I'm a little bit too much in shock to write a proper title for this blog post so you shall simply have to read it for yourself to find out what I've done this time

 

So... this is finally a reality.

I'm so excited. A Winter Dark and Deadly is published!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I cannot wait to actually hold the finished copy in my hands. I love that cover so much and to have it finally lined up next to my other books, oh my stars, I'm ecstatic.

As anyone who has been following my writing journey for any extended period of time will know, this story was the bane of my existence for some years. It just wouldn't come out right. That finally changed tis past year as it began to drift away from dark fantasy and closer to fairy-tale-esque storytelling. It's ironic, the books in this series that are actually fairy-tale retellings are written like dark fantasy and the one that isn't specifically a fairy-tale is the one with those happily-ever-after-vibes.

There will be one more book published in this world, but I don't know yet when I will write that. The ending of A Winter Dark and Deadly is complete enough on its own that I'm going to take a bit of a break before I pick up book three.

Until then be sure to snag your copy!

It's finally out for the world.

Artist Maddy Moore

Artist Hannah Rogers

Writing Update and Official Synopsis

So, it's been a good long while since I've done a proper writing update. Most of the summer to be exact. So what have I been up to this summer? Well, I'm glad you asked.

I finished writing A Winter Dark and Deadly in June, and have spent the last month editing it. It is now on its final editing stage and I hope to publish it in the next two to three weeks (I say this with some measure of disbelief because I find the idea of being done with AWDAD very difficult to comprehend indeed)

I wrote the first draft of Of Stars and Shadows for Camp NaNo in July, I plan on picking that back up to edit it in September. I'm shooting for an October/November release.

I've been participating in Go-Teen-Writers 100-for-100 challenge. I'm pretty sure that is going to be wrapping up pretty soon, but over the past 90-something days I've written over 70k in Rage Like the Gods. And folks I did it, RLtG is now 200,000 words long. Don't ask me how much longer it is going to get because I have no idea. I'm going to try to wrap it up in September however.

The world of Ruskhazar is really coming along and becoming more developed as I work on more stories in it, but more on that next week.

I also started working on A Tale of Gods and Glory. It's currently 20,000 words long. It also has a synopsis now. Technically this synopsis has been out for a couple of weeks (since I announced it) but I thought I would actually make it official and put it in a blog post for your reading pleasures:

“Very well. I will tell you the story of Lord Taliz, but I need to warn you, it isn’t what you are expecting. And it isn’t the tale you have been told.”

 

“I wouldn’t be here if I believed the tale I had been told.”

 

The name of Lord Taliz the Champion of Coldhaven is one that almost everyone in Rhuskhazar has heard... but the story? Well, the story is less well known. Now I don’t mean the tale that is sung in every tavern across Ruskhazar. I'm talking about what really happened.

Lord Taliz and his sister Sofarynn are exiles seeking a new home in the mountainous peninsula of Ruskhazar. What they find instead is a world where monsters and magic exist outside of bard’s songs. While looking for work, Taliz instead is recruited by a reclusive group of individuals only to realize too late that they are werewolves. Now a member of the pack with powerful abilities he doesn’t understand, Taliz must learn to balance between who he once was and who—or what—he has become.

Taliz is not the hero you believe him to be, oh he did the things the bards claim. He charmed monsters, rose in status, saved Coldhaven, and then burned it all to the ground. But he was just an ordinary man, like you and me. In fact, if there was anything extraordinary about him it would be his luck. He never once experienced the good kind.

As the years pass, Taliz works to prove himself to his pack and perhaps in the process woo a beautiful but aloof werewolf named Ylfa. Sofarynn turns her attention to unlocking the mysteries of magic, a force that exists only in Ruskhazar. Except where Taliz goes trouble always follows. The siblings soon find themselves defending their new home from werewolf killers, bounty hunters sent to bring them back to their desert homeland to face charges, and a cult that worships a tiny statue. However, there is something buried under Coldhaven far more dangerous than anything they have ever faced, and it just came back from the dead.

 

So how did an ordinary man—a foreigner no less—come to be revered as the champion of the very city he destroyed? Well, I suppose if you trust the bard's accounts it’s because there was a worse fate than the fire, but if you ask me... the bards got it all wrong

So there you have it, that's what I've been up to these past three months. What about you? What have you been doing this summer? Comment below!

Behind the Blogger Book Tag

It's been quite a while since I have done a tag, but I'm super excited to get back into it.

