A NOVEL IN PROGRESS

The Failing Light

Inside the walls of Virtue, survival requires obedience to the Light.

And being inside those walls before night comes. Before the gate closes.

Nyra knows how to stay small. How to keep herself and her younger brother Henry unnoticed.

Don't anger the family that took them in.

Don't let the other children corner them.

Don't give the Church a reason to look too closely.

She knows better than to push back.

But something inside her begins to answer.

At first, she can press it down. Keep it hidden. Keep anyone from seeing.

Until the Church takes an interest in her.

Until she begins to understand that losing control isn't the worst thing she can do.

And the walls that keep the night out begin to close around her.

The harder Nyra fights to protect Henry and survive, the harder it becomes to tell whether the thing she fears is happening to her...

or is her.

CURRENT STATUS

FIRST DRAFT

82.9%

34 of 41 planned chapters drafted

Progress is chapter-based, not word-count based.

HOW THE WORK HAS EVOLVED

Body of Work

The manuscript, worldbuilding, and story architecture as they have expanded, contracted, and changed over time.

Loading verified project history.

91,403Manuscript
88,032Worldbuilding
70,700Architecture & Structure
250,135Total tracked words

JOURNAL

Notes from the Dark

Read the journal →

The decisions, mistakes, discoveries, and revisions shaping the book as I write it.

October 7, 2026 How AI Supports My Process Did AI do most of the work building this website? Yes. Did AI write The Failing Light? No.