Introducing One of My Secret Projects...

 

images are from Pinterest, all the credit goes to their original creators

A while back, I mentioned that I was working on a handful of as of yet unannounced projects. I said that I was planning on announcing them only when I was a good deal farther into them. However, despite how new and shiny my other secret projects are, this one in particular is a WIP that I have just been having such a hard time keeping a secret. So, I've decided what the hey, I'm just going to announce it to you now (this is your freebie, don't expect any more when it comes to the others, I'm not announcing them until I'm working on them in earnest and am a good chunk into them).

But this story is especially near and dear to my heart. It was the very first high fantasy story that I came up with. I had the first inklings of this idea back in 2015 (while I was working on the second draft of Week of Werewolves), so yeah, needless to say it's been around for a while, sitting there in the back of my mind keeping me company. I've entirely reworked it more times than I can count, started the first book at least three times (and have written probably close to 50,000 words in it across those drafts), and changed how many books are in the series a multitude of times. However, these past several months I have been working to piece together all the bits of different drafts and ideas that I have had over the years, keeping what works, getting rid of what doesn't. And now I believe that I finally have a solid place to start this story.

So, what is it?

Well, here's it's title.

It's the first book in what is currently a nine book long series, but it's very likely that number will go up. I'm not making any promises that the series will end at nine, in fact I kind of doubt that it will (the first version of it was 12/13 books long so yeah...)

What's it about?

Image Via Pinterest

Yup, that about sums it up. Of my two MCs Aleria is 5'1" and Dirk is 6'3", and neither one of them had a happy childhood.

character art of them as done by Kia Cheney

Oh, you wanted more information about the book? Well, um... let's see. It's set in Valeris, the homeland of the elves. These elves and a handful of humans who migrated there are divided into eleven houses depending on which deity they may or may not serve.

Each house has a different patron god, these patrons are the gods of the sea, love, light, trickery, and nature; the god who rebelled and created the dwarfs; and the goddesses of death, war, and fate. Every elf born into a house is born with a blessing from that house's patron god or goddess—humans bear no such gift. There are seven races of elves, and they make up seven of the houses. One house is made up of dwarfs they are the House Under the Mountain. Three houses are human, Fraterya (fate) is the only human house who serves a patron deity, they do not have any particular gift from their patron like the elves do, but they are said to experience good fortune all the same. The other two human houses serve no patron, these are the House of Man—a group who refuse to worship the elven gods and continue to follow their human religion—and the House of Dragons—a group of individuals who live amongst the great beasts and form close bonds with them.

Outside of their house gifts, only a choice few individuals wield actual magic, the Royal Blooded, which can be elves or human. They are chosen by the goddess of magic to vie with the other Royal Blooded for the throne to become the high king or queen over all eleven houses and all of Valeris. But no Royal Blooded has ascended the throne in centuries, leaving the houses to govern themselves, make treaties, and struggle to come out on top of bitter feuds.

In the midst of this intrigue and harsh religious differences is the plot of An Apprentice of Death.

My main character is known as the Wraith of Castrele, she is an assassin serving the House of the Sea. She however has given herself the name of Aleria, and she was raised by a powerful member of the Castrelean court to be his personal killer, but she is no Sea Elf. She is actually one of the very few remaining members of the House of Death.

As a Death Elf, Aleria has the ability to not die. Any time death would claim her, instead it reaps the soul of the last person she touched and she is returned to the walking world whole and unharmed. This ability makes Aleria an excellent assassin, but does put a damper on her ability to form close attachments to anyone.

My other main character Dirk is a member of the elite guard of Balvlin (The House of War), he was kidnapped from an orphanage and raised to be a fighter. As a human he has no way of tracing back to his house, not that it matters. He is of Balvlin now.

These two are walking weapons, raised in houses that are not their own, and pitted against each other. When they meet, sparks, sass, and a dagger or two fly.

An Apprentice of Death is their story.

Image Via Pinterest

And I do mean that it is their story. There is no massively huge cast of five main characters (*cough Rage Like the Gods*), or band of eight misfits (*cough League of Thieves*), or tightly knit group of four (*cough My Time in Amar* *cough The Gods Created Monsters*), there isn't even a secondary main character (*cough Winter Cursed* *cough A Certain Sort of Madness*). Despite being a high epic fantasy series, the cast in this is actually quite small, and as great as some of these side characters are ultimately this tale is Dirk and Aleria's.

