If you haven’t heard from the posts that went out on social media this week, let me be the first to tell you…. I finished writing the prequel this past Monday night! Two days ahead of my self imposed deadline! Well actually a whole month ahead of my original deadline, but more on that later. The manuscript sits at 117,132 words, but with edits and revisions that will change. For reference The Gathering Room - A Tale of Nelly Butler in its full published form, is around 121,000. So from my standpoint I’m just about spot on! The prequel will be close in size and scope to the book that inspired it!

I can’t tell you the sense of accomplishment that I felt Monday night when I finally typed the words “The End”. Getting to those two simple words had taken me just shy of 18 months and a journey filled with a whole bunch of weirdness, unimaginable experiences and a trip through the history of Lancashire England that I never imagined I would enjoy in my life! I can’t wait to see where this book goes from here. If you’ve heard me speak in public you will know that I often say that The Gathering Room is on a journey all of it’s own making. That the book decides where we go and who finds it, that I am merely the person who drives it around, just a spectator in this odyssey. The prequel gives me that same vibe, of something boiling just below the surface. A story that is going to ignite a wave of energy that will take it to places I never even dreamed of. To be honest it excites and scares me at the same time!

Over the past year and a half I have been asked many questions about the prequel, some I’ve answered some I’ve deferred. Below I hope I have answered everything you might want to know, including a title! For those of you who have been supporting me on this journey since the beginning some of this you may know, some will be a surprise! For those of you who have just joined me, this will bring you up to speed. I hope it gives all of you a little more appreciation of the book when you finally hold it in your hand!

So what is the prequel about? The prequel is the origin story of Lydia Blaisdell’s family. If you have read The Gathering Room then you know that Lydia Blaisdell is a real person who found herself caught up in a moment in history that some people consider to be the first documented ghost sighting in America. What fascinated me about the history of the Blaisdell family as a whole was their origins in an area of England that was considered charged with supernatural activity and ancient beliefs. The genealogical history of the Blaisdell family was incredibly fascinating when I began to delve into it. The family originates from an area in England with an ancient ritual circle, similar to Stonehenge, and has an arrival in New England story that just begged to be written. As was the case with The Gathering Room, I am ever mindful that these were real people, making their mark on real history. Yet I write fiction, I always want to make that clear. I write fiction based on historical happenings, but it is still fiction. The prequel is not an actual history of the Blaisdell family and it should never ever be consider as such. If you want to know that there are numerous Blaisdell genealogical websites to look into.

The historical case for Lydia Blaisdell to be involved in something supernatural was incredibly concrete so I fictionalized her character according to the historical record. With the rest of Blaisdells, the historical trail was a bit more subtle in regards to the supernatural. Trust me when I say the research I did was like finding little gems hiding in plain sight, but there was never that concrete, direct link to any of them like there was for Lydia. They. just always seemed to floating around in close proximity to strange happenings! So in respect to those real Blaisdells who walked through history, and all of the Blaisdell descendants today, I introduced more fictional characters into the prequel so that they carry the supernatural parts of the story, leaving the real life characters more as observers of the strange happenings around them. Similar to the way it appears in the historical records themselves. In the end you cannot deny that Lydia Blaisdell herself may have come from a supernaturally gifted family lineage, and that is the theme that carries through the prequel.

What made you decide to write about the Blaisdells? I’ve often said that I felt I was chosen to write The Gathering Room, and 100% I will say the same thing about the prequel. When The Gathering Room was published and the feedback started rolling in that apparently I was good at this writing thing, I began to think about other things I wanted to write. Continuing the story of any of the characters in The Gathering Room was never my intent. I actually have another historical fiction story based in England in the 1620’s rolling around in my head that I really want to write!! But the Blaisdells, or some other entity, had other plans. The people I met, the information that literally just dropped out of no where and landed in my lap, the signs from the universe as some would say, were all just to much to ignore. Again I have felt like an outsider watching someone else’s life unfold. I’m just here for the ride! So I followed the signs, followed the promptings and write a story about the Blaisdells is exactly what I did!

What is the title of the prequel? I have had a title for the prequel since April of 2023, about six months after I had started writing the story. I have never mentioned it, mainly because I know so much can change while a book moves it’s way through the publishing process, and that includes the changing of a title. But as I drew close to finishing up the prequel Monday night I realized I wanted to share with you all what MY title was. Whether that ends up being the final title really doesn’t matter, I just think you should know this really cool story! My title for this story is Henceforth and Unstoppable and how that came to be is one of the most unique experiences of my life.

