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The Hero Rebellion 10th Anniversary Special Edition

Created by Belinda Crawford

The Hero Rebellion is an action-packed YA sci-fi series, featuring psychic mutant animal companions, illegal street races and a kick-ass heroine who won’t take no for an answer.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

🐰 Cover reveal + a glitch in the timelines
5 months ago – Wed, Oct 01, 2025 at 03:56:24 PM



THE DEFIANT DISPATCH
SPECIAL HERO REBELLION Update 06 | October 2025

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🐰 FROM THE HUB

[The timelines are… flickering. Resistance Command reports irregularities in the Hub. If you were around for the I Am Maggie campaign, you know what that means. If you’re new, don’t panic (yet) – just know things are about to get weird, and you’re going to want to pay attention.

And if you're completely lost… check out the Hub primer and catch up before the timelines glitch again.]

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Hey, hey Defiant Ones!

I got a cover reveal for you! 

[🐉 'Ahem.' Vren's spectacles adjust themselves—little glimmers of magic hovering around the thin wire frames—as the dragon appears on the screen.]

Okay, well… it's more like a cover re-reveal, or upgrade or something… anyways, it's a pretty picture. It's actually TWO pretty pictures but the second one is kinda accidental and you're gonna need to watch this thing here to see it —> YouTube link



The "thing" is a really cool behind the scenes video of me updating the Hero cover with Hero's new face. I know, that sounds weird but… if you've ever wondered how a book cover is made (or maybe if my covers are AI generated – spoiler: they're not), then check it out.

 [🐉 'Yes,' Vren says. He's distracted by something off-screen, the scales between his thick eye-ridges bunching in a frown. 'There are many other AIs in the multiverse, most of them far more concerning the chatty one…']

Annnddd…. If you do, you'll also get a sneaky sneak peek at the first of the special Nexus Edition covers exclusive to the Hero 10th Anniversary hardbacks.

Until next time, safe travels through the multiverse,
Belinda

 [🐉 Vren's giant teal eyes are focused elsewhere, and his frown between appears deeper than before, although not with anger but puzzlement.

'What is that?' He mutters it to himself.

The camera pans, following his gaze, taking in the great expanse of the Hub – the flagstones, the piles of books, the timelines undulating beyond the five great columns. It pans past the southern-most column before snapping back. The column looks no different from the rest, except—]

—^^— Communication terminated by order of Resistance Command —^^—

📜 Sneak peek: the deleted Hero that almost was
5 months ago – Sun, Sep 21, 2025 at 03:03:06 PM



THE DEFIANT DISPATCH
SPECIAL HERO REBELLION Update 05 | September 2025

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Hey, hey Defiant Ones! 

Last month, I shared a deleted prologue from Hero, and this month… I thought you might like this snippet from the very first draft. 

[🐉 Vren pops onto the screen. The dragon looks harried, as usual, and there are glowing cob webs stuck in his mane and between his horns. 

'The very first draft‽ The one that went missing from the Archives? You found it‽'] 

 *rolls her eyes, muttering "drama lizard" under her breath*. Of course I found it. I'm the Author. 

Anyways, back to the snippet… 

The book, and Hero herself, changed quite a bit between the first and second drafts, in the first one she was a lot nicer. 

If you've read Hero, or at least the first two chapters (and if not, you can read it here) this scene might be a little familiar… until it isn't. 

To read the snippet, check out the Follower Exclusive content on the campaign page, by clicking the link below. And if you're not already following the campaign... what are you waiting for?

Coming next update… 

A cover reveal and the 10th Anniversary edition special features. 
 
Until next time, safe travels through the multiverse, 
Belinda

Reserve now, unlock the secrets later 👀
6 months ago – Mon, Aug 25, 2025 at 04:21:54 PM



THE DEFIANT DISPATCH
SPECIAL HERO REBELLION Update 04 | August 2025

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🐰 FROM THE HUB
[A large bunny in tactical gear with five luminescent stars on his collar, sits in the dark. There's movement behind him, the quiet hum and thump, the flash of long ears and fluffy tails, of others in the same space.

There's a report in the bunny's paw, and his big bush eye ridges are farrowed over his grey snout. He doesn't appear to be aware of you as the camera zooms in on his name badge. It reads "Fluff—"

He looks up, meets your eyes, and before you can say 'carrot sticks' he's swatted you into the next reality, even as he yells, 'Security breach!']

--

Hey, hey Defiant Ones!

Umm, yeah, sorry about that, I was umm… liaising, yeah liaising with some, ahh… some subcontractors and I forgot to reset the Hub protocols to umm… the Hub.

Do me a favour, don't tell Vren? That would be… bad. Very, very bad.

For me.

Anyways… I have some cool news for you, but before that...

Don't know what all this Hub and Vren nonsense is?

If you've been with me for the last few campaigns, or are on my newsletter, you've probably encountered the chaos and absurdity that is the Hub and its cosmic overlord, Vren. If you haven't, don't worry, I got you covered with this handy-dandy primer. 

👉 Welcome to the Hub (2-minute primer). Trust me, read it. Things are about to get weird… and fun.

Speaking of weird, fun things…

Wanna play a game? Pre-Launch Reservation Items


Unlock The Cardinal Codex + Glitched Realities mini-game*

Step into the Archives and open a file that was never meant to be found. The Cardinal Codex is a secret story fragment that bridges two storylines and charts the first whispers of digital consciousness (and a certain cosmic dragon). Alongside it, you’ll get Glitched Realities, a bite-sized mini-game you can play solo or with friends... or with me! 

No, seriously, play a game (and create a piece of Hub mythos) with me! Everyone backer of the Hero 10th Anniversary campaign is invited to play.

