Posting an update here to assure everyone that yes, I'm still alive. It wasn't intentional to have time lapse so long between updates, but I have been dealing with heavy Post Partum Depression since having my son. I went back and forth for a while on whether or not to really say anything here, but this blog has always been intended as a place where I can speak candidly about everything affecting the creative parts of my life, and that includes the obstacles that occasionally come out of nowhere and overwhelm me like a tidal wave.
I'm someone who's no stranger to depression, as I've had it all my life, but the past couple of years have been especially hard. It's only very recently that I've finally begun to resurface from what feels like a bottomless, dark lake that smothers everything else in life. And it's taken its toll - I have gotten absolutely no writing done for the past three months. This, on top of the extremely sparse work I was able to do during my pregnancy and for several months after the arrival of my son, has left me feeling somewhat of a sense of urgency to continue my work as a writer. I'm not sure yet whether that urgency is stemming from the load of work I've set up for myself to complete, or if it's the herald of some new challenge that is coming my direction. Either way, I have resolved to attack my hefty project list and do as much as I can before I either burn out again or some large and new hurdle appears on my path - whichever happens first, I guess.
So, obviously I'm not going to be able to pursue the Spring release for Taloner: Wekthusia that I was hoping for, but crap happens. I am back at work on the manuscript and have selected which projects I will be working on once T:W is written, revised, and in print. I'm really looking forward to knocking projects down one at a time and getting more books written and revised and back into the hands of readers.
And as an aside, I am in the laboriously slow process of helping my husband to fix up two houses and move from one to the other. I am also still a resident of No Internet Land, and now a resident of Poor Signal Land, as well. So updates here may continue to be far and few between for a little while.
Wishing you all well. Here goes nothin'.
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Excerpt - Taloner: Wekthusia
Hello, readers! I've been keeping pretty busy here, between looking after a very rambunctious and inquisitive son and all the produce that's been unexpectedly dropped into my lap for food storage. It's been a big challenge to get any art done in the midst of all of this, but I'm hoping to be able to get some concepts secured soon here. Work on Taloner: Wekthusia has been slow, as usual (I sure miss the days when ten pages a week felt like a breeze)
Here's a little tidbit from the manuscript for you to enjoy this lovely Autumn morning (or afternoon, or evening - whenever it is for you):
The smell hit his nose before any sounds touched his ears. It was the odor of sweat, stale coffee, and the deep, earthy musk perfumes preferred by the elves.
Wekthusia ground to a halt, wings tensing. He cast out rapidly with his magical sense and encountered the buzzing aura of not one, but three spellcasters. Hastily, he retracted his magic and glanced behind him. He didn’t want to go back into that nest of elves, truth be told.
Sucking in a breath, Wekthusia grabbed at a small charm worn on a chain around his neck. He watched as the air rippled around him, signaling that the charm’s power had been activated.
A split second later, five elves walked into sight. One wore a red-striped feather that signified some sort of commander, if Wekthusia remembered correctly. He watched as the elves approached his position and chattered in low, soft voices. None of them even glanced at him.
Within seconds, they reached the spot where the priest was standing and continued past, one of them passing through Wekthusia as if he were a ghost. Wekthusia dared not exhale until they were several steps away, for the effects of the inter-dimensional charm only blocked him from physical sight and touch, not sound. And now that he’d used it, he’d have to wait a full twenty-four hours for it to recharge.
The elves continued along their way, conversing about recent reports from the coast. Wekthusia thought he heard a snatch of something about Neth, but that wasn’t so unusual, anymore. Ever since the war, Neth activity had been up in almost all sectors of Siege, along with a few areas outside the continent.
He was just about to release the charm when something one of the elves said caught his ear.
“Did you find the Lauina yet?”
Wekthusia’s eyes snapped onto the speaker. It was the elf wearing the red-tipped feather.
Another elf made a gesture.
“Not yet,” he said, “but it’s around here somewhere. Our spell net will …”
That was about as much as Wekthusia understood clearly, but he got the feeling that whatever else the elf was saying was unpleasant. The commander snorted and made a remark about “practice” when the Lauina was found.
Wekthusia’s stomach churned. The Illismonah knew he was here—and they were looking for him.
