I have never been very interested in destinations. That might sound strange coming from someone who writes fantasy, because fantasy is full of destinations. Towers. Cities. Mountains. Lost kingdoms. Temples buried under old stone. A throne that must be reached. A gate that must be opened. A relic that must be found. A monster thatContinue reading “The Road Is the Story”
Category Archives: Writing journey
City as a Character: Grafton Notch in Jezelle: Thief of Forks
All cities are hungry. That was one of the first truths I came to understand while writing Grafton Notch. A city is not merely streets, walls, markets, alleys, and gates. It is appetite made physical. It is what people want, what they are willing to do to get it, and what happens to those whoContinue reading “City as a Character: Grafton Notch in Jezelle: Thief of Forks”
Five Years of Dawn of the Lightbearer
In May of 2021, I published Dawn of the Lightbearer. In a sense, it feels so long ago, but in another, it was like yesterday. So much has happened since. Lucardia expanded into eight books, with two more on the way (reached 50K words in Sylvanus). But five years later, Dawn of the Lightbearer stillContinue reading “Five Years of Dawn of the Lightbearer”
The Creeping Cankers
In my world of Lucardia, not every horror announces itself with claws, teeth, or a sword drawn in the dark. Some horrors arrive slowly. They creep beneath the skin. They fester. They deform. They turn a human face into something others cannot bear to look upon. They take years to kill, and before death comes,Continue reading “The Creeping Cankers”
The Ruins Beneath Belief
Governments, whether modern-day or fantastical, are all very good at pretending the past is dead. They build roads over old paths. They raise new temples on the bones of older shrines. They rename holy days, outlaw certain prayers, scrape symbols from door lintels, and teach children that whatever came before was foolishness at best andContinue reading “The Ruins Beneath Belief”
Sylvanus it is!
After much deliberation, I decided to proceed with Sylvanus: Sword and Sons. In the last week or so, I’ve written ~9,000 words, which is such a relief after a dry spell that caused me concern. I thank you all for your kind words, support, and input after the post before last. It helped greatly, notContinue reading “Sylvanus it is!”
Lament for the loss of data
Six years into self-publishing, what surprises me most is not how hard it is. Hard is fine. Hard can be endured. I’m no spring chicken. I have faced many hardships in life, and I know how to deal with them. What wears on a person is trying to build on unstable ground, especially when youContinue reading “Lament for the loss of data”
What next?
For exactly six years, I’ve been riding a writer’s high, pumping out book after book. In that time, I’ve published ten works or over 1.2 million words. I’ve created a dark and complex world with varied geography, tangled politics, thousands of years of history, its own gods, and the religions that fester around them. MoreContinue reading “What next?”
New project, The Last Knight of Norn
I’ve been working on a new tale set in Lucardia that isn’t directly connected to my other plotlines. Something completely stand-alone. Below is a rough draft of the first chapter. I’m curious to know if it’s hitting. The chapter reads almost like a short story, so I can go that route with a few tweaksContinue reading “New project, The Last Knight of Norn”
I swam the market until I hit a rock
I’ve decided to stop my query process for Jezelle: Thief of Forks and switch gears to self-publishing the book. On the surface, that may look like defeat—another swing at traditional publishing and missing—but that’s not what this is. This is me looking directly at how this business actually works, looking at how far Jezelle swamContinue reading “I swam the market until I hit a rock”