It began at Skipton Castle in England, as I stood in the middle of a set of stairs. I had stopped to remove my backpack and place inside some self guided tour sheets that we realized we were not going to use. As I stood there stuffing these pages into my backpack a voice spoke to me just behind my right shoulder. Loud and clear I heard “I need that.” Thinking that because I had stopped in the middle of the stairs, I was blocking the passage of another tourist, I turned around, only to realize I stood completely alone on these stairs. The voice I had heard had no earthly explanation. Upon returning home the following week, I was unpacking and found these same self guided tour sheets among a bunch of guidebooks and things. I gathered everything up and was about to take it to my office when, loud and clear, I heard the voice over my right shoulder say “I need that.” Having learned over the past year not to brush these things off! I began to look over the self guided tour sheets from Skipton Castle and I found a phrase in Latin that jumped out at me. After a quick internet search I learned that it translated to the word Henceforth. This hit me like a brick, it was so obvious that this word needed to be in the title of the next book. Henceforth means from this point forward, or an act that will persist indefinitely. The origin story of the Blaisdell family, and if they truly are keepers of ancient knowledge, was certainly one that had a starting point, that ancient circle in Lancashire. And this knowledge or gift had persisted for generations, all the way to Lydia Blaisdell. And if any of the modern day Blaisdells that I had met were any indication, those gifts lived on today. It was an incredible revelation!

Within a few days of this experience I was driving along in my car listening to a streaming music service when a song came on that sent all of my weirdness indicators into high alert. The name of the song was Unstoppable and again I was “told”, “shown”, “made to understand”….whatever you want to call it, that this word also needed to be in the title of the next book. Despite the destruction of the ancient circle in England, despite time, despite cultural disdain, despite modern reasoning, religious theory or scientific explanation, the fact remains that there is a part of our world that is and always will be unexplainable. The story I was writing about the Blaisdells encapsulated that thought completely. If they are anciently predisposed to the supernatural, then it is unstoppable and will continue on, just as it has for generations. Henceforth and Unstoppable

Will Lydia Blaisdell, or any of the characters from The Gathering Room be in the prequel? I was chatting with a friend one day about the prequel and he was totally surprised that I was not going to end the prequel in 1795, where the story of The Gathering Room starts. I had to laugh because the prequel starts in 1433 and the thought of writing over 300 years of history made me want to vomit! The prequel will not bring the story right up to where The Gathering Room starts. The prequel is written in a way that it will stand alone as a fascinating story or it can be read before or after The Gathering Room. The two books can be enjoyed indivdually but are clearly connected. In the prequel you will be introduced to all new characters. Some of them were real people like William of the Forest, a Blaisdell ancestor who took his name from his proximity to the Bowland Forest in England. Some are fiction but based off real people, like Lord Jeremy Thurston who I created as the Under Sheriff of Lancashire. I based him completely from an actual “Lord” that I met while in England. Upon learning that I had met this man, my AirBnB hostess accurately described him as “dreamy” and I knew immediately I would have to write him in! And others are completely fictional, like Alicen, the lead female character who carries the majority of the supernatural parts of this story.

The connecting piece will be the Epilogue where Abner Blaisdell makes an appearance to tie the two stories together. Again it will not matter which book you read first, Abner is there as the bridge between the two. Here is an excerpt from the Epilogue

Abner Blaisdell stood staring down at the stone that marked the grave in front of him. Nearly twenty years on and the pain of losing her that day still burned like fire in his chest. Just thinking back on holding her body in his arms, watching the smoke rise from the cabin as it burned, knowing that he had tried so hard to save her, yet he had failed. He truly had done everything in his power to protect her from this. Closing his eyes to try and block out the memory of that day, he felt a tear run down his cheek. Of course he had known this was a possibility. He had known all along if he were honest with himself. He had grown up hearing the stories of an ancient circle, of orbs, of spirits from other realms, but he had chosen to turn away from them. He had tried to protect the ones he loved by never mentioning the stories, tried to protect her, but in the end he had been unable to stop it.

When will the prequel be available for sale? This is the great question of the universe and I am going to have to ask all of you for your patience on this one! First what I finished writing Monday night is just the first draft, I know from experience that what follows will be edits, revisions, and even more edits. Lots of edits!!! All of that takes time. From there we move on to actually getting the book published. With The Gathering Room I self published because I honestly thought I was just printing a book for my family and friends to enjoy, and then I met all of you!! For which I am so grateful! But the success of The Gathering Room has opened so many doors of new possibilities for me. There is so much more to think about this time around. Pros and cons to everything that lies before me! Originally I was hoping to have a book to you by Fall of 2024, but with some recent developments I can’t say for sure if that will be so. There have also been a bunch of changes in my personal life, yes I do have one of those! That’s the reason why I was pushing myself with a deadline to get the prequel finished. So much happening with a new career move, among a few other things, that I really needed to get the prequel finished to clear up space in my brain! 2024 will be a year of many exciting changes professionally and personally!

What I can tell you is this, the prequel (Henceforth and Unstoppable) will be published! You will hold this book in your hand! It’s to amazing of a story to just let sit in the closet. And I’m pretty sure the universe wouldn’t allow me to do that anyway! Not if past performance is indicative of future success! I’ll keep you updated!