many artworks to count, but I do owe gratitude to the creations of: Lloyd Alexander, Ryan Berkley, Beverly Cleary, Michael Dante DiMartino, Anthony Doerr, Brian Doyle, Makoto Fujimura, René Goscinny, Matt Groening, Brian Jacques, Mary Karr, Bryan Konietzko, C.S. Lewis, George R.R. Martin, Colin Meloy, Moses, Robert C. O’Brien, Andrew Peterson, David Peterson, Richard Powers, Patrick Rothfuss, Lily Seika Jones, Kim Stafford, J.R.R. Tolkien, Albert Uderzo, Pendleton Ward, and William Zinsser.

I’m likewise indebted to The Cartoon Network, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, Disney, the Fallout franchise, The Elder Scrolls: Legends, Image Comics, Marvel Comics, Pixar, Sid Meier’s Civilization series, Studio Ghibli, and whoever at Takara created Battle Beasts.

Some musicians I listened to while I wrote: Neko Case, Andy Gullahorn, Haim, Curtis Harding, Taylor Leonhardt, Lucius, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Radiohead, Spoon, the War On Drugs, and Waxahatchee.

In research, four books were constant companions:

• Peterson Field Guide to Mammals of North America, 4th Ed. by Fiona Reid

• Mammals of the Pacific Northwest: From the Coast to the High Cascades by Chris Maser

• Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest by David Moskowitz

• Oregon Geographic Names by Lewis A. McArthur & Lewis L. McArthur

• I also used Google Maps, Thesaurus.com, and Wikipedia all the dang time.

Finally, and above all else, my gratitude is to God, the Holy Creator who made all things, who loves each of us, and who set in me a passion for a storytelling and words. The Holy Spirit is the root of my creativity, Jesus Christ is the root of my hope and rescue, and all glory is due to our Abba, forever and ever. Amen.

From the depths of my heart, thank you for being part of this.

Your writer,
Jordan Green

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Dear Readers,

The Blue Beacon’s serialization is now complete.

What a journey this was! I hope you enjoyed the show. Thank for being here and for following along as this new universe dawned into our world.

I already miss Eola and the whole crew and this morning I felt a mix of relief and sadness at not having a post scheduled. I guess this post could’ve been ready, but it was also Valentine’s Day and the book was finished, so I was alright to rest and strategize.

The big problem is I still have an Acknowledgements page to finish, and I didn’t realize how intense that would be! Along with all that gratitude, what’s swirling through my head right now is: what next?

Fortunately, I’ve thought about this awhile and here’s are some goals for The Blue Beacon over the next month:

• Record audio versions of each chapter.

• Figure out a small print run.

• Consider next marketing steps, like whether to serialize again on Royal Road.

One recommendation I’m getting so far is: Write Book 2 already! That’s clearly the most important next step in the Cascadia Chronicles project. I’d love to be at the top of the next mountain, and I’m already on the way. But to this I’ll add a parenthetical refrain to Diana Ross’s famous advice: You can’t hurry love (or good stories).

What’s nice is the building which went into the series in the first place is no longer required. The setting and many characters are set. In other words, Book 2 will not require another lifetime of lead-up. So rest assured the next book is growing, and I want to know what happens as much as you. Okay, maybe not quite so much, because I know some of what happens. But there are still tons of surprises left to reveal for all of us is my point.

First, though I want to get back to anecdotes, essays, and recommendations at The Green Room for a bit. I miss that place! And I want to keep this frequency of posts flowing. If you’re only a Cascadia Chronicles reader, you can follow me over there for more.

The Green Room

Reflections on faith, fatherhood, food, and a lifetime of writing. Hand-crafted in Portland, Oregon.

By Jordan Green

In the meantime, readers, thank you again for this journey together. To crib from another pop chanteuse, you were the wind beneath my wings. More gratitude and acknowledgments will be forthcoming.

Sincerely,
Jordan Green

Start here to read The Blue Beacon from the start.

The Cascadia Chronicles

The Blue Beacon Begins

Two hundred years have passed since the disappearance of humanity and the dawn of interspecies communication. The cities and towns of the Pacific Northwest are now resettled by the Cascadian Alliance, a coalition formed to protect the flourishing of all mammal life. Outside of the brief and bloody Avian Wars, a prosperous peace endures…

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3 years ago · 9 likes · 6 comments · Jordan Green

Epilogue, Part I

Inside a ring of steel was a fire roaring, hot and red and yellow, so bright the moon and stars seemed dimmer. Outside the steel were twelve mammals, all representing different species, summoned to this place by a creature whose summons were obeyed.

The bonfire was on the western face of the Outsider, a lone volcano, just above the timber…

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With the meeting adjourned and the mood somber, the companions filed their way out of the Meeting Hall. Their work was finished and the terrible news was delivered. Now the Alliance would respond.

Welmsley ushered them back to their rooms. The walk was quiet, glum, and the Guinea pig respected the companions’ …

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After breakfast, the four companions, plus Welmsley and Jon Oakborn, made their way to the Grand Lodge, which sat up the hill toward the west edge of the Capitol campus. The walk pushed them outside for the first time that day, where the air was warm and rich with scents of dried grass, fallen peach…

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Welmsley led Arrick and Ophir into a vast cafeteria, with a long row of tables laden with food set against windows.

“This, my friends, is one of the culinary wonders of Cascadia: the Capitol Cafe All-Day Buffet.”

The most famous restaurant on the hill was the Capitol Cafe, which was located along one edge of the Capit…

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