The Rules:

Thank the person who nominated you. Thanks so much Skye! Sorry it took me so long to finally getting around to answering it XD
Answer the questions. 
Pingback to the creator: Ellyn of Allonsythornraxx 
Nominate 5+ bloggers to do the tag. (Now I'm not technically breaking this rule... okay yeah I am. I'm not tagging anyone specific just the first five people who read this)

Why did you start blogging, and why have you kept blogging?

Many of my friends were into blogging and I wanted to join them as well as have someplace to share my books at. Now some friends no longer blog so much, some aren't even my friends anymore, but I still enjoy having that platform to talk about my books on. Not to mention I've come to enjoy having this little space to ramble to the stars and back about any subject I so choose.

What is your favorite type of blog post to write?

Character or WIP introductions, and I've had more than my fair share of both because I have a lot of characters and WIPs. Probably more than I should have, seeing as I didn't actually end up working on (at least not currently) half of the things I introduced. But I enjoy doing them and I get a lot of ideas so what can I say?

What are your top three favorite blog posts?

Well... I had to go and take a trip down memory lane to figure that one out.

Monsters, News, and... a Debut (and to be clear some things in this blog post are outdated and I no longer plan on having another pen name but the gif game was strong and so I still approve)

An Announcement (and guess what it still isn't the one you think) (but you will like it)

Rage Like the Gods Q&A Part One: Get To Know My Novel (and yes I'm just now realizing that I never did a part two so perhaps I should fix that)

What are some of your favorite things to do to relax?

Listen to music. Probably the same song on repeat fifteen billion times. Alone. In my room. While I draw. And probably sing along in an off-key manner.

I can also unwind by rewatching a favorite movie and eating—chocolate specifically.

What are three of your favorite things?

God, my family (I'm including my dogs in this one since they are family and besides I would list them separately but someone said I only could pick three), and my imagination (I would be so lonely without my own thoughts to keep me company)

What are your proudest blogging moments?

When I ended up writing thousands of words describing my story world and creating an excessively long post.

When I make a joke that's actually funny.

Putting up an X-Files gif that fits perfectly

It's the little things that get me

What are your hobbies outside of blogging?

I play video games like it's my job. Write like I wish it was my job. And sometimes I draw or paint as a side hustle.

Describe your personality in three words.

Creative. Loyal. Misunderstood.

What are your top three pet peeves?

When someone lures my dog away to snuggle them instead

Someone sitting in my seat

Talking to me when I'm in the middle of singing a song

 

What's something your followers don't know about you?

Um... I'm pretty sure that most of you are unaware of the fact that I have a birthmark shaped like a maple leaf on my leg.

Who is your all-time favorite book character?

I don't know if I have an all-time favorite book character. But someone who has been at the top for a very long time is Zachary Goode. One of the first book characters I ever developed a crush on and I must say...I fell hard.

(images via Pinterest, I take no credit for them)

What’s your most unpopular book opinion?

I actually enjoy love triangles most of the time so long as they are done right.

What character would you bring to a family event as your fake partner?

After much consideration I have decided that I would choose Remy Lebeau more commonly known as Gambit.

He's charming, flirtatious, and always willing to do things for a good laugh so I think he would be down to do it.

(image via Pinterest)

Plus he has that accent and have I mentioned his handsomeness?

He would probably bring a dish to the event because canonically he loves cooking and has an all around magnetic charm.

And also my whole family would then think I am dating a super hero so there's that.

What is the book you shove down everyone’s throat?

Son of War Daughter of Chaos by Janette Rallison. I would highly recommend all of her books, but this one is probably my favorite standalone and I just simply adore it and forever wish it had a sequel. 

Introducing my new WIP: A Tale of Gods and Glory

 

(images via Pinterest, I take no credit for them)

So I'm finally going to be introducing you to one of my secret WIPs (I decided to hold off on announcing the other till I have gotten just a tad more along in it). And no, you did not read incorrectly, this book is indeed set in the same world as Rage Like the Gods. Ruskhazar is an expansive world, housing multiple series and now at least one standalone. There will be other books introduced farther down the line (as in another one I need to introduce probably next month), but AToGaG is the first. So let's delve into it a little bit...

A Tale of Gods and Glory

The name of Lord Taliz the Champion of Coldhaven is one that almost everyone in Rhuskhazar knows... but the story? Well the story is less well known. Now I'm not talking about the tale that is sung in every tavern across Ruskhazar. I'm talking about what really happened.

