Sometimes it's the little things that bring us joy. Apparently I went down a rabbit hole today, needing some levity. I grabbed a couple that made me smile.
Happy Fall!
I’ve written a lot of emotionally complicated men across 30+ books. Some express themselves by keeping their distance. Some through protection and their actions. And some shut down completely.
But it’s about more than what I know when it comes to the men in my life.
First, not all of my male family members and friends are bad communicators, but most of them are. We could go into a HUGE discussion about social and cultural pressures and why that is. But that’s not what this letter is about.
I may want to pull out my hair when I’m trying to deal with real men in my life, but when it comes to male characters, I enjoy reading the broody men with an “I’m no good for you” exterior and cinnamon roll interior. And I more than enjoy writing them.
Jackson. Greyson. Jake. Luke. Erik. Knox. Dean. Zander. Killian. Sylas… If you know, you know.
There’s something so alluring to me about a broken man who feels unworthy, and yet he’s the pillar of strength he can’t quite grasp.
And Lucian? Well, he has been a particularly emotionally constipated male character to write, and I’ve LOVED every minute of it. He’s the type of character that you must see inside their head to understand him because words are as equally difficult for him to handle as his emotions are. And I think that’s why readers love him so much.
Every word Lucian speaks is earned.
Perhaps he’s at the top of my mind because I was re-reading a deleted chapter from his POV. Or maybe I’m just REALLLLLLY anxious to get to his big scenes in Fatesworn I’m writing next. Shrugs.
Until next time, Roguelings!
- Linds
Hello Roguelings,
It occured to me that I write a monthly substack that dives deeper into the reasons why I write. Why I started writing. Who I am as an author. As a person. Mostly, my substack is a self-reflection that you may or may not find interesting.
But for some reason, I don't share the same posts and reflections here, which seems a bit backward.
So, for those of you who aren't following my substack, I've decided to post my monthly reflections here too. Maybe you will completely ignore them. Or perhaps you'll find a sliver of truth that applies to you in your daily life or writing process.
Either way, thank you for being on this journey with me. Feel free to ignore this if you're not feeling reflection-vibes today.
___
Found Family is not just a trope. It’s a non-negotiable.
It shows up in every book I write, but it’s not why you think.
Orphans and runaways, neighbors and strangers—they’ve become the backbone of family in my stories.
Yes, I write romance in my plot (also a non-negotiable), but what is a main character without the cast they surround themselves with?
Savage North Chronicles, Forgotten Lands, Ruined Lands, Saratoga Falls Love Stories, Surviving Earth Chronicles. The most beloved characters are forged by the people around them, and they aren’t parents and sisters and brothers. They are the misfits and survivors. The broken souls searching for belonging. They are grieving and grasping onto hope.
Only when I really stop to think about it, do I realize why.
Growing up with a highly dysfunctional childhood, my found family is who saved me. They are the ones who stepped in when they didn’t have to. They are the ones who provided for me and supported me and helped me feel normal when I was certain life could get no worse. They showed me what could be and made me feel loved. Feel important.
They gave me a safe place and gave me hope.
Perhaps that’s why I like to push my characters’ boundaries and explore the human condition in dire circumstances?
It’s hard to say for certain, but I know this - I would not be where I am today without them.
I could be writing the apocalypse with the world bursting to flames, or creating a world after life has we know has fallen to pieces. But it’s always the same. And apparently, fantastical Viking stories set in mythological worlds is no different.
Even immortal Viking-esque vampires are not exempt from my compulsive need to build a found family brought together by the most dire circumstances. Even warriors and god-created creatures need people in their lives whom they would ravage the world a thousand times over to protect.
“Touch him, and I’ll gut you myself,” Brunhild growls.
That’s why, beyond each other, Arless, Lucian, Sylas, and Thorne have a hearth mother who would smack them silly if need be. They have warriors and shieldmaidens willing to sacrifice the only thing they have left to give for them—their lives. They have Wildwalkers, a Helhound in a mastiff’s form, and a princess to fight beside them in the great war to come. All of them with something paramount to lose. All of them willing to lose it to fight for one another.
