Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for joining Michael, Mortality, and I on this journey! I started writing Mr. Mortality & the Heart Collector in late 2017, as an experiment to see if I could put some of the ideas in my head down on paper.

Those ideas—the idea of a darkly whimsical (or perhaps whimsically dark) fantasy about a Victorian boy working as the Grim Reaper's Assistant; of the Living, Dead, and Not-Quite-Dead threats they could potentially face; of the growing they could do together as characters—has matured in my heart and mind into something exciting and beautiful that I hope share with the world.

That beautiful (or, at least, I think it's beautiful) thing is Mortality; and if you haven't already guessed, it's the continued adventures of Michael and Mr. Mortality, as well as some friends they make along the way. *Persephone peeps around the corner*

It's an episodic series; told in monster-of-the-week-type slices of about the same length as Heart Collector (or at least that's the current plan, that's not set in stone), as a sort of homage to the Victorian magazine serial.

My hope is to post it online, episode by episode, free to read!

I'm not quite sure if Heart Collector is fully canon to that series—I know it's imperfect; I didn't have a lot of things fleshed out when I started writing it, and since then many things have changed (and also I'm haunted by plot holes...).

Think of it as the pilot to a TV series, giving you some idea of what it's about, but not really representative of the overall quality of the work.

And now that you know what it's about, it's up to you whether you want to stick around and wait for the real deal. It may take awhile, as I still need to do all kinds of research and planning, and who knows what life may throw my way in the meantime. But I love this story so much, and God allowing, am committed to doing my very best to bring it to life. (If you're interested in helping me do so, please see the description.)

Finally, I just want to say that I think God has put it on my heart to tell a fun, dark, but heart-felt little tale that might just help people, perhaps even myself. And I thank Him for that. Whether I succeed or not is in His hands. May He bless this endeavor, and bless you for reading!

Gratefully,

Donna Darling

(The author)