This is the story of Lord Taliz and his sister Lady Sofarynn, they are exiles from the same desert land that Dagmy is from. After a potentially deadly scandal in the court, Taliz and his sister flee to Ruskhazar for a new start, instead they find themselves wholly unprepared for life in the mountains.

Taliz is not the hero you believe him to be, oh he did the things the bards claim. He charmed monsters, rose in status, saved Coldhaven, and then burned it all to the ground. But he was just an ordinary man, like you and me. In fact, if there was anything extraordinary about him it would be his luck. He never once experienced the good kind.

Taliz, in trying to impress a Highlander girl accidentally ends up making himself a member of a werewolf pack, and they want to make him just like them. Meanwhile Sofarynn finds herself caught up trying to unravel the mystery of magic, something that no one outside of Ruskhazar possesses. And then a pair of mercenaries show up to drag the siblings back to face charges in their homeland. However, all of that is simply an inconvenience compared to the shapeshifting monster that is hunting down and killing all of the werewolves in Taliz's pack.

So how did an ordinary man, a foreigner no less, come to be revered as a hero and champion  of the very city he destroyed? Well, I suppose if you trust the bard's accounts its because there was a worse fate than the fire, but if you ask me... the bards got it all wrong.

This story is actually going to be released before RLtG. I'm shooting for January. Like any good standalone it does not need to be read to understand RLtG and vice versa however there will be Easter Eggs and possibly guest appearances so I would probably read both if I were you. I'm also challenging myself to try and speed write this whole book in two months making it the shortest amount of time it has ever taken me to write a first draft (the current best is three months). I'm curious to see if I will succeed because I judge this story will probably be anywhere from 80-120k words long.

Taliz is shaping up to be quite a chaotic main character. He means well I mean, kind of sort of, sometimes he does. He just doesn't always think through all of his decisions and if you ask him consequences are like the boogy man, made up to scare children into behaving.

Basically this story is the true accounting of a widely known legend of Ruskhazar, it takes place probably about seven years before the events of RLtG, it's the story of what really happened in Coldhaven.

July is over and you know what else is done?

 I finished OSaS!

That is all.

That's the post.

...

Okay fine if you want a little more details, then I shall give you a little more details. It was my Camp NaNo project last month, I wrote 52,000 words in 31 days to be able to get it done. The finished project is 73,000 words, although I'm sure it will not remain exactly that size after edits. Still it holds the title of my shortest full length novel (the previous record holder was Of Golds and Iron itself at 111,000 words). I'll be starting said edits in September after letting it sit for a month. Everything is moving along according to schedule and hopefully I will be able to release it this fall.

I would give snippets but my brain is tired from all of that writing, I'm not planning on opening that document even once until September. Besides, most of it is spoilers anyway.

(images via Pinterest I take no credit for them)

My eyes flick up to Ravven who is resting with his eyes closed, pale and gaunt just a shadow of the former self he was only days ago. “So, what is your plan? I’m assuming that you have a plan.”

“More like a gamble.”

“And I’m part of that gamble? Are you sure that is wise? You know, considering our somewhat twisted history?”

Jaye MacCullagh may be the Fair Assassin now, but her troubles are far from over. Even though she killed the faerie enslaving her brother, she and Thomas are still just as trapped in the Otherworld as before. Only this time by the deceitfully glamorous Sidhe faeries of the Spring Court. Returning home seems like an impossible dream, especially when Jaye discovers that Ravven Crowe, the king of the Spring Court and her soulmate, is still alive… if just barely. Ravven needs Jaye’s help to discover how he survived, and how to stop himself from dying again. He is fading away and somehow Jaye is weakening alongside him. The only hope for either of them is for Ravven to reclaim his immortality by becoming a faerie again.

However, there is only one way for mortals to turn into faeries. They must drink from the well of Stars and Shadow on the night of the Feast of Starlight. Each court has a way to the well, but they guard it fiercely to keep just any human from becoming one of them. With every other way to the well barred, Jaye and Ravven are left with only one option. They must enter a deadly labyrinth created by the Spring Court. If they can survive and if they can make it through to the other side, the well is theirs. But in the faerie world, nothing is that simple. Especially where the Spring Court is concerned. Forced to trust the man who ruined her or risk losing him forever, Jaye struggles with her convoluted feelings toward both Ravven and the faerie world. However, when her family arrives looking for her, Jaye feels further strained. Everything Jaye has ever cared about is at the mercy of the Otherworlds, and she can’t shake the feeling that no matter how hard she fights to win she is going to lose this time.

