Many of you haven’t read The Wanderer Trilogy yet, obviously. It hasn’t been re-released yet. However, some of you may have noticed a Hooded Shadow in the background of a few pictures I’ve posted. So, what is it? How did it come about? And why is it so significant?

When I first gave form to this mysterious manifestation, it wasn’t for the purpose of creating a villain or external/internal conflict. I was writing a part of myself that I struggled with for decades.

For the sake of not spoiling the storyline, this Hooded Demon is Eva’s tormentor. It acts as a manifestation of her past, present, and future. Writing the Demon became less about world-building and more about soul-excavation. It allowed me to rip my protagonist a few more layers deeper than if this ‘thing’ had not existed in the first place.

I suppose the most surprising thing for me was how easy it was to create.

I’ve faced periods of my life where I’ve felt swallowed by darkness. Where the version of me I presented to the world — strong, capable, driven — didn’t match the war going on inside. There were times I couldn’t separate my voice from the one telling me I was broken, unworthy, worthless. The Hooded Demon may shapeshift in my story, but in real life, it often took the form of doubt, burnout, fear, depression, and anxiety.

Bullying, a toxic home-life, constant degradation and dismissal of my insights, hobbies, achievements, or skills permeated my life ever since I can remember. I was overshadowed and made to feel less-than. When I would speak up, I was told that I was being ‘too emotional’ or ‘twisting the truth’ because it wasn’t their view. Ultimately, this caused me hide inside myself, thinking that it was safe from within. Little did I know, the external forces were only growing my own ‘demons’.

Over a decade of solitude slowly unraveled my mind, sending me into a decline I couldn’t claw my way out of. It took therapy, a change in environment, and years of self-awareness to finally feel the way I was always meant to.

I took pen to paper (or keys to blank document – although less poetic)… and I began writing. The Hooded Demon came to a physical state that I could meld and personify how I wanted. And that gave me some additional insight on how I could apply that to my own demons.

Without going into too much detail my or Eva’s story (yet), writing those shadows gave me something I didn’t expect: perspective.

It reminded me that the presence of darkness doesn’t mean the absence of worth. That to walk through the valley of your own mind and come out the other side — even if you’re limping, even if you’re bloody — is still a victory.

I’ve learned to stop fearing the Hooded Demon inside me. I’ve learned to listen to it, not as truth, but as a signal. That something needs attention. That I’m tired. That I’m scared. That I need healing, not punishment.

Or that I simply need more perspective and balance.

Eva doesn’t conquer her Demon in the way heroes are often expected to. Her journey is raw, human, and painful. But it’s honest. And that’s what I wanted to offer readers: not a fairytale, but a mirror. A story where inner darkness isn’t vanquished in a single blow — it’s wrestled with, acknowledged, and carried forward, sometimes at a cost.

But maybe that’s what makes light so precious. The fact that we choose it no matter what.

And it certainly offers insight into darkness and its importance. If everything were positive all the time, it would lose its meaning. Without contrast, we wouldn’t appreciate the light nearly as much.

If you’ve ever felt haunted by your own Hooded Demon — I see you. And if you’re still walking, still writing, still showing up in any way you can… you’re already braver than you know.

Purpose, the first book in The Wanderer Trilogy, launches January 15th, 2026 — with Preservation and Prowess following later next year.

Don’t miss the beginning of Eva’s journey. It’s raw. It’s real. And it might just change how you face your own shadows.