Foreword

I just wanted to say hello and thank you for reading this book! Or at least considering so. 
I will be your author and host of the adventure, Rayven. What inspired this book? Well, let me tell ya!
I was in college in 2011 but life decided that it wasn't my path and threw my ass into motherhood instead. Left at a loss for what to do with my time, I decided to start this book series.
I knew what was in most fantasy books: fantastical creatures and places, protagonist wins via antagonist revealing plans in some way, damsel in distress, adventure, conclusion, blah boring blah.
"Where's mental illness?" "Where are parent MC's?" "Where's the government structure in fantasy books?" "Where's the tie in between worlds?" "Where's the villain who knows not to brag about their plan?"
These were things I asked.
So after years I created the universe, governments (loosely,) characters, plot and began.
I had 5 books completed after 7 years but decided to read through it all. I did not like what I read. 
It took 2 years of constant reading, rereading, and A LOT of physical writing and typing, but I finally cleared the plot of unnecessary crap, took out HUGE amounts of filler dialogue, and diversified the realms (inhabitants, topography, government, culture, language, myth vs fact; all to be released in an accompanying "Guidebook.")
Then I reworked the characters. Their personalities went through huge transformations and quite a few were even removed entirely. 
Something I noticed while doing the rewrites was the unnecessary amount of romance entanglement. I decided who would stay and who would go. Satisfied that romance was no longer forcing itself into the focus, I could work on the plot points of each book.
My MC is a smart ass mom (like me) with a mental illness (like me, specifically we both have a dissociative disorder,) and my villain is a smart ass femme fatale who knows how to get around her obstacles and NOT talk about her schemes. This book will hopefully represent mental illness in a way that those without can understand. We aren't dangerous or crazy, just mentally worn down past the point of being able to handle it much more.
Thanks for listening to my blabber, now, to the show!