So, if you haven’t started The Darkborn series yet… Perhaps it's time to give them a whirl. Book one, Bloodborn, is free for two days.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0H6BWYHPW
Until next time, Roguelings!
- Linds
We made it!
Twenty days of Darkborn, Wildwalkers, bonus stories, a Runemarked read-along, games, giveaways, behind-the-scenes peeks, questionable survival decisions, and a whole lot of time spent in Röthgard.
This was a fun way for me to share the world I've been stewing in for the past year with you. I hope you enjoyed it!
Thank you to everyone who joined in, whether you participated every day, popped in when something caught your attention, or quietly followed along from the shadows. I hope you had as much fun returning to this world as I did sharing more of it with you.
And congratulations to our giveaway winner (announced in Discord)!
The event may be ending, but thankfully we don't have very long to wait for what comes next.
Soulbound releases October 20.
*Early for immediate download in my bookshop: HERE
*Amazon HERE
Thank you for hanging out and don't be a stranger! I'll see you back in Röthgard. 🖤
“My fucking soulmate?”
Ten years of starving.
One very inconvenient soul bond.
And a princess who is increasingly done with his bullshit.
AND this is your LAST CALL to enter the Darkborn giveaway!
Entries close tonight, so if you haven’t chosen your Darkborn + Wildwalker survival team yet, head to the giveaway post and get your entry in.
Tomorrow I’ll announce the winner as we officially close out 20 Days of Darkborn.
In the meantime, here are some of my favorite quotes for your amusement...
You know them well enough by now. Time to judge them. 😏
Tell me your picks for the Darkborn MOST LIKELY TO...
Sylas, Thorne, Arless, or Lucian?
And yes, you have to answer the last one too. I don't make the rules.
Drop your verdicts below. 👇
We gave Sylas and Evangeline the spotlight a few days ago.
Now it's Thorne and Imara's turn. 🔥
If Sylas and Evangeline are a slow burn built on longing and restraint, these two are built on mutual irritation, stubbornness, and an alarming amount of sexual tension.
Or, as I've started calling them:
Loathing to lovers.
Here's another sneak peek from Soulbound...
****
Imara's eyes enliven as she lifts her shield in her other hand and holds it against her body. "The first one to yield loses."
I nod in agreement, and we take a defensive stance. The women form a ring around us, their excitement contagious and buzzing in the air.
Imara's muscles tighten with readiness, and she strikes first. Fast. Brutal. No hesitation. I block, and she's already moving again. We trade blows, my hammer clashing with her sword. She feints left, striking right. I dodge, counter, and she deflects. Her footwork is flawless, her hits precise. She parries and spins, advances, and dodges my next swing. If she were fighting a human, there's no doubt in my mind that she'd have won already.
We strike harder, move faster, but I'm still holding back. My tempered Darkborn speed versus her skill and determination.
She flinches when my hammer grazes her side, and I chide myself for such a close call. But as her shieldmaidens cheer and her sword nicks my throat, I almost falter in surprise. She's making me work for it, I'll give her that much, though I'd expect nothing less.
Sweat drips down her temple. Blood beads on my neck. Mud splatters our clothes. But we don't stop, and every time our weapons meet, the air between us crackles. The Darkborn in me is getting dangerously restless, and I need to end this.
When I see an opening, I use my speed to step inside Imara's guard and disarm her with a twist of my wrist. Her sword flies from her grip, but she doesn't stop. Imara uses the momentum, drops low, and knocks my legs out from under me with her shield, and I go down hard, hammer still in hand.
A raucous cheer resounds, and with one foot on my hammer wrist, Imara straddles me with the other. Leaning in, she presses a dagger to my throat. "Do you yield, Darkborn?" Her voice is breathless, but her eyes burn with excitement. Bearberries, sage, and her arousal fill my senses, and after dropping my hammer, I grip her hips. My runes burn beneath my skin, and a sound I've never heard before tears out of my chest.
