When I sit down to work on my fiction, the words still come. Maybe not always easily, maybe not always gracefully, but they come. The stories are alive. The characters still whisper. The world still opens its doors to me. There is still so much more I want to say. But when I sit downContinue reading “Stone by Stone, Word by Word”
Tag Archives: dark-fantasy
I Don’t Write Heroes—And Here’s Why
I didn’t set out to avoid heroes. But every time I tried to create one—the kind who stands tall, speaks clearly, and always knows right from wrong—I felt like I was lying. The stories I needed to tell weren’t about saviors. They were about survivors. About what happens after the battle, after the prophecy, afterContinue reading “I Don’t Write Heroes—And Here’s Why”
Did I Make the Right Choice?
My wife chose education. She chose the long nights of coursework and spreadsheets, the nerve-rattling presentations, and the empty notebooks slowly filled with formulas, theory, and case studies. She chose the outcome. The goal. The degree. Then the next one. And the next, until she found an end. First, an MBA. Then, a doctorate–the periodContinue reading “Did I Make the Right Choice?”
Forging the Cover: The Evolution of Dawn of the Lightbearer
Every book cover makes a promise. But sometimes, it takes five versions to make the right one. When I first published Dawn of the Lightbearer almost four years ago, I was driven by story, passion, and vision—less so by design experience. I have an eye and real-life artistic skills, but digitally producing a book coverContinue reading “Forging the Cover: The Evolution of Dawn of the Lightbearer”
What Naples Gave Me (Besides Jet Lag and Limoncello)
I know it has been some time since my last post, but I just returned from a much-needed two-week vacation in Naples, Italy. I had planned to schedule some posts before I left, but I simply ran out of time. A week before our departure, I received the line edits and feedback from the editorContinue reading “What Naples Gave Me (Besides Jet Lag and Limoncello)”
Before the Lightbearer: Why I Had to Write Koen
Now that Koen: Quills of the Raven’s Nest is back from the editor and getting all patched up (we’re almost there), I’ve fallen back in love with the book. I wasn’t supposed to write Koen. Not yet, anyway. When I began charting the course of the Absolution of the Morning Star series (AMS), I hadContinue reading “Before the Lightbearer: Why I Had to Write Koen”
One Step Closer: Koen is Home from the Editor
The line edits are in. After months of waiting, wondering, and second-guessing, Koen: Quills from the Raven’s Nest has come back to me from my savior with a red pen, the editor at Grendel Press, who heroically battled the creeping typo and the terrorizing grammatical error. This isn’t my first round of feedback, which cameContinue reading “One Step Closer: Koen is Home from the Editor”
Not Just Stars: How a Tiny Click Changes Everything
A special kind of magic lives in the smallest moments—those quick, quiet affirmations that slip in while brushing your teeth or brewing coffee. For authors, one of those moments is the soft chime of a new book rating. This morning, I checked my notifications and saw it: a single five-star rating for The Novice ofContinue reading “Not Just Stars: How a Tiny Click Changes Everything”
Into the Abyss: Who Is the Dark Fantasy Reader?
Last time, I wrote about how I didn’t set out to write dark fantasy but found myself here all the same, drawn by the arcane, the spiritual, and the broken beauty of stories that don’t look away from pain. I’m still learning the boundaries of the genre (if there are any) and figuring out whereContinue reading “Into the Abyss: Who Is the Dark Fantasy Reader?”
Dark Fantasy: Rising from the Ashes
I never set out to follow trends, but now that I’m here, I’m curious. My love for the arcane, the spiritual, and the unsettling pulled me into dark fantasy long before I realized that was where I was heading. I’m ashamed to admit, I’m not well-read in it—at least not in the way others canContinue reading “Dark Fantasy: Rising from the Ashes”