And what a tale it is, by the way. I really can't wait until I can share more about it. But for now, I suppose I shall just have to settle for you guys having the gist of it, that illustration of them, and these couple of quotes.

P.S. Don't forget to Pre-Order your copy of Harbinger of the End

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Cover Reveal: Summer Again by Jes Drew

 

Today is the official cover reveal for The Summers of Yesteryear, Book Three: Summer Again.

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Book One: 

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He comes to stand in front of me, his hands gesturing wildly. “And I love you with all the love I had as a child, all the care I have for you as your partner, and with all my heart as I will continue to do so forever, as your best friend.”

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Book Two:

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And over the din in the room is still that voice. Only, it’s not speaking.

It’s singing.

Singing over me.

Has always been singing over me, even though my ears could never quite hear. But my soul sensed it.

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Now, finally, Book Three:

She knows better than to trust anyone.
He wants his best friend back.
Together they will probably save the world. Most likely.

After months of spy training and several missions under her belt, she's sure of only two things. One, she has superpowers. And two, she and Alex need to figure out what they are and why before Earnestine can weaponize her.

Freaking out.

There are a lot of other things Violet is less than sure about. Like whether she's smart to trust the team she's started to call friends. Or how entwined Jeremy is with his father's current mysterious plot that the Peacemakers have been assigned to uncover evidence on. Or even that Alex sees her as just a friend.

Friend-zoned.

When betrayal rocks Violet's world, she does the only things she knows how to do: she runs. But no matter how far she runs, she can't escape Earnestine's reach. Or her own feelings. Or even her past in the form of the one man she thought she'd never see again . . .

Found.

For the first time in her life, Violet isn't so sure she's got everything handled. But between the evil combination of Columbus and Earnestine while the Peacemakers are at their weakest, the stakes have never been so high.

A YA action-adventure rom-com perfect for fans of C.J. Hill and Ally Carter about spy training and summer romance.

Coming June 21

Will be available for pre-order for only $2.99

I Have Two Big Announcements to Make Today...

The time has come folks. Harbinger of the End my upcoming release about the love between Loki and Sigyn is now up for Pre-Order!!! It releases on August 21st, but you can claim your copy now. Not to mention the incentives.

Everyone who pre-orders the ebook (which is currently $2.99 but will go up to $4.99 when it is released so you definitely don't want to miss getting it at the discounted price!) will be entered into a giveaway for a signed print copy as well as three character art cards that were designed by Maddy Moore (pictured above). I will need a proof of purchase emailed to nicky(dot)chapelway(at)gmail(dot)com (giveaway only open to US residents). If you purchase a paperback directly from me, you automatically receive all the associated arts.

A reluctant bride.
A trickster groom.
The lineage of a god comes to an end.

Long ago, Loki and Odin swore an oath of brotherhood. Since then, Loki believes that it is enough to love one soul, and wreak havoc on all else, until he learns that he is the one who will be responsible for bringing about the Twilight of the Gods. In a desperate attempt to forestall Ragnarök, Odin betrays his brother and forces him to take a bride. A Valkyrie, someone who will be loyal to Odin, and doubtless keep the god of lies in line. But if Odin believes that Loki will be controlled by the whims of one woman, then he is terribly mistaken.

Sigyn has never regretted the decision she made to leave behind her life as a mortal princess to serve Odin as one of his Valkyries, until now… When Odin orders her to marry Loki, Sigyn feels trapped by her duty and the oaths she swore. Even worse, to marry means that she will no longer be a Valkyrie, and she will lose all immortality that comes with it.

Tricked during his wedding vows, Loki finds himself exiled to Midgard and bound to a mortal. Now he must keep his new bride alive long enough to find her a new form of immortality or risk being dragged into death with her. Sigyn seeks to find a new purpose after everything that she once believed in betrayed her. Allying themselves to great mortal heroes, they set out to slay a dragon, claim a legendary treasure, and unite kingdoms. All the while, seeking to discover the truth to the question that could change their lives forever—what makes one worthy of becoming a god?

