Kindling is the first book in the Against the Elements series. This chapter is the introduction of the protagonist: Petra. I decided to remove this snippet from the final work, because giving Petra a point of view in the narrative takes some of the tension and surprise away from the reader. Enjoy! Margot had, once …
It’s been a while, but I’m back at it and February 2025 has come! That means more goals for the year. I’ve got such a large to-do list this year, as I’m planning on finishing a few projects. I also want to do a blog post a week like I was doing before the holidays. …
Valentine’s Day is almost upon us, and that means Valentine’s writing prompts from The Writing Cartel! The Writing Cartel is the Discord writing server I run. We’re a largish server, but very welcoming and dedicated to helping other writers finish their original fiction projects. Heads up if you try to join: there is a form …
November came and went in the blink of an eye, it seems. It’s already December, which means it’s time to review my goal progress for Quarter 4 of 2024. I’m braced, because I know I did not do well in November. Here are my goals for November: Goals Reading Words Projects I had a lot …
Villains are an important part of storytelling. The villain is the evil counterpart to the hero in a story—often the antagonist, but not always. Not every story has a villain, but those that do must choose where on The Villain Spectrum they lie. Their motives and actions define whether they’re Evil for Evil’s Sake or …
A few blog posts ago, I shared an overview of my literary universe, The Keter Archives. This week, I’ll introduce you to my favorite piece of worldbuilding I’ve done for the universe: my demons. They are the most in-depth part of my universe, and I’m excited to share them. A History of Demons At the …
Quarter 4 of 2024 started in October. I posted my goals for the quarter three weeks ago. This post will be a continuation of that post—specifically, I’ll be going through my accomplishments (and misses) from the first month of the quarter. I made a list of things I wanted to get done in the fourth …
A friend of mine recently wrote a blog post about his project’s inspiration, magic, and themes. (Shout out to Edward Patrick and The Rage of a Boy, the first book in his Grey and White series.) I thought it was such a great idea, that I’m going to do a similar thing. This is the …
Darkness filled the space, deep down below the surface. Something floated in the water, massive and waiting—The Sapphire Shine, one of the Elders, though not the oldest. It was as black as the depths, though lines of blue, like veins, danced in and out of view. Bubbles wrapped around it as it swam. Well, swam …
October was the start of the last quarter of the year. There are only three months left in 2024—the final stretch. I have a million projects, so often I switch which ones I’m working on. I’m hoping not to do that here, though. I also have been mourning the loss of NaNoWriMo for next month. …