The Staff of the Dagda: Out Now

Well, this is surreal.

The Staff of the Dagda, my debut urban fantasy novel, is officially out in the world.

After writing, revising, sending the manuscript to beta readers, revising some more, querying literary agents, and spending an unreasonable amount of time wondering whether the book was actually ready, I finally made the decision to stop waiting and publish it myself.

And now you can actually read the damn thing.

So, what's it about?

The Staff of the Dagda is a Celtic-inspired urban fantasy about old gods, ancient grudges, and a 21-year-old underground fighter who gets drafted into a supernatural war he didn't know existed.

Liam O'Kean wants nothing to do with gods, magic, or someone else's ancient war. But when creatures from Celtic mythology begin hunting him, Liam discovers that he possesses powers of his own—and that running may no longer be an option.

Drawn into the hidden realm of Annwyn, Liam joins a desperate search for the legendary Staff of the Dagda, a weapon powerful enough to turn the tide against the monstrous Fomorians.

But in a war between gods, nothing is as simple as choosing a side.

From unfinished manuscript to published novel

There have been a lot of milestones with this book.

Finishing the first draft felt huge. Handing it over to beta readers felt terrifying. Sending the first query letter to a literary agent felt even more terrifying.

Publishing it somehow feels like all of those emotions at once.

I learned a lot while writing The Staff of the Dagda, and I'm sure I'll learn even more now that people who aren't friends, family members, beta readers, or publishing professionals can pick it up and have opinions about it.

That's part of putting creative work into the world.

At some point, you have to stop tinkering with the thing and let it belong to readers.

So that's what I'm doing.

This is only the beginning

The Staff of the Dagda may be my debut novel, but it's not the end of Liam's story.

I'm already working on the second book in The Albean Chronicles, The Spear of Lugh.

I'm also writing Halo & Gunpowder, a dark urban fantasy series about fallen angels, ancient weapons, and a supernatural war brewing beneath the streets of Detroit.

Apparently publishing one fantasy series wasn't enough work for me.

Who knew?

For now, though, I'm going to enjoy this milestone.

I wrote a book.

I published it.

And you can read it.

That's pretty dang cool.

The Staff of the Dagda is available now.