This standalone is perfect for romantic fantasy fans and readers of Emma Hamm and Sylvia Mercedes, who are looking for a new slow-burn, swoon-worthy story. It’s a sweeping tale of love, betrayal, and dragon fire set in a world of Vikings, witches, and gods.

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Anyway, that's just one piece of the very large news. The other bit is that I /technically/ have a new release.

It's actually these three books

All packaged together in one book, with a new cover and everything. And the best part?

IT'S ABSOLUTELY FREE

All you have to do is sign up for my newsletter and you receive three full-length novels.

Girls with swords
This collection features three full-length YA fantasy series starters from author Nicki Chapelway.
Available for FREE to newsletter subscribers

My Time in Amar book one: A Week of Werewolves, Faeries, and Fancy Dresses
Chelsea and her friends are just normal teenagers, or at least that’s what they think until they are summoned to another world by a powerful mage. Suddenly they find themselves the inheritors of a magical legacy and the ones chosen to fulfill a deadly prophecy. Even worse, they have been cursed and cannot return home unless they complete a quest their fathers set out on over twenty years ago. The only problem? They have no idea what this quest is...

Of Dreams and Nightmares book one: Of Gold and Iron
When Jaye MacCullagh and her brother, become entrapped in the faerie’s home of the Otherworlds, it falls to Jaye to find a way to save her brother from the clutches of an Unseelie faerie before his soul is stolen forever. To do this she must trust in an unlikely alliance with Ravven Crowe, a vain and aggravating Solitary Faerie as he seeks to make her the Fair Assassin—a human capable of killing faeries.

Return to Amar book one: A Certain Sort of Madness
When Alicia's mother is kidnapped, she will do anything to rescue her. Including dragging her imaginary friend, her cousin, and a band of misfits into a heist to steal from the faerie queen. All in a desperate bid to defeat the most powerful mage in all of Amar… a man who also happens to be Alicia’s grandfather.

This collection of series starters is perfect for fans of Sylvia Mercedes, Holly Black, and Margaret Rogerson. If you love kick-butt heroines, slow burn romance, and surprising twists… then you aren’t going to want to miss any of the stories within. Download for free now, by signing up for the author’s newsletter.

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Writing Multiple Series in a World: Part Three

Today we are doing the third and final part of my series on writing multiple series in a world.

Why Do I Write Multiple Series in One World? (March)

What Does Writing Multiple Series in One World Look Like? (April)

How Do I Write Multiple Series in One World? (May)

Today's question I'm answering is, how do I write multiple series in one world?

Now, again I'll remind you, this is definitely not blanket advice that fits every scenario. Everybody writes differently and as such don't be afraid to take any writing advice I give and toss it out a window if it doesn't work for you. I can only share what has worked for me. You have to determine if it works for you as well.

Now with that out of the way... let's get on to answering today's question.

How?

 I've found that in order to write multiple series in a world you need to be prepared to do two things.

1. Be prepared to have this world living in your mind 24/7

2. Make certain that your series are all unique in and of themselves

Okay, so these are two entirely separate things. But I think they are both extremely and entirely invaluable and that you can't write multiple books in a series without doing these two things.

You do number #1 by accepting the fact that probably about 25% (this is a low estimation, I probably spend 75% of my brain thinking about Ruskhazar alone, but I didn't want to scare you off) of your thoughts are going to revolve around this story world. The more series set in this world the more it will dwell on your mind (for instance I spend way more time dwelling on Ruskhazar than I do for Amar). Now I know that as an author you probably already have your stories hanging out there on your cerebral cortex. Authors are already expert dwellers, so I don't think I have to explain to you what it is like having whole worlds in your mind. I'm just putting a special emphasis on the importance of focusing on your story world some in the midst of all that plotting. Because sometimes your plot might contradict something you have already developed in your story world, and you are going to have to scrap something.

You quite simply cannot write multiple series set in a single world unless you are intimately aware of the details of history and world building of the whole world. You have to know if an idea for a story will work or if it somehow clashes with your magic system. I mean sure, you could always keep a myriad of notes, but I've never been one for note keeping. So, I actually find it easier to keep it all up here.