Imara goes still above me. The dagger doesn't move, but neither does she.
Somewhere behind us, the cheering dies.
I yearn to flip her beneath me and take her right here as the Darkborn surges through me. Every instinct I have wants to taste her. Now.
She blinks at me.
Gripping her hips tighter, I lift her off me instead and set her on her feet. "I've got work to do." Panting for breath, I shove my war hammer into my backstrap.
"Thorne?" Her voice snags on my name as she takes a step toward me.
I grab my fur cloak. "I have to go." And with that, I make my way through the parting warriors toward the stable, desperate for distance.
The shield commander may not feel it, but the soul bond is a lodestone in my chest, pulling me toward her. Toward danger. I have already burned once—alchemy fire took my mortal life, and left me hollow and remade.
I will not survive that kind of loss again.
So, I run.
****
Yeah.
That's going well. 😏 These two are everything in Soulbound. Just you wait and see...
🔥 THORNE + IMARA
⚔️ Darkborn Defender + Shield Commander
🖤 Loathing to lovers
🔥 A soul bond - what???!!!???
⚔️ Two people who would much rather fight than talk about their feelings
You don't want to wait for October 20th, the finished ebook is available EARLY exclusively from my bookshop with instant download.
👉 READ SOULBOUND EARLY https://harleyblackwell.com/products/soulbound-the-darkborn-2-early-release-copy
Today we're giving some love to one of the unsung heroes of the Darkborn world. Brunhild.
She may not be Darkborn, carry a legendary weapon, or have the magic of the gods running through her veins... But she will scold an immortal warrior without a second thought.
Brunhild has been there through it all. She helped bring Thorne back when the Darkborn nearly consumed him, helped foster trust between the North and the Darkborn, raised Evangeline, and has spent years keeping a household full of immortal warriors in line.
Frankly, surviving them might be her greatest accomplishment. So today is for the Hearth Mother.
TODAY'S QUESTION: Every found family needs someone who holds everyone together.
Who is that character for you in the Darkborn series?
Personally, I could argue it's Sylas or Ari or Burnhild.
But who is it for you? What is their moment that stands out to you.
Calling all Darkborn readers!!!
Soulbound releases October 20, and my initial ARC Team is full BUT I've opened another round to join!
If you've read Bloodborn and would like to read Soulbound before release in exchange for an honest review, you can now request a review copy through Booksprout. And yes, things in Röthgard are about to get way more...complicated.
🐺 Sylas and Evangeline's slow burn finally ignites
🔥 Thorne and Imara take loathing to lovers to a whole new level
🏹 More Ari, Lucian, and the rest of the Darkborn
🐺 The Wildwalkers enter the fight
⚔️ And the war for Röthgard is only getting started
And the war against the rotting evil consuming Röthgard is only the TIP of the iceberg. ARC copies are completely free. Reviews are always honest and can be whatever length is comfortable to you. I just ask that you request a copy if you genuinely intend to read and review the book. I've limited the spots on this one since we're getting close to release day.
👉 JOIN THE SOULBOUND ARC TEAM https://booksprout.co/reviewer/review-copy/view/322751/soulbound
And for everyone who would rather skip the ARC process and simply keep reading...
🔥 Soulbound ebook is available EARLY exclusively from my bookshop, with instant download for ebooks and print, immediately in your inbox.
👉 READ SOULBOUND NOW https://harleyblackwell.com/products/soulbound-the-darkborn-2-early-release-copy
We’ve talked about the Wildwalkers.
You’ve met their beasts.
Today’s 20 Days of Darkborn goody is a sneak peek from Soulbound, featuring Arless and Kael, the Barrow Wolf.
And because Ari is Ari, simply seeing a Wildwalker isn’t enough.
She wants to fight one.
___
We reach the shelf of stone, where the mountain opens into a jagged stretch of solid ground. Thorne, Sylas, Lucian, and I spent many days up here when we first turned, separating ourselves from the lure of heartbeats in Rockhavn.
