The Storyweaver™ Blurs the Lines Between Surreal and Reality in This Psychological Fantasy
In “Velvet Moon Chronicles: The Leveling,” Shannon Denise Evans crafts a novel that blurs the boundary between waking life and the subconscious, inviting readers into an intricate meditation on grief, identity, and the instability of reality. Released under Lamplighter Publishing House, based in New York, the first installment in this series is an extension of Evans’ larger artistic vision, seamlessly blending with her other creative endeavors.
Zoë Hall, at 38, has built a life of precision and control, thriving as a confidante for New York’s elite. But when her carefully structured world begins to unravel through recurring nightmares, the line between dream and reality dissolves. Her restless nights introduce her to a surreal dreamscape—an eerie forest, a still pond reflecting something beyond comprehension, and an ominous malevolent entity that seems to recognize her. When she wakes, physical traces from the dream remain: dried blood on her feet, soot-like handprints on her skin, and a key wrapped in ivy on her bedside table.
Her waking hours, too, hold unsettling encounters. An unknown woman saves her from stepping into traffic before disappearing, and in a therapy session with Dr. Lawson, Zoë reveals little about herself but admits that her dreams are becoming more violent. As she grapples with these intrusions, memories from childhood resurface—her mother’s teachings on resilience, the legacy of her Cherokee heritage, and the emotional scars of past humiliation. Evans presents these moments as a meditation on the way trauma lingers and reshapes our sense of self.
As the narrative progresses, Evans skillfully blurs the lines between conscious reality and the dreamscape. Zoë’s dreams become increasingly immersive, rendered in vivid first-person prose that pulls readers directly into her psychological landscape. Here, she encounters a decaying forest, a suspended breath that never disperses, and cryptic phrases whispered through brittle branches. In Chapter 48, titled “(W)underland,” Zoë finds herself waking in a cabin with Nikolai, a mysterious figure who insists she plays a pivotal role in preventing an encroaching darkness. The setting itself feels liminal: trees withering from the roots up, and the air thick with an almost sentient awareness. The phrase “the final offering” lingers like an omen, hinting at a larger metaphysical reckoning beyond Zoë’s immediate comprehension.
What distinguishes “The Leveling” from traditional psychological thrillers is that it remains grounded in the psychological complexity of its protagonist. Zoë is a woman confronting the fragmented layers of her consciousness while navigating the existential weight of ancestral memory and personal trauma. Her journey is less about battling an external enemy and more about confronting the shadows that have silently dictated her choices.
Evans’ narrative structure mirrors the dissonance Zoë experiences. Waking-life scenes are written in a detached third-person voice, emphasizing the character’s emotional distance and compartmentalization. In contrast, the dream sequences shift to a raw, unfiltered first-person perspective, immersing readers in Zoë’s vulnerability and internal unrest. This alternating structure becomes a literary embodiment of the novel’s core theme: the necessity of integrating fragmented aspects of the self.
Evans’ broader artistic vision as The Storyweaver™ permeates the narrative. Recognized for fostering spaces of introspection and self-inquiry across various artistic mediums, she infuses “The Leveling” with the same intellectual curiosity and emotional depth that characterizes her music under SAVARRE™. The novel resonates with the same raw authenticity present in “Blood,” the initial EP in SAVARRE™’s conceptual series exploring personal metamorphosis.
Readers looking for neatly packaged answers will not find them here. Evans invites the audience to linger in uncertainty, mirroring Zoë’s own journey toward psychological integration. The novel doesn’t resolve its mysteries with simplistic explanations but instead offers the possibility that reality itself is a construct shaped by memory, perception, and unspoken fears.
“Velvet Moon Chronicles: The Leveling” stands as an intellectual and emotional inquiry into the human condition. It asks: Can one truly separate waking life from dream, or are they merely different expressions of the same inner truth? In the end, Evans suggests that the process of leveling—of confronting and reconciling one’s shadows—is not a destination, but an ongoing act of courage and self-awareness. The novel is both an invitation and a challenge: to venture beyond the familiar, sit with the discomfort of the unknown, and find transformation within the liminal spaces we often fear to enter.
Get your copy of Velvet Moon Chronicles: The Leveling today: https://www.velvetmoonchronicles.com/purchase
To learn more about The Storyweaver™ and her multidisciplinary projects, visit her official website: https://www.thestoryweaverofficial.com
