There’s something I keep coming back to lately.
Writing may begin in solitude—but stories don’t grow there for long.
They grow in community.
Over the past few weeks, as I’ve been working through my Dark Blade Trilogy Kickstarter, I’ve been reminded again and again that storytelling isn’t just about putting words on a page. It’s about the people who walk alongside those words—encouraging, sharing, supporting, and sometimes simply showing up.
That support has come in so many forms.
From fellow authors giving shout-outs…
To readers backing the project…
To the small online writing group I meet with regularly, people who understand the ups and downs of this creative life and choose to keep showing up anyway.
And it’s made me think about something deeper.
Because at its heart, The Dark Blade Trilogy is also a story about community.
The Kind of Strength You Don’t Find Alone
When Dan first joins the Watch Guard, he’s not looking for friendship. He’s looking for purpose. For justice. For a way to separate himself from the corruption of his past.
But what he finds instead—what he needs, even when he doesn’t realize it—is people.
Farrald, steady and grounded.
Alex, carrying his own burdens and expectations.
The trainers who push him, challenge him, and refuse to let him settle for less.
And even others he trains beside, some from his homeland, others from distant lands, each bringing different perspectives, strengths, and struggles.
None of them are the same.
And that’s the point.
Because the strength Dan develops isn’t forged in isolation. It’s shaped in relationship—in tension, in trust, in shared purpose.
It’s a kind of found family.
Story and Real Life
That idea—that we aren’t meant to do this alone—doesn’t just live in fiction.
It’s something I’ve seen reflected in real life throughout this Kickstarter.
The encouragement.
The shared excitement.
The willingness to lift each other up.
It reminds me that even though writing can feel solitary, the journey of storytelling is anything but.
We grow because of each other.
A Small Behind-the-Scenes Note
In this week’s podcast episode, I read Chapters 30–32 of Dark Blade Forged—and I also shared something a little more vulnerable:
I found a small mistake in one of the chapters.
The kind of detail that slips through, even after multiple rounds of revision.
The good news?
It will be corrected in the upcoming second edition—along with the updated cover I’m preparing through this Kickstarter.
And for those who are part of this campaign, the new editions will include a Kickstarter backer badge—a small way of marking that you were part of bringing this version of the story into the world.
An Invitation
If you’ve ever loved stories about:
- Found family
- Characters growing stronger together
- Justice, faith, and hard-earned purpose
- A group of people from different places learning to stand side by side
Then this story might be for you.
👉 The Dark Blade Trilogy Kickstarter
You can check out the campaign here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tyreanmartinson/the-dark-blade-trilogy (Kickstarter)
💛 Final Thought
Whether in fiction or in life, we rarely become who we’re meant to be on our own.
We need people who:
- challenge us
- walk beside us
- remind us who we are when we forget
And sometimes… those people show up in the most unexpected places.
In a story.
In a writing group.
In a shared journey.
And I’m grateful for every one of them.
—Tyrean