"It's been a while since I came up here," I tell Kael and take in the broken agate jutting from the snow like shattered bones.
He peers over the cliff, what lies below lost to storm and shadow.
"Scared yet?" I ask.
He lifts his brow. "I admit, if you do mean to kill me, this would be the place."
My grin widens as I tug my fitted vest down and flex my hands. Snowflakes land in my lashes and I blink them away, drawing both of my short blades. "I only mean to see what Lucian's new vessel, and Loki's champion, is made of." I can't help the acidic tinge in my tone.
Kael's dark eyes brighten with a realization of some kind. "I see." He unsheathes his sword from his back.
"Sylas and Lucian know you well," I explain. "I thought, after today, I might know you better, too."
He discards his cloak with a nod, though I barely give him time to breathe before I strike.
Kael moves faster than I expect, twisting out of reach as one of my blades slices the air. He doesn't have Lucian's bulk or Thorne's brutal mass. He is something wilder, and he moves like his wolf even in human skin.
I keep my full power reined in, but I admit I am not gentle when I attack again, harder this time. He blocks, then ducks beneath my second blade. He rolls as I spin around and comes up in a crouch with his sword aimed at me. It slashes toward my thigh, but I twist away, feeling his sword score the leather.
My nostrils flare, and I drive him back over uneven stone, forcing him toward the ravine. Kael's not stronger than I am, but he reads the terrain like his wolf is ingrained in him, the way the Darkborn is ingrained in me.
I feint left, then slam my shoulder into his chest. He skids back, his boots carving through the snow, and for the first time, breath bursts from him.
"Show me," I tell him, and it sounds like an impatient command. "Show me what you really are."
Even the wind seems to draw back as everything falls silent. Kael watches me for a long moment, and then he drops his sword to the ground with a muffled thud. "As you wish, Warden." With the ease and swiftness of a man who has done this a hundred times, he undresses. And I admit, I admire his chiseled form. He is lean—built for speed and endurance rather than brute force, and every muscle is earned rather than gifted, unlike the Darkborn. Scarification marks his forearms, torso, and chest, pale brands cutting through tanned skin. A serpentine dragon climbs up his ribs. Remnants of his life and his village long since burned to ash, that Sylas told us about, I presume.
The instant his clothes are off, his bones begin to break. He makes no sounds of pain as his legs buckle beneath him and his fingers claw against the frozen stone.
I have watched the Darkborn tear through battlefields with blood on their fangs and blue fire in their eyes. I've watched people be burned alive, seen throats and spines torn from flesh, and lived through the turmoil of Hel's remaking. But I have never seen this.
Kael's shoulders wrench wider, and his spine lengthens with a crack that should make him scream, but he makes no sound. Fur ripples over his body, bone-white with a dark line down his spine, and his eyes burn luminous green. The air fills with the familiar scent of otherness. Of gods' magic.
The barrow wolf rises from the snow, almost as large as a war horse, and his head lowers, eyes leveled on me.
"That's a proper wolf," I breathe out. For the first time since my transformation, my grip tightens with a smidgen of apprehension, and it's thrilling.
The barrow wolf circles me, his breath steaming in the bitter cold, and then he lunges.
____
Of course that's Ari's reaction. 😂
🐺 THE BARROW WOLF
Wildwalker: Kael
Created by: Loki
Bone-pale fur. Luminous green eyes in battle. Nearly the size of a war horse.
And apparently an excellent sparring partner for one slightly unhinged Darkborn Warden.
🔥 QUESTION: If you could shift into one of the four Wildwalkers, which would you choose?
🐺 Barrow Wolf
🐻 War Bear
🐈⬛ Shadow Saber
🐦⬛ Storm Raven
Soulbound releases October 20, but if you're ready to keep reading, the ebook is available EARLY in my bookshop right now.
👉 READ SOULBOUND EARLY https://harleyblackwell.com/products/soulbound-the-darkborn-2-early-release-copy