To recap… Your mission, should you choose to accept it

  1. Read the primer (for context)
  2. Reserve your secret file + mini-game*
  3. Prepare for multiversal weirdness

Until next time, safe travels through the multiverse,
Belinda

P.S. *Your copies of the Cardinal Codex + Glitched Realities mini-game unlock after the Hero 10th Anniversary campaign wraps in December.

A lost prologue from Hero resurfaces
7 months ago – Sun, Aug 17, 2025 at 02:49:12 PM



THE DEFIANT DISPATCH
SPECIAL HERO REBELLION Update 03 | August 2025

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🐉 FROM THE HUB
[The Hub is neater than when you last saw it. Glowing books still covering the giant flagstones and cluster at the base of the five mammoth columns, but the piles are smaller and there are no sudden wind gusts whipping loose pages into a mini tornadoes.

Vren sits in the middle of it all, wire-framed spectacles looking out of place on his long scaly, dragon snout as he sorts through the piles. 

He casts you a glance. 'Shoo, little mortal,' he says, before lifting a wing a batting you out of the Hub.]

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Hey, hey Defiant Ones!

Vren is still in a mood from the last time, when I rummaged around in the Archives and found the original (and unpublished) Hero cover. What he doesn't know, is that when I was rummaging, I found another little, unpublished gem.

Below is a deleted prologue from the first book, a flash-forward teasing the events at the end and the identity of a certain Lamb. It sat at the start of the manuscript for a really, really long time and I really, really wanted to keep it but… well, if you've read Hero you'll know that story doesn't quite work out this way.

Also Hero (the girl in the recording) got a whole lot snarkier.

--

The holo-recorder was a small black lump in the deeper blackness of the city’s bowels. It didn’t sparkle, didn’t glint in the searchlights and she almost crushed it under her boot before her partner pulled her back.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

They knelt almost in unison and she gingerly picked up the palm-sized bit of tech. 

It flickered to life.

The girl projected in the holo’s soft light looked young, still chubby in the cheeks but growing into the strong line of her cheekbones and out of her too-large eyes. Visible from the torso up she stared at Imogen across the distance of too much time and god knows how much space, her lips blue, her eyes scared and her jaw determined.

“It’s cold.” The girl’s breath puffed before her as she spoke around the chatter of her teeth. “I don’t know where we are.”

In the recording a shadow moved behind the girl, something big. The ‘pard, she thought, let it be the ‘pard.

“If you find this, find…” The girl stopped, her voice dropping to an almost-whisper, “…us, then tell Mum…tell her I’m sorry but I had to.”

The holo-recorder died.

She sat back on her heels, her partner silent at her side, the only sounds the soft whoosh of stream and drip of pipes. 

Slowly, with the crack of a stiff knee and the creak of shoe-leather, her partner rose. “I’ll get the Lieutenant.”

She nodded.

--

Do you want more behind-the-scenes bits like this? Let me know in the poll below!

Until next time, safe travels through the multiverse,
Belinda

🔍 Found: Old Hero Art + A Dragon Having a Breakdown
7 months ago – Fri, Aug 01, 2025 at 05:09:49 PM



THE DEFIANT DISPATCH
SPECIAL HERO REBELLION Update 02 | August 2025

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🐉 FROM THE HUB
[The Hub is a mess. Books with glowing covers are piled hither and thither like teetering skyscrapers, sheafs of paper fluttering between. Some of the papers match the luminescent covers while others… Scraps of old lined paper with holes punched in the margins, straight out of someone's binder. They're covered in barely intelligible scrawl, diagrams and hasty illustrations.

In the midst of the mess sits Vren.

The dragon's glasses are askew on his long scaly snout, the wireframes misshapen and the glass within… Has it been melted? Whatever it is, the great cosmic guardian does not look impressed.

A tiny flame licks his nostrils.

'The Author was inspired, little mortal.' There's no emotion in Vren's voice, but from somewhere deep within the mess, you can hear his tail thump thump thump against one of the five great columns. 'She spent all week digging through the Archives, pulling out books. Finding things.' 

One of the old, yellowed binder sheets skitters across Vren's forepaw and his stabs it with a spear-like talon. 

'Including a new wing in the Archives, or should I say… an old wing. Full of records. Old records.' Another stab, another sheaf of unintelligible scrawl skewered. 'And not a one of them shelved.' More flame, bigger and brighter than before, washes the dragon's snout. 'Not even a shelf.' Vren's voice cracks.

'And who… who does she leave to sort it out? Not the plot bunnies, I tell you. Not the bunnies!']

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Hey, hey Defiant Ones!


Ok, so since we're gearing up from the Hero Rebellion 10th Anniversary campaign in November, I've been digging through some old files, finding cool things and… I may or may not have pissed off Vren.

 [🐉 Flames erupt.]

Alright, so I definitely pissed off the drama lizard— [🐉 Draconic muttering]— I mean, Timeline Guardian.

 [🐉 Muttering stops.]

The Author clears her throat. Anyway, I found some fun things from back in the day when Hero was barely a twinkle in this author's eye, including this little gem.


POLLS: If you haven't voted already, the polls are still up!

I could use your help! I have two polls going at the moment, one to help choose a line from the Hero Rebellion to put on a sticker and two… do you prefer your bling books as omnibuses or individual hardcovers?

The sticker poll closes in a few days.

Until next time, safe travels through the multiverse,
Belinda

P.S. Oh, and just a reminder, if you're not reading this on the website, you probably should because there's some special follower-only content. And if you visit the page and you can't see the special content... you might need to hit the "Join the Rebellion" button.