(via Pinterest)

Besides, you don't always have your notes with you at all times and what if you get a super awesome idea but you can't remember if it clashes with a rule that you have already established? Like for instance what if you have an idea for a character's backstory, but you can't remember if you already mentioned that character's backstory—now that simply won't do. If you live and breathe this story world, that's not going to happen... just sayin'...

Anyway, onto number #2.

To put it quite simply, you aren't going to be able to write multiple series in a world unless you first distinguish them from each other. If you can't say what makes them different... then maybe they should all be the same series.

Now, I know this kind of seems like I am contradicting one of my reasons for why I write different series all set in the same world (the A new idea is similar in a sense and fashion to a story that I have already developed a world for reason) but I want to point out that there is a huge difference between a similar concept and a story being basically the same as the first just with some minor details changed. For me as a character driven author the way that I avoid this is to make certain that my main characters are entirely different from each other. If you have differing main characters then just like that you have a different story, because they will be making different choices and reacting differently to situations and pretty much nothing would be the same. (imagine the Hunger Games only if Primrose were the MC instead of Katniss, it would be an entirely different book with different interactions between the MC and all of the other characters)

But not having the same plot as yourself is pretty key too.

I'll provide examples from Ruskhazar since I have a wider selection (but my two series set in Amar can't be any more different themselves). So yeah, here's a brief breakdown on what exactly makes these stories different from each other.

Rage Like the Gods: Has five main characters, who all barely know each other (if they know each other at all) and are basically off doing their own thing with their own individual plots. It's about procrastinating stopping the end of the world, oh yeah, and my characters are literally imbued with the powers of the gods so there is that.

What the Gods Did: This series has four main characters (and a cat), they are practical strangers who are forced to work together and become a mismatched family of sorts. It's about criminals (and Conan) forced to take this role of heroes and defend people from the coming end, except they are just regular individuals who are in no way equipped for this. (As you can see, for this one and Rage Like the Gods both the plots revolve around the end of the world, because well, that's sort of a big thing in Ruskhazar during the present age, but while RLtG is about the only individuals who are actually suited to save the world actively ignoring doing just that, WtGD is about far from qualified screwups who are like running around Ruskhazar with duct tape trying to hold it all together to keep it from all falling apart)

The Blood of the Gods Trilogy: This series has three main characters... per book. Because each book could essentially be read as a standalone, each about different characters and telling a different story, but it all ties back to the two themes of this series vampirism and crime. So that's actually nine main characters as a whole, and the main characters in two of the books in this series are actually siblings. Also it features side characters introduced in RLtG and gives them their stroies. Also, these books take place over close to a forty-year span of time with a book taking place before the events of RLtG and WtGD, one takes place after, and the other during the time of the other two series. So yeah, this series is kind of all over the place, but there's a lot of vampirism and criminal activities taking place so it's all good.

Ancient Gods: This series has two main characters, and they basically have no connections whatsoever and actually don't even know each other. This story is a fantasy time travel book, in which one of my main characters goes back in time and lives through past events, the other main character is an immortal who is also living through these past events only she doesn't have the benefit of foreknowledge. And then each book has a sort of "guest" main character two of which are ancestors of some of my other characters (I believe that we have a RLtG ancestor and a WtGD ancestor respectively), or an ancient being (from Blood of the Gods actually). However these "guests" are main characters only in one book sort of like the way Blood of the Gods has a main character only for one book, but it also has the two permanent main characters who are in all of the books like RLtG and WtGD do (if that makes any sense whatsoever, lol).

Verses of the Gods: This one is actually set in the fourth era which means that it is set after the events of RLtG, WtGD, two of the Blood of the Gods books, and way, way after the events of Ancient Gods. This story has two main characters and delves into the mythology much more and is also basically the story of three immortal besties trying to find some way to get their fourth friend to live forever, so yeah. It's a pretty crazy tale of chaotic proportions especially since one of the immortals is so powerful that the gods literally keep meddling with her life and wiping her memories because if she remembers just how powerful she is she could probably destroy Ruskhazar (and my RLtG characters are currently retired, they aren't in the world saving business anymore) so she keeps getting her memory wiped and yeah we might as well add an unstable immortal superpower with amnesia into the mix then.

