Starlight (Book 1)

Author's Note + Covers and Awards

Once I've finished typing these words, Starlight will be officially complete. It's been a very long ride.

When I first tried to write this book, it was around 2017, but the idea has existed for far longer than that. I start all my stories with "placeholder" characters and develop the plot around them. Back then, I had two characters and all I knew was that one of them controlled fire, and the other one had telekinesis. I called them Kieran and Riley, because I liked the irony of it. The name Kieran means dark, and Riley means valiant. The hero was called dark, and the villain was called valiant. There was a metaphor in there somewhere about defying your fate. Back then, Kieran's superhero identity was simply Almighty and his closest sidekick was a very early version of Diamond/Nia called Andromeda. Riley was simply Blaise and briefly before that he was Aiden. I got past a few chapters of this story before scrapping it. I was unhappy with the plot. It felt too cliché and tired.

Sometime in 2019, I realized I sucked at writing action scenes. I had plans to start a trilogy that had a large battle scene as the climax. I needed to practice. Knowing that superhero stories contained a surplus of action, I returned to the superhero idea. I had once thought of writing a story about a girl with famous parents. Her name was Kacie. This idea fit perfectly into a superhero narrative. I combined them, and gave this the silly working title My Adoptive Parents Are Superheroes, as I assumed that this idea would never be seen by anyone but me.

To give myself a challenge, I immediately threw Kacie into a battle scene. She wasn't participating in the fight, which I figured would help as a decent warm-up practice. How was she going to escape this cage I'd put her in, and why was she even there at all? It was the first time I had ever written such a long fighting scene with that many characters involved at once. This was the first chapter of Starlight.

Since then, this story has come a long way. I had no plans when I started. The idea of making Starlight an entire novel wasn't something that crossed my mind. But, within a few weeks, I had about ten chapters. Kacie Janacek became a character who was close to my heart. Some of her scenes reminded me of a time in my life where I was struggling. When I started Kacie's story, I was seventeen, in my senior year of high school. I wanted her journey to have a better ending.

So what is Starlight actually about?
At the beginning of the story, Kacie is trapped. She is a passive protagonist. You might have noticed, perhaps, that throughout the story, Kacie doesn't have as many lines as other characters. I wanted a protagonist that never discovered any hidden secret powers. She is stuck, and everyone is looking at her to save them. In the final chapters of Starlight, everything comes full circle.

But what about Midnight? And what happens to Kacie and Jasper after this?
Surprise! Starlight is getting a sequel. When I originally planned this book, I wanted the plot to follow Kacie through two years. But there was a pretty significant blank space between the final battle and the point where I wanted to continue, so starting another book seemed logical.

Kacie Janacek's story will continue in the sequel, Starlight in Crystal City. It's unbelievable that I have reached this point, and that I can finally say this story is complete.

Also! If you'd like to read the story of how Kieran and Riley met, I am also finished writing the prequel that started everything, Like Orion & Spark. I never thought this story would become a series. But now we're here, and I couldn't be more grateful.

If you've read Starlight, thank you. I'll say it again: THANK YOU. I cannot express my gratitude for the love this novel has received. I would not be here without you.

Previous and current covers for this book: