They tried to silence it.
Tried to mock it, bury it, twist it into something it wasn’t. But stories have a way of surviving, especially when they matter.
Ruin Mist survived.
Not just as a book series, but as a movement. As an experience. As something real that passed from hand to hand, classroom to classroom, reader to reader.
They can call it fake all they want.
They can say the readers didn’t exist.
But two decades of evidence says otherwise.
Classrooms, Libraries & Word-of-Mouth
In the early 2000s, before "indie publishing" was respected, Ruin Mist books were already showing up in libraries and schools across the country. Educators chose them for reluctant readers. Parents passed them to their kids. Librarians recommended them not because a marketing firm said to, but because the kids asked for more.
Teachers wrote letters.
Librarians sent thank-yous.
Readers emailed their favorite quotes.
Thousands of notes, hundreds of schools, dozens of states.
All of it real.
Ask any author: You don't fake hundreds of classroom adoptions.
You don't manufacture generations of feedback.
You don’t pretend to be passed from child to parent and back again.
The legacy happened.
And it's still happening.
The Story Behind the Smear
Why erase that kind of legacy?
Because it wasn’t controlled.
Because it didn’t go through the usual gates.
Because it dared to succeed in ways others couldn’t predict or profit from.
When the books kept charting,
When the fans kept coming,
When the stories refused to fade,
That scared them.
So the lies started. The campaigns. The videos. The memes.
Not because the story was fake.
But because it was real.
What They Couldn’t Kill
They couldn’t kill the excitement in the voice of a twelve-year-old telling their teacher about Adrina.
They couldn’t undo the impact on a high school student who finally finished their first book cover to cover.
They couldn’t erase the bookmarks tucked into old copies in public libraries.
And they definitely couldn’t silence the readers who never stopped believing.
So they tried distraction instead.
Louder noise.
More accusations.
But here’s the thing:
The books are still here.
People are still reading.
And new generations are discovering the story all over again.
This Is Your Legacy Too
If you were one of those kids in a library,
If you were one of the teachers who took a chance,
If you shared a dog-eared copy with your little brother or sister,
You are part of this legacy.
They tried to say you didn’t exist.
They tried to erase you, too.
But you’re still here.
Just like the books.
Let’s Make Sure They Never Erase It Again
- Talk about it.
- Share your story.
- Leave a review.
- Gift a copy.
- Show up.
Because the truth is, this legacy never needed permission.
It never needed validation from the people who profit off gatekeeping.
It only ever needed you.
Let’s make sure the next 25 years are even louder than the first.
The story still stands.
And we’re just getting started.
Winds of Change – 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition
Launches February 10, 2026
Preorder. Read. Pass it on.
