Dear Reader,

I wrote all five of these books at the same time.
That wasn’t the plan. It’s how the stories arrived—braided across decades and even across worlds. As a teacher and a California writer, I’ve spent years listening: to students, to field-workers’ families, to archives, to community memory. Each book turned out to be part of a larger conversation about belonging, love, loss, and who gets remembered. Writing them in parallel kept that conversation honest and connected.

You’ll notice that the characters travel. Not just across geography—but across lifetimes. Some begin in 1930s California, move through a spirit realm, and return as Joel and Mares in the modern day. Their bond—what I call their soulship—threads the books together. Inside the story world, they even make art about what they’ve lived: she writes Eyes on Salinas; he builds Gabner. In that way, the books talk to one another about memory, love, and what endures.

Because of this, there are two good ways to read the series. Both start with Eyes on Salinas. After that, you can decide when to step behind the veil.

Reading Order Options

Path A — Reveal Early (metaphysical second):

     1. Eyes on Salinas (Literary Historical Fiction)
     2. The Crossing: The Chronicles of Another World (Spiritual Realism / Fantasy)
     3. Nora: The Teenage NORAD (Young Adult)
     4. Gabner: The Frog King (Satirical Allegory)
     5. The Incredible Tales of Loretto the Great (Children’s Series)

Why this order? You learn the reincarnation/spirit-realm spine up front, then watch how that truth echoes through the modern lives of Joel and Mares and the worlds they create.

Path B — Reveal Late (metaphysical finale):

     1. Eyes on Salinas (Literary Historical Fiction)
     2. Nora: The Teenage NORAD (Young Adult)
     3. Gabner: The Frog King (Satirical Allegory)
     4. The Incredible Tales of Loretto the Great (Children’s Series)
     5. The Crossing: The Chronicles of Another World (Spiritual Realism / Fantasy)

Why this order? You experience the story as grounded, contemporary threads first—then The Crossing arrives as a capstone that reframes what came before.

Whichever path you choose, each book stands on its own. Read together, they make a larger tapestry about dignity, desire, and how love keeps finding us—again and again.

With gratitude,
M.B. Meloy
San Diego, California