I often receive questions about how the Stone of Destiny became part of theDestiny Cycle. Well, it goes like this.

When I had a vivid dream about a lush green land, where white-hair warriors on horseback rode across a river ford to battle some Celts, I knew I had a story that needed to see the light. After a bit of research, the land of my dream was Ireland, but when? Through further research, it became apparent that the time needed to be the fifth century, an era when myths and legends were richly colored and profoundly deep. The lore of the Tuatha De Dannan pantheon and the Gael heroes who littered the fabric of the Emerald Isle was added fodder for me. I had some knowledge of Irish history, but the more I learned about how harsh wave after wave of invaders had been on the Gaels, I knew I had a thread to work with. It was then that my lead character, Breanna Ban Morna, was born. In Gaelic, Ban means daughter.

Now to the messy part. The story was initially going to be two books, with the first titled Lia Dàn (pronounced Lia Dawn) - Stone of Destiny. In Irish history, it referred to a stone that proclaimed the true king of the land; the Scottish Gaels held a similar legend (which the English stole when they conquered the Scots). But, by creating a bit of new lore, the Tuatha Gods knew the truth, one under which the “actual” Stone of Destiny is their link to the Cycle of Time. When I began writing the first book, I was working in the tech sector and starting a family, so I had limited time for writing. I finished that version in around 5 years, but it was rushed and, frankly, not very good. Yet I published it and left it to lie fallow.

When I retired a few years ago, I started working on the project once more. I knew the storyline needed a complete revamp. The magical Lann Dàn (Lanna Dawn)- Blades of Destiny were in the first version and were required to rewrite history with the Stone of Destiny. To address the rushed feel, the one book became two. Once rewritten as Blades of Destiny and Stone of Destiny, I found an editor, but his input was lacking. The newly released Destiny Cycle One and Two in February and March of 2024 needed new editors. Then I found Holly, my new content editor, who is big on making sure the POV stays within the character who owns the scene, and I had head-hopping going on left and right. Ouch!

While those edits were underway, the storyline remained incomplete. Again, another book was born, titled Ćroí Dàn (Kree Dawn) - Heart of Destiny. She is an incorporeal goddess created by Danu, who was cast into a heart-shaped ruby to claim Erin’s Hero. Kree’s first Hero was Lugh, and she helped him battle the Formorians before the Gaels came to Erin.

In Stone of Destiny, she claims Breanna Ban Morna as Erin’s Hero. The Dark Goddess, having woven the Triple Dàns together, set Breanna on a path to wield the artifacts together and remove her Norse father from Erin’s timeline. Wait? What does that mean for Breanna’s future? That’s where Heart of Destiny picks up her story arc once more, and she becomes something more than just a Gaelic warrior and Erin’s Hero. That tale is now complete, and I released it in July of 2025 with a new, more straightforward POV scene change approach. With Holly’s help again, I applied that to Blades of Destiny Revised Edition III and Stone of Destiny Revised Edition II, which I also released at the same time.

So, there’s the background on the evolution of the Destiny Cycle Series. Laoch Dàn – Warriors of Destiny is now underway (expected in H1/2026), with Daoine Dàn - Immortals of Destiny to follow that (maybe in H2/2026).