1.0 – The Viridian Dream – Author’s Notes

Important Notes

The Viridian Dream contains the following potentially triggering topics:

• War
• Death
• Famine/Hunger
• Violence/Injury
• PTSD
• Depression
• Bullying/Abuse
• Lies and secrets

Chapters that have graphic depictions of any topic will be tagged accordingly.

I am aware that this content is being displayed digitally, and that some readers are likely to be using mobile devices. Because of this, I have done my best to present the format in a mobile-friendly manner. Paragraphs are smaller and broken up to reduce eye fatigue and to be friendlier to anyone who may need it. 

Preface

In 2021, I attempted to write my first novel, and it was drier than my sarcasm on a Monday morning. I had spent years only doing technical writing or training documentation, both of which do not lend to great storytelling. I shelved the story about 50 pages in and decided to practice my prose and narrative by doing something I did when I was much younger: write fanfiction. 

So in 2021, I opened an Ao3 account and decided to see what mayhem I could cause. Over the course of a single year, I wrote a whopping 600,000 words. I did not aim to make what I wrote perfect, but I did aim to ensure each iteration of content I released demonstrated my attempts to improve. I experimented with different styles, themes, and POVs, but the one thing I kept coming back to was fantasy and world-building.

Of those 600,000 words, one of my most memorable stories involved derpy dragons, gender role reversal, and terrible punchlines. It was my quest to write a long-running story that had a happy romance as its forefront plot without letting it grow stale or cliche. I loved it, as did many others, and eventually, I realized there was a lot more I could do with such a world if it wasn’t tied to characters that belonged to someone else.

So that is how this story was born. I will admit, this series lacks a lot of the lightheartedness of its predecessor. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in the middle of a war. It is a story about identity. It is a story about healing. And it is still a story about romance–it just won’t happen in three chapters this time.

The first book also stands as an allegory for neurodivergence and genderqueer experiences because I really wish I’d had that kind of content available to me 20 years ago. For those here for the queer, Book 2 onward addresses such things more literally.

Finally, if you enjoy it, please tell me and then tell a friend. Encouragement and engagement are the biggest payments I could receive for writing this.

Dedication

I want to thank the Orb for their support, especially Thalaric, Shade, and Whod99, and to lkwritesthings for their insights. A huge thanks to my spouse who spared me no criticism when reading, and of course, to Aiole Sauce for her assistance in illustrating and promoting this book. And last but not least, thank you to everyone who heard I was writing an original series about autistic, queer dragons and got excited, who joined the community, and who had their favorite clan picked out before the book even launched. Your enthusiasm and support kept me going forward, and now, I have finally published my first book.

Thank you. I really, really hope you enjoy this.

Leah Frog