One reader who preordered a copy asked if I would share my inspiration for The Book of the New Moon Door in the dedication. I did my best, and I’m sharing what I wrote with all of you, as well.

It reads:

For Sam–

You asked me to write about the inspiration for this story, so here goes:

I drew inspiration from Gothic horror, such as Poe and the video game Bloodborne; Lovecraft and other cosmic/eldritch horror writers, Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series; and Cassandra Khaw’s “Monologue by an unnamed mage, recorded at the brink of the end.” What came out of all that, I think, is something quite different from all of them: a story about what happens when everything you know, from religious belief to scientific knowledge to your daily habits, no longer serves you and cannot be relied upon. It’s a metaphor for depression, or for escaping from a high-control religion; it’s not a metaphor at all, but a case study of two people who are very much products of an older world forced to live in a new one. Genre fictrion, sci-fi/fantasy in particular, is uniquely equipped to examine questions of culture and the human condition.

But above all else, this is a story written to entertain. I hope it delights you, and I appreciate your support.

M. Crane