Meet My Character: Azern Follower of Lady Dawn

 

(images via Pinterest I take no credit for them)

Azern is another character from Rage Like the Gods she is sort of an honorary main character. Not officially counted among the gods' chosen ones, Azern was chosen by a demigod instead and given the weighty task of making sure that the gods' chosen saves the world. Along with the roll she plays in RLtG, Azern is the main character in the prequel novella Between Gods and Demigods.

I want to learn every little thing there is to learn about this world we live in. I want to finally be a part of it.

All my life I have read books about it, and dreamed about it.

And now I am instrumental in the continuation of the whole world.

Personality-wise Azern is somewhat difficult to explain because she suffers from a bit of a split-personality. This is due to the fact that her mind is fracturing under the weight of having glimpses of the future revealed to her. One one hand Azern is the loyal follower of The Lady of Dawn she has always been, she will do anything for the demigod she serves. She is dedicated to saving the world. Her people's culture was destroyed and she wants to make certain no one else ever has to live through that. She is loyal and caring and will go to great lengths to help people, even someone she has never met. On the other hand Azern feels like she is simply being used, she is impatient and has a hard time accepting leadership sometimes even from the Lady of Dawn. Oftentimes impulsive, Azern will make risky gambits instead of properly thinking through her actions. She can oftentimes seem like a madwoman as she will jump from subject to subject with no correlation and speak to perfect strangers as if she knows them. She will sometimes instigate situations because she finds it amusing, not caring for the consequences. This side of Azern has seen everything there is to see and is bored of simply waiting around for the future to play out, she thinks it's time to have some fun.

ISFP//Slytherine

“You will be back by morning?”

“If I’m not, tell everyone I got sick from staying up too late reading or something magicker sounding like that.” I smirk at the concern on Laellina’s face. One of these days she will learn to trust my decisions, or maybe each of my decisions just makes her trust me less.

But I’m doing what I was made to do.

Theme songs:

The Kids Aren't All Right

Don't Mind Me

Bring Me Back to Life

Oblivion

Active practice of sorcery is illegal, but Azern believes herself beyond the rules due to her calling and the fact that the demigod she serves is not wholly evil. Due to Azern's gift from the Lady of Dawn that allows her to see glimpses into the future, she oftentimes has a distinct upper hand in most situations. Of course, this can lead to a certain level of arrogance. Azern believes that she knows exactly how every encounter and situation will go, forgetting that she has only seen a partial glimpse of the future.

Laellina pulls back, her eyes widening. “You mean abandon the temple?”

“What was it more than just a sanctuary for servants of Azern? Now we have a greater task at hand. I can make a difference. We can make a difference. And maybe just maybe show the world that not all sorcerers are evil. But I can’t do it without you. I won’t do it without you.”

Azern never knew her family. She was left on the doorstep of a temple to the Lady of Dawn as an infant. She was named after Azern, the Lady of Dawn, and has known no other life except for the one she spends in service to this demigod. Over the years, the priests who raised her began to die out. By the time that she received her gift of foreknowledge from the Lady of Dawn, the temple was almost empty and so she set out to find the chosen ones and save the world. At first, Azern was very naïve but after a year traveling across Ruskhazar, she has picked up on how things work. As a Higher Elf she is an outcast in society, with no real place that she belongs save for the temple she abandoned. She is so focused on doing her part to stop the doomed end of all mortals, she hasn't really allowed herself to have any hopes or dreams of the future. Saving the world takes precedence over anything she wants.

I’m no god. I’m not even a demigod. I’m just a mortal elf, cursed to see visions that she is powerless to change. 

The darker side of Azern is that she can become quite calloused when it comes to the value of human life. Her visions are incapable of being altered and so if she sees someone die in the future, she will simply accept it and not try to do anything to change it. She tried to change fate once and it ended poorly for her, now she simply accepts things the way they are.

Her closest friend and companion, Laellina, a girl who was raised in the temple beside Azern, helps to temper some of Azern's wilder tendencies and acts as 99% of her impulse control. Then there's Magnar, the boy from the very first vision she had who she couldn't quite save all the way. He always seems to be interested in actively opposing her. She also ends up forming a close bond with Ragla, a hotheaded werewolf who loves to act on every bad idea that happens to cross either of their minds.

I’ve seen the future; I know I somehow find myself in the arms of that handsome redheaded man. I don’t need to be able to see the future to know that things could never work between Magnar and me.