The Edge of Turning

Surviving the Friction of Change

I’m sliding into your inboxes just under the wire for June, and if I am being completely honest, it has been a race to get here.

Lately, my life has been a study in a different kind of geography than navigating the world of Morian. I recently went through a significant professional shift, trading the familiar routine of jet-setting across the country every other week for a grounded, daily commute here in Fort Worth. Both paths have their distinct advantages, and both certainly come with their drawbacks. Right now, I am still settling into the rhythm of this new routine. The biggest hurdle has been discovering that I have a bit less margin in my days to simply sit, think, and actually put words on the page. But as the baseline exhaustion of learning a new role begins to fade, I am confident the mental energy to write will return in full force.

This period of transition has kept my mind anchored to last month’s discussion on how resilience is hard-earned. Specifically, I have been reflecting on the brutal nature of change. Even in the best of circumstances, change is a demanding, friction-filled process. But when you plunge a life into the worst possible circumstances, those difficulties amplify until they test the absolute limits of the strongest among us.

That thematic weight is exactly what is driving the current pages of Touch of the Eternal. My characters are standing on the precipice of massive, unmaking shifts. For each of them, the transition is going to be incredibly painful.

Samien Jin has just hit a visceral rock bottom, stripped of his dignity on a cold shore, forced to decide whether to chase a dangerous, manufactured identity in the north or return to the quiet obligations of his bloodline. Riegend Vraelex has survived a literal fall only to experience a terrifying, unnatural awakening, finding himself altered into something hollow, fueled entirely by a sleepless rage. And Faehrenweh Felethien is about to watch her structured, predictable world vaporize in a column of dragon-fire, forcing her to leap into an unknown abyss.

For all of them, the world they knew is gone. The true moral of the story, and the core struggle of Book One, is not losing who you are and what is ultimately important while adapting to a reality you never asked for. It is about keeping your core intact when the forge gets white-hot.

Thank you for your patience as I find my footing in this new season. The work continues, and I am glad to have you along for the ride.

Until next time,

J. James Adler