Everyone writes a story with a purpose. Whether you’re consciously aware of it or not, when you put pen to paper or start clacking away at a keyboard and begin to explore that grand new story idea, there’s a reason why you’re writing that story. There’s a reason why the characters think and act the way they do, a reason why the world and races and people that fill it are the way they are. And there’s certainly a reason why the plot goes the way it does.
That’s why I love storytelling so much – in any format, whether you’re reading books, writing them, whether you’re watching TV shows, movies, film in theaters, or old school theater plays, or playing a video game, stories are powerful. They tell us something – about ourselves and humanity. Words have power.
That’s why I write.
And that’s why I wrote Survivor.
It’s book six in the Valiant Series, but I didn’t write the Valiant Series with the series part in mind. That came later as I revised the books in my original older editing (when I realized, oh yeah, this is a series so the overall series needs a plot)! No, when I started the Valiant Series, it became about writing the stories I wanted to tell in this vast universe I hadn’t fully explored yet. Survivor became a homage to the teen version of Survivor the TV Show – the teen version called Endurance that aired on Nicolodean years and years ago (yes, I’m totally aging myself here). My kid brain couldn’t quite keep up with Survivor, but as I grew into a pre-teen, my middle school brain LOVED the teen drama of Endurance. Partners having to work together to overcome challenges and send other teams to the Temple to compete to be voted out, and questions like: what happens if one partner is close to someone and the other isn’t? Who do they send then? Who do they protect? And epic moments I distinctly still remember today such as an underdog team knowing they’re in trouble and fighting so hard in a challenge because it’s the only way to stay in the game. Maybe my brain over exaggerated how dramatic and epic it was, but I’ll never forget sitting there watching Erica and Frankie on the red team, and Frankie this hilarious, funny, class clown who never took anything seriously fighting hard in a challenge and falling, feeling like he failed Erica. Then Erica becoming an absolute beast and staying in the challenge with all the athletic guys who teased her, but she fought and she stayed. She was the strongest girl there and became the strongest player because she had to. I looked up to and admired her and wanted to be her.
That was the original version of Survivor, the one I wrote as a young adult. Then, I became an author and started self-publishing the series and revisited this world and characters that I hadn’t thought about in years. My editor, H.A. Pruitt worked with me, and I fell back in love with it again. Since the last time I’d even thought about this story, I started watching Survivor the TV show. My adult brain loved it and couldn’t believe I’d never got into it as a kid. But there it was – powerful stories where people lie and betray and cheat and fight to overcome challenges, where they have to dig to see what they’re really made of. Then, I started seeing new moments that stayed with me – moments like Cire falling over and over and over again during a challenge and Jeff the host and all the other players encouraging her and giving her a chance to complete the challenge once it was over just to prove to herself that she could do it. Or moments like Ozzy fighting so hard and being an absolute beast and getting sent to redemption island just for being a threat, and him beating every single person who got voted off there with him, just to lose at a puzzle on the final challenge and get betrayed and voted out. I’ll never forget watching that final tribal as most everyone on the jury told the final three that they didn’t deserve to be there – Ozzy did. Only they couldn’t vote for him.
It’s moments like that – fighting, digging, finding out who you really are – that made me come back to Survivor in the editing phase. I totally revised it, and added 80,000 words, taking this story from a young teen who wanted to tell a story of survival into a truly epic tale of grit and fear and grief and fighting and hoping and dreaming and lies and betrayal and what it means to truly survive in a brutal world.
Why did I write Survivor?
I wrote it to give readers moments like Erica from Endurance and Cire and Ozzy (and countless others) from Survivor the TV Show gave to me. So that when you read this fictional story of fifty characters forced to play a game for the entertainment of others, facing deadly challenges, brutal puzzles, alliances they don’t know who to trust, selfish players trying to get back to their families, and impossible choices, you can not only escape the real world and go on a wild adventure for a few hours but also know that whatever you’re going through, you can get through it to. That there is light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how long or dark, that even when you think you’ve had enough, when you think you can’t go on another day, you find out that you can. You can dig like Jeff Probst always says and find that you could do far more than you ever thought you could. That all your hopes and dreams aren’t foolish, and that it’s okay to have negative moments. A reminder that you’re not the only one going through difficult times and that a simple act of kindness can go a long way for someone else.
Stories, words, are powerful. So why should you read this one, especially when we all know readers are notorious for their ever-growing TBR piles (I know mine is getting totally ridiculous), and we all get busy and might have little time to read? Because Survivor isn’t just another high-stakes dystopian fantasy like The Hunger Games. Because it will make you fall in love and take your breath away and make you swoon and hook you in where you won’t want to stop reading. Because the characters will stick with you long after the book is finished. Because these characters and their struggles and emotions and challenges have a story to tell.
If you enjoy Survivor the TV show, if you like the Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Sunrise on the Reaping, if any of these moments spoke to you the way they did me, if you enjoy tropes like found family and no spice romantic subplots like grumpy-sunshine, enemies-to-lovers, if you enjoy dystopian worlds where an evil Regime watches cruelty for entertainment, if you enjoy monster attack scenes, deadly brutal challenges, alliances, betrayals, politics, lies, secrets, if you enjoy a huge cast of characters where no one is directly right or wrong and they’re all just trying to survive … then you might like Survivor.
Grab the pet you cuddle with (unless you’re not a pet person in which case a blanket will do nicely), a bag of popcorn, and your drink of choice, and buckle up. Survivor’s about to take you on a wild ride.
In this game, players must fight to survive. The Nyclimes call it tradition. Everyone else calls it a nightmare.
Every year, the Nyclimes captures fifty humans and throw them into a twisted, brutal game of survival where the rules are simple: fight to live or die.
Contestants must battle in pairs through deadly obstacle courses, brutal puzzles, and blood-soaked combat—while relying on allies they can’t always trust. They must find food to prevent starvation at camp while navigating shifting strategies, fragile alliances, and opponents willing to do anything to win. When the Nyclime host introduces powerful crystals into the game, everyone wrestles with the temptations of lying, stealing, and joining their enemies—doing whatever it takes to live.
Every choice could be fatal.
The Nyclimes’ twisted game breaks everyone it touches. They’ll betray friends to get ahead. They’ll compromise everything they believe in just to survive. Because in this game, only monsters win.
In the end, only two will make it out.
And they won’t be the same.
And more!
Follow the Kickstarter page and be notified as soon as it goes live, especially if you want the chance to grab special early bird tiers that will only be available for the first 24 hours!
What’s a powerful moment in a book, movie, TV Show, or video game that stuck with you and made you think and feel deeply?