The Myth-Keepers, my longest actively worked on series, turns ten years old this month. It is very surreal that I’ve been working on a story for ten years now. It wasn’t until reflecting on my writing journey last month that I realized I was coming up on this milestone, and, naturally, I wanted to take a moment to pause and reflect on what this story has meant to me.

I’ll start with the (slightly negative) elephant in the room: The Myth-Keepers has not been published yet, nor is any of its draft attempts in a publishable state. Yet. Part of this is me being indecisive, trying to chase after market trends, and just being my own worst enemy. However, to be gracious towards myself, I’ve also grown a lot over the lifetime of this series. Which makes sense, considering it came to exist when I was only in high school, and have since been to college (three times) and worked my first full-time job. Which means a lot of personal growth, perspective shifts, and maturing. It is this personal growth that’s driven my desire to change major aspects of the story, to strengthen character arcs, and to focus more on world-building. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs with this series, but I do believe it will be published someday. Maybe next year. (Okay, probably not. Ha.) Maybe in another ten years. Maybe in one hundred years. Someday this story will be shared.

But enough with the negativity. For all the grief I’ve had about this series and the disappointment of its pace, there’s so much more joy with this story that outweighs all the bad stuff. So let’s talk about what I love about this series.

First of all, I love the characters. Many of the main ones have existed for fifteen years now, stolen from an earlier teen spy novel I wanted to write when I was eleven/twelve, so in some sense, they’ve been around for almost my whole memory. The main character, Zeke, is one of my favorites, and has especially evolved over the years. He’s grown from a stereotypical fantasy male hero (a la Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker) into a bumbling underdog that I can’t help but love. He’s grown so much over his existence, and even though I’m usually more of a side character kinda person, he might be my favorite main character ever (out of my own body of work). Zeke isn’t the only character I love, though. All of his allies, from the optimistic Matt to moody Luke to courageous Destine to the mysterious Jessica, have changed in interesting ways and continue to be an essential part of this story, no matter its many, many changes.

The villains, too, are fun, though I’ve struggled a little more to make them lifelike at times. (I liked the embodiment of evil premise of villains when I first created this series and ended up with some cardboard cutout ones.) I’m not going to name the villains here, because some of them are meant to be a surprise twist, but digging deep into creating some terrifying and lively villains has been a joy as well. And I do love my villains, but in a…pity sort of way? Then again, some of them I do hate, too, because they’re the worst.

Beyond the characters, I also love this world I’ve created. I know it so well, and yet it still surprises me with more details the more it exists in my head. It certainly makes it hard not to overshare at times, which is part of my difficulty in writing a draft of a story, as sometimes it feels like I’m writing a textbook on the magic system or politics between the Elves, Dwarves, Fairies, Phoenixes, and Humans who live in the world, rather than writing an actual enjoyable story. I do hope to bring it to life in a way that draws others into the world, so that they can feel its wonder and magic and delight with me.

Over the course of writing the series and working on it, I’ve also seen the Lord at work in my heart throughout it all. This series has brought out a creative spark in me that points me to God’s own creativity, and I delight in my ability to reflect, even in a small way, His role as Creator. This has been particularly present in the world-building and character development. It’s been a cool connector that’s given me some potential, fraction-of-an-insight into how He as Creator sees us and His world, and I love that.

I’ve also had so much joy in crafting a “mythology” of sorts that aligns with my Christian foundation. The Myth-Keepers brings fantasy into our ordinary world, so my backstory for how this world came to exist and be hidden aligns with what I believe to be true about our own origins and the Bible. It is fun to image a cosmology that aligns with my own beliefs, and to intertwine a compelling story that brings that to light and stays (mostly) within the boundaries of Scripture. These days, we don’t see many modern fantasies or superhero stories that align with a Christian belief system, so it’s fun to add that into my own writing.

Speaking of Scripture, I also love the Gospel themes that permeate the whole story. From themes of sacrifice, of overcoming fear, of redemption and forgiveness – and so much more – this is a story saturated in the truths of the Gospel. I’m so excited for certain story beats simply because of how they point to Jesus. A lot of my intention is for the series to point to these messages without being preachy—another sticky spot in my drafting, at times! But I think it’s most important to get this aspect right.

It has been a fun decade with The Myth-Keepers, and I look forward to the next one. Hopefully, by that time, you’ll be able to share in this joyous story with me. It’s been a delightful journey for me, despite some of the low moments, but I’m committed to making this story the best it can be. I hope it’ll be worth the wait.