This is the letter that I sent to the moon, for the future explorer who uncovers the Writers of the Moon cache! I thought you would enjoy sharing something that another person might read fifty or five thousand years from now;)

Dear Reader,

If you’re reading this, it means you are up on the moon, looking back at planet Earth, terra firma. It is still there.. right? A big blue marble– third one from the sun…? Let’s hope that it is and that you will wave down at the people living there;)

That’s mind-boggling to me. In the year 2021, we still look up at the moon and wonder if we’ll ever get back there. It’s been over fifty years since a man walked on the moon. That filled the world with a sense of wonder, and expectation, hope. For the first time, we looked at the stars and could believe in the possibility. We could go there! We were bigger than ourselves, and bigger than our planet.

So, hopefully you have some kind of reading device. Or maybe you insert the chip directly into a bio-interface and read through some retinal implant. However you do, I hope the stories entertain and inspire you.

I was so flattered and humbled to be among the authors chosen to be part of this undertaking:) Then I had to decide what story to send. I wish I had time, or the massive motivation to write a special unique and original story just for this. I know it would be something profound and life-changing… at least that’s the way it went in my imagination.

Since I didn’t have super powers or the ability to flash-imprint an idea into a novel (that’s not a thing, is it…?) I had to choose one of my exising books. I have seven, a series, of epic fantasy. I like fantasy because it allows us to explore the world and ourselves in unique ways. I think science fiction allows us to look outward, and fantasy can allow us to look inward:) I’m sure both of the two genres can do both… and I’m sure a lot of other writers would argue this idea (but hey, I just had it while I was writing this down for you:)…

Anyway- I decided to send my “book one,” On Borrowed Luck. I think in a lot of ways, it perfectly represents all of humanity. A bright potential, a chain of bad decisions, willing blindness to all the warning signs— and the consequences that kind of blow up at the end.

Kirrin’s story: I started writing a book several years ago. It was-is-will be, an epic fantasy series. That means it takes place over a long period of time, and deals with cosmic and world-changing events. What would happen if the gods were real.. and at the end of a cosmic cycle, they were returning?

I began that novel and it follows several characters. But there was one character, a powerful magic user, who showed up for maybe two or three pages. I didn’t think much of it. Minor player. Not important.

Then I had the idea that I should do Character sketches for my secondary characters. Great idea. That would help make them more real. So, this powerful magic user? Who was he? How did he become the legendary mage that he is? So I delved into Jedda. It was interesting and fascinating. It grew into a short story. Then a novella. It took on a life of its own, becoming a complete novel. Then two. More characters emerged from Jedda’s story. More world building, more back story. More depth.

One of those characters was Kirrin, a skilled and hardened assassin. And yes, I fell into the same cyclic trap, again. Ever so foolishly, I asked- how did Kirrin become a cold blooded killer? And from that, we have On Borrowed Luck. At first, I thought, ok, done. The story ca move forward. Nope. Kirrin had more to say, more to do and at some deep level, he wanted a redemptive arc. The problem is– his ending was already written. Already told. There was’t a lot I could do to change that.. but, he still deserved more:) So, came Luck’s Pawn and Luck’s Ruin, completing Kirrin’s arc. I hope:) Something tells me, he may insist on popping up again, probably when I least expect it:)

Anyway- Kirrin’s story is the story of ambition without perception. And it gets darker, before it gets brighter. By the end of his three book story, he comes to terms with who he is and owns his truth and finds a way to use his dark skills to a good end.

But I don’t believe in a dark world or a dark future. So I included the last two books of the series, as well. By then, we are following the story of several different characters– mostly Jedda and Diya. Jedda is a halfbreed orphan with latent magic. Diya is a young woman who would be the heir to a dynasty– if she were a man. Both together and separately, they take a transformative journey. The changes they undergo will send vast ripples out into the world. But also, I thought that they were appropriate because as you come to the end, right at the very end– their stories feel complete and wrapped up. BUT– then you will discover that this was actually a starting point. Their journey was bringing them through the changes necessary to take part in something much bigger:)

And this brings me back to being on the Moon. It feels like a destination. And yet, I think when we do get there (okay, if you’re reading this– we’ve already made it…. Unless you’re coming to watch humanity from some distant alien planet…?) And that’s even more thrilling and mind-boggling, but anyway).. I feel like this little bundle, going to the moon.. isn’t just an ending… it isn’t a destination.. I hope it serves as an invitation to go further:)

And I hope that you’ll go beyond the moon. Or maybe you’ve already been further than we could imagine. But if you do, I hope you will also leave some tiny treasure for a future traveler to find. Or maybe this little cache will journey to the far edges of the universe. Whatever happens, I trust that you will carry our stories forward:)

Thank you and enjoy!

TJ Muir

ps- if you aren’t reading this from the moon, you can probably track the series down on the internet:)