A Traveler’s Guide to Lucardia

So, you’ve decided to visit Lucardia. Excellent choice. Whether you are searching for breathtaking mountain vistas, ancient cities, unspoiled forests, vibrant local traditions, magnificent ruins, fascinating religious history, or the exhilarating possibility of being chased across a field by something considerably larger than yourself, Lucardia offers an unforgettable travel experience. Few destinations can boast suchContinue reading “A Traveler’s Guide to Lucardia”

Two Hundred Knights, a Bed Warmer, and a Tornado

Last week, I was on a stay-cation, which, for me, apparently means spending most of my “relaxing” time finishing writng a novel. I had been aiming for 2,000 words a day as I pushed toward the end of Sylvanus: Swords and Sons, but once I could see the finish line, that goal pretty much wentContinue reading “Two Hundred Knights, a Bed Warmer, and a Tornado”

Every Wound Has an Ancestry

As I mentioned in my last post, over the last few weeks, I have been looking backward more than usual. Part of that has come from my Flashback Fridays series, which has forced me to dig through six years of blog posts and revisit the person I was when all of this began. Part ofContinue reading “Every Wound Has an Ancestry”

The Road Is the Story

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”

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”

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”

NOTICE OF VANDALISM UPON THE STAG AND TALLOW DOOR

HEAR YE. HEAR YE.BY ORDER OF SHERIFF KELSTER OF THE CITY WATCHAND BY PETITION OF MORDECAI, KEEPER OF THE STAG AND TALLOW,LET THIS BE MADE KNOWN, POSTED, AND REMEMBERED. On the pre-dawn hour, when honest folk sleep and only rats keep counsel, there was committed upon HITCHER’S ROW an act of VANDALISM AND THREAT, boldContinue reading “NOTICE OF VANDALISM UPON THE STAG AND TALLOW DOOR”

NOTICE OF VAGRANT WHELPS AND MARKET MISCHIEF AT AMICUS SQUARE

HEAR YE. HEAR YE.BY ORDER OF SHERIFF KELSTER OF THE CITY WATCHAND FOR THE PEACE OF GOODFOLK OF THIS QUARTER,LET THIS BE MADE KNOWN, POSTED, AND REMEMBERED. Be it known to all honest souls who trade, toil, worship, or pass through our beautiful AMICUS SQUARE, that the Watch has received MANY COMPLAINTS, sworn oaths, andContinue reading “NOTICE OF VAGRANT WHELPS AND MARKET MISCHIEF AT AMICUS SQUARE”

Searching for need

I constantly struggle between being a writer and a bookseller. Really, I just want to write, but why write if no one reads it? So, one necessitates the other. I’m a decent writer. I can at least give myself that credit. It is hard-earned after struggling with self-doubt for years. But I’m not such aContinue reading “Searching for need”