Pretty short, sorry. The working manuscript is still just shy of 29,000 words. I'm still working toward my Spring 2019 goal for completion of the first draft, even if I have to start writing in the middle of the night to get there.
Here's a little tidbit from the manuscript for you to enjoy this lovely Autumn morning (or afternoon, or evening - whenever it is for you):
The smell hit his nose before any sounds touched his ears. It was the odor of sweat, stale coffee, and the deep, earthy musk perfumes preferred by the elves.
Wekthusia ground to a halt, wings tensing. He cast out rapidly with his magical sense and encountered the buzzing aura of not one, but three spellcasters. Hastily, he retracted his magic and glanced behind him. He didn’t want to go back into that nest of elves, truth be told.
Sucking in a breath, Wekthusia grabbed at a small charm worn on a chain around his neck. He watched as the air rippled around him, signaling that the charm’s power had been activated.
A split second later, five elves walked into sight. One wore a red-striped feather that signified some sort of commander, if Wekthusia remembered correctly. He watched as the elves approached his position and chattered in low, soft voices. None of them even glanced at him.
Within seconds, they reached the spot where the priest was standing and continued past, one of them passing through Wekthusia as if he were a ghost. Wekthusia dared not exhale until they were several steps away, for the effects of the inter-dimensional charm only blocked him from physical sight and touch, not sound. And now that he’d used it, he’d have to wait a full twenty-four hours for it to recharge.
The elves continued along their way, conversing about recent reports from the coast. Wekthusia thought he heard a snatch of something about Neth, but that wasn’t so unusual, anymore. Ever since the war, Neth activity had been up in almost all sectors of Siege, along with a few areas outside the continent.
He was just about to release the charm when something one of the elves said caught his ear.
“Did you find the Lauina yet?”
Wekthusia’s eyes snapped onto the speaker. It was the elf wearing the red-tipped feather.
Another elf made a gesture.
“Not yet,” he said, “but it’s around here somewhere. Our spell net will …”
That was about as much as Wekthusia understood clearly, but he got the feeling that whatever else the elf was saying was unpleasant. The commander snorted and made a remark about “practice” when the Lauina was found.
Wekthusia’s stomach churned. The Illismonah knew he was here—and they were looking for him.
Pretty short, sorry. The working manuscript is still just shy of 29,000 words. I'm still working toward my Spring 2019 goal for completion of the first draft, even if I have to start writing in the middle of the night to get there.
Friday, September 7, 2018
Current Project
Okay now, I promised a post to reveal what my main writing project is for the year. You might have already guessed it (did your eyes just dart down to see if you were correct?)
AND THE WINNER IS:
Taloner: Wekthusia
Yep, it's one of the Taloner books, as I suspected I'd choose at the first of the year. Since these books are much smaller than other projects in the series, it has provided a lighter workload for me to carry while I continue to adjust to being a mother and being so drained of energy each day, I commonly stutter or slur my speech (Guys, my one-year-old is still waking up an average of five times a night. Seriously)
I've mentioned before that Taloner: Wekthusia started out as a project some years ago. It was just a random story idea that I started writing after finishing the first drafts of The Rebirth Trilogy, and I really didn't have a clue as to where it was going. It was something that I'd add to as little sparks of inspiration occurred, as I was still riding the afterglow of completing my own trilogy. The manuscript has now been dusted off, plotted out, and I've overhauled what was written so that it's much less shudder-worthy in the structure department. I'm glad I held on to this piece for so long, even when I didn't think it would ever become anything more than an unfinished manuscript that would never see the light of day. It's provided a platform for me to get back into the groove with writing, which is what I needed.
Yeah okay, moving on. So if you've read Taloner: Reima or it's sequel, you kind of already know what a Taloner is. It's a scout who roams a specific area of the world in order to observe and record information related to their assignment, such as keeping an eye on enemies of the lore drake empire.
Going more into depth, Taloner scouts typically fall into one of five categories: warriors, priests/priestesses, scholars, monks (fighting priests), and those of nobility. Wekthusia is a priest, which has been a little different to work with, as I'm used to the warrior mindset of Reima. I've had to keep correcting myself and really try to focus on developing Wekthusia as his own person, instead of making him a Reima clone (trust me, it's easy to accidentally copy your own characters sometimes when you write)
So looking at what I've been able to accomplish so far with this book, it isn't very likely that it will be completed this year, even with it being a smaller project. It's currently at a little over 27,000 words. That might seem paltry to some, but from where I've been mentally during the last two years, it's a success. I'm excited to keep working with it, and I'm hoping to release it in the spring of 2019.
