Upper Middle Grade Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Step into the world of Lucinda Howe.

Welcome to the official world hub for the Lucinda Howe series by D.D. Olson — a portal into cosmic mysteries, unusual creatures, secret schools, and stories about courage, identity, and belonging.

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A split-soul symbol representing Lucinda and Cinder.

Featured Project

The Splitting of Lucinda Howe - Book One

A mysterious portal tears one girl into two halves across different worlds: one learns healing in Society, while the other is shaped for power inside a ruthless crime syndicate.

Work in Progress

The Splitting of Lucinda Howe

Thirteen-year-old Lucinda Howe dreams of escaping her powerful crime-syndicate parents and living a normal life. When a mysterious portal splits her soul in two, her compassionate half is sent to Society, a hidden refuge where benevolent Cosmics train children to heal broken realms.

Meanwhile, her hardened other half — renamed Cinder by their magical mother — remains behind and is sent to Umbra Academy to train as a future syndicate ruler. To survive, the two halves must reunite — but first they must decide what kind of person they truly want to become.

Society

Society is a hidden refuge built by the Cosmic known as The Duke in partnership with the sentient planet Thea. Three demes of nine earth-shell homes form circles around shared meadows where children, dogs, goats, and guardian animals live in harmony.

Three demes arranged in enneagram-inspired circles
Earth-shell homes facing inward toward shared meadows
Mission-based learning instead of formal schoolrooms
Lake tribes, guardian dogs, llamas, and ancient deep-water creatures

Society Map

Illustrated map of Society showing the three demes, lake, meadows, and The Net.

Secrets of Umbra Academy

Umbra Academy is a descending-ring campus designed to reward hierarchy, observation, and control. The Crown Ring towers highest, while each inner ring drops lower into darkness. Crown students train for leadership and strategy; lower-ranked students and servant-class trainees compete for advancement.

Outer Crown Ring with status, light, and access
Descending inner rings for study, surveillance, and service
Central tower known as The Eye
A modern panopticon built for power

Umbra Ring Diagram

Diagram of Umbra Academy's descending rings with the Crown Ring, scholar rings, servant ring, and central tower.

Meet the Cosmics

Cosmics are benevolent particles of consciousness born from the death of stars. Young Cosmics learn to stabilize their particles, take physical form, and guide living beings without controlling their choices. Their forms can shift, but balance and consent govern their power.

Born from stellar death
Begin in particle drift, then stabilize into form
Can guide and heal, but cannot force destiny
The Duke founded Society as a refuge for beings in need

Cosmic Hierarchy

Hierarchy chart showing particle drift, stabilization, form mastery, guides, and founders among the Cosmics.

Creatures of Society

Eddie

Soul-Bonded Companion

Species: Miniature poodle

Feature: Dark purple mohawk

Notes: Small, sharp, loyal, and not easily impressed. Eddie survived a harsh realm before bonding with Lucinda.

Guardian Llamas

Meadow Guardians

Role: Protect the goats and sheep

Notes: Calm, watchful, and unexpectedly brave. Known for judging character with unnerving accuracy.

Anatolian Deme Guardians

Community Protectors

Role: One for each deme

Notes: Massive white guardian dogs who protect entire communities rather than a single child.

Lake Tribes

Shapeshifting Water Beings

Habitat: The deep lake

Notes: Territorial, intelligent, and capable of forming temporary humanoid bodies on land.

Mosasaur

Ancient Deep Guardian

Habitat: The deepest waters of Society's lake

Notes: Rarely seen near shore. Ridden by the lake tribes in times of battle.

Cosmics

Star-Born Consciousness

Origin: Born from dying stars

Notes: Benevolent particle beings who guide, teach, and protect without ruling by force.

Soul-Split Rules

Diagram showing a whole soul, a split event, two unstable halves, resonance between them, and the path to reintegration.

Souls are faceted. Every soul contains many balanced aspects.
Portals can destabilize souls. Under extreme magical conditions, a portal can fracture a soul.
Each fragment becomes incomplete. Both halves remain connected, but unstable.
Split souls resonate across realms. Emotions, dreams, and instincts can echo between halves.
Reintegration requires consent. A soul cannot be forced whole.
Cosmic healing can stabilize, not replace wholeness. Survival is possible, but true balance requires reunion.

The Cosmic Readers Club

Join Notes from the Cosmos for worldbuilding secrets, creature spotlights, writing updates, and future news about the Lucinda Howe series.

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Writing the Book

The idea for Lucinda Howe began with a question: what would happen if a girl’s soul split into two different versions of herself? One compassionate. One powerful.

The series explores identity, balance, and the choices that shape who we become.

Coming Soon

Future books will explore deeper cosmic mythology, Umbra’s secret power structure, the history of The Duke, and the larger war between balance and domination.