So, there you have it. Hopefully you see just how different each of these series are and why I needed to have so many. And hopefully along the way I also made you like super hyped for my upcoming Ruskhazar series, because I am definitely excited myself.

I hope you enjoyed this series, maybe even learned a thing or two about writing multiple series in a world. In the very least, I'm sure you now understand why I do it so much. There's just so much potential! As always, I would love to hear anything you have to share about the subject matter. Comment below!

Honestea Tag

Okay, so Sky tagged me to do Nie's Honestea Tag. So you have them to thank (or blame) for the fact that I'm going to have to be brutally honest in this post.

THE RULES

no lies allowed. if an answer is too shameful to expose you may substitute the answer with a gif/image of someone drinking tea.
e. g. → 

(via Pinterest)

there are optional bonus additions to questions but these are not for the faint of heart. if you complete the tag having answered every question + the bonus additions (no gifs used), you are dubbed a certified tea chugger, and you deserve a badge to show the world that you are not afraid of a steaming hot cup of TRUTH. tag at least one other person (a tea party with just one is not very fun. trust me.) untagged persons are more than welcome to fill it out as well (nothing cooler than crashing a tea party). 

 THE QUESTIONS

what is a 'bad' (generally disliked) movie that you actually love?

Twilight and no I will not be taking any criticisms. I watched it with my mom and sister not long after it came out so I was either eight or nine, for Christmas one year my mom took me to see New Moon in the theaters, and ever since then those have been my comfort movies.

what is your most shocking reading habit?

The fact that I don't read, lol. I call myself a reader, but I'm lucky to finish a book in a month. Actually, it's April and I have yet to finish reading a single novel this year (in my defense the book I'm currently reading is 600 pages long, but still...)

tell us the number one lie you write in your posts.

That I'm going to be working on whatever story I'm talking about. I talk all about it and then turn around and work on something else.

tell us the worst character name you've ever thought up. {bonus: share a character name you find ridiculous in a book/movie}

Her name is Autumn Spring-Frost Summers, and yes, her name is remaining that way because her parents apparently hate her.

As for a ridiculous name I would say Aspen from the Selection Series (I nicknamed him Snake-Tooth because his name makes me think equally of the asp and Aspen Dental). Although America from the same series is really not much better.

what is the real reason you procrastinate writing your work in progress?

Because I don't actually know what is going to happen next. Ah, the pains of being a panster.

what is a genre of music you secretly love?

I wouldn't say that I really keep my taste in music a secret, it's very vague, very specific, and I am very loyal to it. But I suppose a genre that you would be surprised to hear I enjoy are Disney Princess Soundtracks. I've always enjoyed them, when I was younger I even set out to memorize the lyrics of all the songs starting with The Little Mermaid and Aladdin and working my way down. Needless to say that anytime a princess song comes on at work (which is quite often, I work with young girls) I'm belting those songs.

if you're a plotter, what do you really think of pansters? and if you're a panster, what do you really think of plotters?

I'm a panster and I think plotters have their lives together. I mean if they can figure out what they are writing before they write it then they really must have it all together.

share at least three lines of dialogue from one of your first writing projects {bonus: give us the good stuff. your most gruesome butchering of the English language)

My very first writing projects are buried under my bed and in my old computer's hard drive and extremely difficult to locate. So, I'll settle for the very first draft of WoW (which was written back in 2014 so bear in mind that it is very old and that you should respect your elders)

I smiled despite myself.  Easton’s reaction had been priceless.

Margareta had forced me to wait outside the hall for a couple of minutes with her.  She assured me that we were being fashionable.  In my personal opinion we weren't being fashionable.  No, we were being tortured: smelling the food and hearing the people eating it, and yet unable to join in, because a girl you just met insists on arriving fashionably late.

“Can we go in yet?”  I asked pressing my hand over my stomach.

“Do you want to impress Philip or not?” Margareta asked fiddling with her hair.

No not really, I would rather just eat.  “How is starving ourselves going to impress anybody- except maybe Gandhi, of course.”

“Who?” Margareta stopped fiddling with her hair and raised her eyebrows at me.