I'm already deciding which writing project will come next after that, as I'm now focusing on my group of announced titles instead of starting anything new. I'm not certain yet if my side project, Origins, will become the next main project, or if it will continue to exist as my side project. It just depends on what kind of energy and inspiration occurs for me between now and that point.
Now then, I'm off to do some work. Have an excellent day, and thanks for reading!
AND THE WINNER IS:
Taloner: Wekthusia
Yep, it's one of the Taloner books, as I suspected I'd choose at the first of the year. Since these books are much smaller than other projects in the series, it has provided a lighter workload for me to carry while I continue to adjust to being a mother and being so drained of energy each day, I commonly stutter or slur my speech (Guys, my one-year-old is still waking up an average of five times a night. Seriously)
I've mentioned before that Taloner: Wekthusia started out as a project some years ago. It was just a random story idea that I started writing after finishing the first drafts of The Rebirth Trilogy, and I really didn't have a clue as to where it was going. It was something that I'd add to as little sparks of inspiration occurred, as I was still riding the afterglow of completing my own trilogy. The manuscript has now been dusted off, plotted out, and I've overhauled what was written so that it's much less shudder-worthy in the structure department. I'm glad I held on to this piece for so long, even when I didn't think it would ever become anything more than an unfinished manuscript that would never see the light of day. It's provided a platform for me to get back into the groove with writing, which is what I needed.
Yeah okay, moving on. So if you've read Taloner: Reima or it's sequel, you kind of already know what a Taloner is. It's a scout who roams a specific area of the world in order to observe and record information related to their assignment, such as keeping an eye on enemies of the lore drake empire.
Going more into depth, Taloner scouts typically fall into one of five categories: warriors, priests/priestesses, scholars, monks (fighting priests), and those of nobility. Wekthusia is a priest, which has been a little different to work with, as I'm used to the warrior mindset of Reima. I've had to keep correcting myself and really try to focus on developing Wekthusia as his own person, instead of making him a Reima clone (trust me, it's easy to accidentally copy your own characters sometimes when you write)
So looking at what I've been able to accomplish so far with this book, it isn't very likely that it will be completed this year, even with it being a smaller project. It's currently at a little over 27,000 words. That might seem paltry to some, but from where I've been mentally during the last two years, it's a success. I'm excited to keep working with it, and I'm hoping to release it in the spring of 2019.
I'm already deciding which writing project will come next after that, as I'm now focusing on my group of announced titles instead of starting anything new. I'm not certain yet if my side project, Origins, will become the next main project, or if it will continue to exist as my side project. It just depends on what kind of energy and inspiration occurs for me between now and that point.
Now then, I'm off to do some work. Have an excellent day, and thanks for reading!
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
WIP - Himni Rek-Aro
Holy smokes, two posts in one week. What is the world coming to?
I sketched this a couple of weeks ago as part of a small art challenge for myself. This is Himni Rek-Aro, a character who appears in The Rebirth Trilogy. She is the last of the four original original characters I drew when I started writing the trilogy as a teenager, once upon a time (the others being Kuma, Cenme, and Nighteye). I've wanted to draw her for a while in order to more fully flesh out her appearance. This sketch needs a lot of work before I ink it, but it's a start. In particular, I need to redo the details of her mask. The wing theme was okay, but it's not what I wanted. I do plan to ink and color this at some point.
So ... a little trivia for you about Himni, since I've been trying to do this more when I post images of individual characters and such:
The gemstones in Himni's mask are a purple-red sapphire and a red spinel, the latter of which represents "intensity" among the Laiuna people. (Side notes - Different colored sapphires, aside from the familiar blue, may also carry special meaning. And, red spinel is one of my personal favorites when it comes to gemstones)
Himni's home is a city called Juk Sul, which is located in a southern range of Genkian mountains called The Gods' Abode. The city is built at a high elevation, which means that cooler temperatures are a norm, and as such, some of Himni's normal attire includes fur lining. Juk Sul has an interesting history that involves rebelling against the Laiuna empire at one point, and one of the carry-overs of that rebellion is represented by the structure of it's citizens' names; Instead of the traditional name format in the rest of Genkai (Surname, followed by Given Name) the natives of Juk Sul use their Given Name first, followed by their Surname. I won't bore you with further details on all that, but yeah.
