This campaign will fund the production of a new series, A Dragon for Darius, a Story in Four Parts. Books in this special edition feature unique cover art that will only be available through Backerkit.
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A Dragon For Darius Limited Edition Cover Art · 26 following
Life in the rebellion isn't easy, we aren't going to lie. BUT if you join us, you'll meet fallen angels who've rebelled against a religious cult and help move the world from a Cyberpunk Dystopia to a Solarpunk Utopia! You'll meet Darius, a reluctant hero who is on a journey by bike, train, and even dragon! Join her in her quest to return the flying macguffins to their rightful homes. With her, you can dodge bullets, sort out a love triangle, and deal with a grumpy bodyguard.
Sherrie A. Bakelar has been publishing indie fantasy, horror, and sci-fi for a decade. The four volumes of A Dragon for Darius will bring the total number of books published to ten. In honor of this, a special, limited edition series of hardcover books featuring unique cover art will be available only through this project. Follow for a sneak peek at the first chapter of Book One.
Darius just wanted to live her life, a simple routine that kept her safe and fed on the streets of Chicago. When a murder interrupted that routine, a group of rebels hijacked her life and sent her on a quest to save the planet and overthrow the secretive religious cult that rules the world.
Darius Needs You!
Decades before, the cult had waged war against the planet, killing its guardian spirits and the champions of the natural world, including the Four Auspicious Beasts of Chinese legend. With the guardians gone, the leaders of the cult gorged themselves on the planet's lifeforce, slowly killing the Earth. Hoarding this power, the cult leaders sowed resentment amongst their soldiers. And when the soldiers discovered the souls of the Four Auspicious Beasts kept captive instead of killed, a rebellion formed.
Stealing the souls, the rebels fled. But when the loyalists caught up to them in Chicago, they attacked Darius' train, and in the midst of battle, Darius fled with the souls; their rebel protector slaughtered at her feet.
Now that she's protecting them, it's up to Darius to reawaken the Four Auspicious Beasts and save the planet. Accompanied by a bodyguard, a smuggler, and a couple of rebels, Darius sets off around the world, searching for fonts of elemental power strong enough to reawaken the souls.
However, as each beast is set free and the planet begins to tilt back into balance, the cult grows more desperate to stop her. Soon even a Guardian Dragon won't be able to keep Darius safe.
Latest from the Creator
Sherrie Bakelar
14 days ago
A Dragon for Darius' first Cover is finished - Teaser
The first part's cover is finished. Will I be revealing it? Not quite yet!
But when I do, it will be to backers and followers first!
I made a palette as a teaser. These are the colors that dominate the artwork.
The first part of A Dragon for Darius is the book of Zhu Que, the Vermillion Bird of the South. She represents Summer and Fire. She is Old Yang (peak energy).
This first part sets the stage and introduces the characters and their world.
Welcome to the Rebellion and There's a Follower/Backer Poll Out
I wanted to take this weekend morning (my timezone) to welcome my followers and say thank you for your interest in this project. Darius' story has been percolating in my brain since I was seventeen years old. I won't say how long ago that was but I will say, I didn't carry a phone, I carried a quarter in my pocket so I could make a call if I ever got in trouble.
Today's a big day. I have the full cover, front, back, and spine, for A Dragon For Darius' Part One. Keeping it under wraps for now, but I think I'll take the hummingbird off it and make some stickers as freebies.
August is a big time in the Book Bazaar world. We are solidifying tiers, rewards, and incentives. One such is the early bird-backer reward. For this project, it will be a set of eight postcards that Darius collected on her journey around the world. Backers and followers have the opportunity to choose where the postcards are coming from.
This link will take you to Jotform because the embedded polls in Backerkit don't allow for multiple checkbox answers. No personally identifiable data is being collected. The poll closes on September 30, 2026.
I've been having a day. I'm pretty sure I voted for a better one but sometimes you just roll with the punches. Then, I found a cover art sketch in my inbox for the first hardback!
It's going to be beautiful in color on a hardback book. Super excited to see three more matching covers!
We are closing the curtain on book three of A Dragon For Darius. Qinglong, the Azure Dragon of the East will be free.
If you were worried about backing the project because Sherrie doesn't usually write so fast, we are nearly down to one book away from completing the hardest part of this undertaking.
Does it get any easier for Sherrie? No. Does it get any easier for Darius? Definitely Not!
But it will be worth it!
We have been working in the background on additional achievements for backers of the project to work toward. We have been crafting stickers and bookmarks, and banners.
If you know anyone who would like to join us, send them our way!
We've been busy at the writing desk. Volumes One and Two have passed an initial read-through, and volume Three is at 34K words...about 2/3 finished. Meanwhile, we have been playing with novel formatting software, which is limited because we work on Linux but love it too much to leave it. Nevertheless, the books are going to be fabulous!
Going through the books with beta readers, I thought, wouldn't it be crazy if Darius' journey was actually a travelogue rather than a sci-fi adventure meant to save the world? See, in my research, I've been watching travelogues, so this thought is grounded in reality. While I won't be turning the book into a travel show anytime soon, I did want to announce an incentive for early backers:
A set of postcards from Darius' adventures. I'm thinking two places per book, eight total. Free for early-bird backers. But WAIT! Eight is such an odd number. Let's add an extra incentive. Backers at a special tier have the chance to add four more postcards for an even dozen.
You don't have to worry about backing anything yet. These are still in the making, and the project doesn't go live until the end of October.
But for you, my dear friends and readers, a special opportunity to choose where the postcards are coming from. This link will take you to Jotform because the embedded polls here in Backerkit don't allow for multiple checkbox answers. No personally identifiable data is being collected. The poll closes on September 30, 2026.
We know it isn't an easy decision you've made to join our rebellion. Know that any sacrifices you make will be remembered in song for decades to come. They may write books about how we overthrew the All Fathers and their Church of the Flame. Most likely, those books will not mention you by name. But, such is life for a foot soldier in the Rebellion's army.
To this end, we are hoping to recruit more people to our cause. If you know anyone who would be willing to sacrifice some of their precious time, Darius would be ever grateful. Forward them a link to the landing page. Remind them that they are currently under no obligation to join us, but that we are willing to offer rewards and incentives for those who aid in our cause.
Yours in Service, Astaroth, Devil to the Seraphim Vehuiah
PS. Please reach out to Sherrie through socials or through here, if you were unable to claim your first free chapter. Apparently the launch page was updated and the link for the freebie may have been missing.