Oh, yeah right.  She didn’t know who he was. “Nobody.”

I can only full body shudder at the repressed memories of what this book once looked like.

tell us the title & artist of the last song you listened to. 

I'm literally listening to music while I'm writing this but the last song I listened to before answering this question was:

Where Do We Go by Lindsey Stirling and Carah Faye

which beloved book/movie character do you dislike & why?

Kylo Ren from the Disney Star Wars movies. I don't believe I have to tell you why. To be honest, I have a really hard time understanding why anyone would even like him. He is whiny, rude, not even a good villain with terrible motivation, but he also commits patricide in his free time so is he really an anti-hero? No, no he isn't.

(via Pinterest)

tell us the title & topic of a post you have left in draft. 

Introducing My New WIP (in which I will finally spill the beans about one of my secret projects but I keep putting it off because I'm not currently actually working on it so now isn't a good time to announce it anyway)

what is a book you pretend you've read/would like to read but know you never will? {bonus: share a time when claiming you've read a classic/well known book didn't end well}

Six of Crows like on one hand it looks fantastic. On the other hand the content. So I always say, "oh yeah I really want to read it" knowing full well that I probably never will.

I don't claim to read things that I haven't read so I don't really have an example for this.

tell us the title & topic of the most embarrassing post you've ever written. {bonus: include. the. link.}

Not me over here introducing and hyping up books that I'm not even sure I'm going to write anymore...

The blog's titles were: The Question of Dust and Fate// Meet My Cast and Introducing My New WIP

And the links:

Whoops and Double Whoops

(also don't worry, the Scarlet Pimpernel retelling is still going to definitely get written, now Remember Me This Time on the other hand... that's a different story altogether)

Okay whew, that was painful. Okay, I'm tagging Jes and Grace and really anyone who wants to subject themselves to this.

A Matter of Curiosity Release Party

So excited to finally announce that the second and final Return to Amar book, A Matter of Curiosity, is now available.

An Alice Through the Looking-Glass inspired tale set in a deadly and strange faerie circus, this book is chock full of danger, romance, and a monkey named Chandler. It wraps up the story of Alicia, her two cousins, her imaginary friend Dante, Eugene the illusionist, and Jane as they fight for a second chance after everything that went wrong in book one.

These outcasts came together once to steal from the faerie queen, but this next adventure is going to make that seem like child's play. They're going to have to play a deadly game, as they get picked off one by one, in a desperate bid to defeat Marius. An immortal mage that has no visible weaknesses... who also happens to be Alicia's grandfather.

They lost last time. Can they change their fate and accomplish the impossible? Or have they been doomed from the start?

I'm both ecstatic and just a little mournful. This is the first series I have ever wrapped up (and quite right too seeing as it was only two books long) and on one hand I looooove this ending. But on the other hand, I will miss this band of slightly (and outright) crazy outcasts so much.

But boy... what an ending it is. You certainly don't want to miss this tale, that much is for sure.

Reality is cracking...

It has been nearly a year since the events that put her mother in a coma. Since her grandfather and Dante were imprisoned in the Unrealm. Since she’s last stepped foot in Amar. Trying to put heartache and broken promises behind her, Alicia attempts for the first time in her existence to actually live a regular life with the help of her cousin Olivia who is determined to forget everything that ever happened in Amar. But as cracks begin appearing everywhere, showing glimpses into the other worlds, Alicia realizes that “normal” has always been helplessly out of her reach.

Marius is fighting to break free from his prison, and reality is tearing at the seams to try to hold him in. The only way to save the four realms is for Alicia to find a way to stop her grandfather once and for all. But how does one defeat an immortal? Alicia offers him a bargain. Play a game against her, winner takes all. The stakes are her future, her mother’s life, and the freedom of the boy she loved—and still possibly might. Only the most powerful mage in all Amar will walk away. But in order to win, Alicia must become like her grandfather and be willing to use her friends as pawns. People have betrayed her, but that’s just an occupational hazard, right? What goes around comes around doesn’t it? Anything is fair game when the fate of everything is involved.

In this twisted world trust, safety, and sanity are all just an illusion. And sometimes reality doesn’t deserve to be saved.

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