Okay, now - Setting aside trivia and sketches, I've also come to a decision: While I still have a number of planned works in store for the Legends of Destiny series, along with a couple other series and projects, no more new projects will be started for the next while .... like, years. I've decided that the amount of back-logged projects I have built up is utterly ridiculous and I'm going to start working through the book titles that have already been announced before I begin anything else. This means that titles such as Sovereign Soul, The Gem Duology, at least some Taloner books will be completed in their first draft form before I move on to anything else. My goal is to drastically cut down on the number of books sitting around in limbo, since some of them were announced a long time ago (cough, Sovereign Soul....)
Oh yeah. I guess that means I'd better make an announcement on which title won out as my current main project, huh? Well, look for that post soon!
Monday, August 27, 2018
Fourth Chaos Beast
Another Chaos Beast! Sheeze, I finally got the time and energy to sit down and finish this one. I'll continue to work on the concept art for her, since some of the colors didn't turn out quite right with what I'm seeing in my head.
Okay, so if you've read the trilogy you may be thinking, "Fourth beast? What happened to the third one?"
Don't worry. Beast 3 will be making an appearance in the duology, as I stated before. But that doesn't mean I'm not still developing the rest of the Chaos Beasts, or that none of them will appear in future projects.
So what are some things I can tell you about this Chaos Beast without ruining any surprises? She's female, for one (Yeah, you caught that. I know). Four of the Chaos Beasts are female, actually. The abilities of this one include power over illusion. She is also unique among all other beasts, for a reason that I won't divulge quite yet (sorry). And yes, she does appear in at least one of the book titles that has already been announced. She is also around twenty-five feet total in length, making her a little smaller than Denlupis.
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
The Origins Project
Ha, so as if I don't have enough of a pile falling out of my project cart, I need to come clean about one more: The Origins project. This book will not be a novel, however. It is a collection of anthologies similar to Wayside Tales, but all of the short stories in it will revolve around the theme of an origin - origins of creatures, characters, relics, and maybe a few other things that haven't yet been explained in-depth in the series.
I do already have partial drafts written for several of the stories, as well as a list of ideas that I might like to create a story for to add to the collection. I highly doubt that the entire list will make it into the book.
Origins is currently functioning as my side project. When I need a little break from my main project, or when a spurt of energy strikes me at the right time, I'll add to the short stories in it. Realistically, I'd like to get all of the first drafts done within the next year or so, but as always, we'll see what life deals me between now and then. As I said, Origins is not my main project ... yet.
Have a lovely day :)
I do already have partial drafts written for several of the stories, as well as a list of ideas that I might like to create a story for to add to the collection. I highly doubt that the entire list will make it into the book.
Origins is currently functioning as my side project. When I need a little break from my main project, or when a spurt of energy strikes me at the right time, I'll add to the short stories in it. Realistically, I'd like to get all of the first drafts done within the next year or so, but as always, we'll see what life deals me between now and then. As I said, Origins is not my main project ... yet.
Have a lovely day :)
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Beasts, Gems, and books
Greetings, readers. Are you ready for summer? And are you ready for another update?
I'm happy to report that I've been able to stick with my weekly writing quota in an effort to get as much done as I can on my main project for the year. I've even been able to make up for some lost time in the past couple of weeks, which makes me happy. I'm still not saying which title I'm working on, but since I ruled out a couple of titles in the last post, I will also say that my main project is not one of the following:
Foreign Lands
Nethbane
Path of a Hero (revision)
Yep, sorry. PoaH is still stuck in traffic waiting its turn to be worked on, but fear not. I'll almost certainly be back to working on it within the next year and a half, or so. I've been avoiding it, shame on me, and the reason is because there are several parts and story threads in it that I know will be messy to clean up and hammer out. When I first wrote the trilogy, I was pretty much just gamboling along and having fun, spitting out whatever plotline ideas occurred to me that passed the 5 minute rule. Unfortunately, that's left some weak plot elements to come back to. But I refuse to just abandon the revision project. I want readers to really see this book how it was supposed to be written, just as is now possible with Wings of Fate. I don't want to wait too long before having the complete trilogy available to the public once again.
So, that leaves the following possibilities in my lineup:
Book 9
Taloner: Reima (revision)
Taloner: Moa
Taloner: Wekthusia
Predecessor
Can you guess which one is the winner?
Speaking of Book 9, I really thought you should know ... seeing as how it's the first half of a duology, its project name is the Gem Duology. This title might change in time, but for now, this is it's name. And since this is a duology, that of course means that there's going to be a second book involved here. Let's call if Book 15 for now, shall we? (Even though it will take place directly after Book 9 in the series, and not later on in the timeline)
I do have the gist of the plot framed out for the duology, and it's one I'm very eager to share with readers. Among other things, some new insights will be revealed about the Gems of Virtue, something that has only vaguely been mentioned in the series up until now. The Gems affected quite a bit of Gaia's history during their existence, and they are legendary among its inhabitants.
The duology will also feature at least one new Chaos Beast. Readers familiar with The Rebirth Trilogy will remember these fun critters, as a couple of them surfaced there.
There is so much about these beasts that I enjoy writing about. Each of them is totally unique from the others, and each is connected with different elements in the world, giving them powers related to those elements. Denlupis was associated with electricity and speed, of course. And here's another fun fact about the beasts: They have the peculiar nature of becoming attached to the existence of one mortal at a time, until either they die, or the mortal does ... guess which one usually happens? So, someone in the duology is getting a new beast attached to them. Oh dear.
And while we're talking Chaos Beasts, I'm in the process of finishing some concept art for one Chaos Beast in particular. You'll likely see it posted here in the near future.
That's all for now. Until next time!
I'm happy to report that I've been able to stick with my weekly writing quota in an effort to get as much done as I can on my main project for the year. I've even been able to make up for some lost time in the past couple of weeks, which makes me happy. I'm still not saying which title I'm working on, but since I ruled out a couple of titles in the last post, I will also say that my main project is not one of the following:
Foreign Lands
Nethbane
Path of a Hero (revision)
Yep, sorry. PoaH is still stuck in traffic waiting its turn to be worked on, but fear not. I'll almost certainly be back to working on it within the next year and a half, or so. I've been avoiding it, shame on me, and the reason is because there are several parts and story threads in it that I know will be messy to clean up and hammer out. When I first wrote the trilogy, I was pretty much just gamboling along and having fun, spitting out whatever plotline ideas occurred to me that passed the 5 minute rule. Unfortunately, that's left some weak plot elements to come back to. But I refuse to just abandon the revision project. I want readers to really see this book how it was supposed to be written, just as is now possible with Wings of Fate. I don't want to wait too long before having the complete trilogy available to the public once again.
So, that leaves the following possibilities in my lineup:
Book 9
Taloner: Reima (revision)
Taloner: Moa
Taloner: Wekthusia
Predecessor
Can you guess which one is the winner?
Speaking of Book 9, I really thought you should know ... seeing as how it's the first half of a duology, its project name is the Gem Duology. This title might change in time, but for now, this is it's name. And since this is a duology, that of course means that there's going to be a second book involved here. Let's call if Book 15 for now, shall we? (Even though it will take place directly after Book 9 in the series, and not later on in the timeline)
I do have the gist of the plot framed out for the duology, and it's one I'm very eager to share with readers. Among other things, some new insights will be revealed about the Gems of Virtue, something that has only vaguely been mentioned in the series up until now. The Gems affected quite a bit of Gaia's history during their existence, and they are legendary among its inhabitants.
The duology will also feature at least one new Chaos Beast. Readers familiar with The Rebirth Trilogy will remember these fun critters, as a couple of them surfaced there.
There is so much about these beasts that I enjoy writing about. Each of them is totally unique from the others, and each is connected with different elements in the world, giving them powers related to those elements. Denlupis was associated with electricity and speed, of course. And here's another fun fact about the beasts: They have the peculiar nature of becoming attached to the existence of one mortal at a time, until either they die, or the mortal does ... guess which one usually happens? So, someone in the duology is getting a new beast attached to them. Oh dear.
And while we're talking Chaos Beasts, I'm in the process of finishing some concept art for one Chaos Beast in particular. You'll likely see it posted here in the near future.
That's all for now. Until next time!
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