So... How Did NaNo Go?

 

(all images via Pinterest)

We are now entering into the final month of the year. Many of us are recovering from the haze of words known as NaNoWriMo. This year my goal was to finally finish writing Rage Like the Gods.

So yeah... I didn't exactly finish RLtG, at least not in November as I had originally expected. I gave it my best shot, I wrote 68k words last month and finished three of the four POVs I had to write. However, it turns out RLtG was a monstrously huge beast, and I needed an extra week to finish it up.

In the month of November, I also finished editing and published Of Stars and Shadows. As well as edited and sent A Tale of Gods and Glory out to my beta readers and an editor. So that was over 200k right there that I was juggling on the side.

So, it really is no small wonder that I didn't finish RLtG in the month of November. Still, it's done now. And thank heavens.

I'm so relieved the first draft of Rage Like the Gods is finally done!!!

Coming in at 300,000 words long, it' double the size of what was formerly my largest book (A Winter Dark and Deadly).

This epic fantasy is the first book in a saga full of undead monsters, conflicting magics, and majestic mountains. There are elves, vampires, werewolves, assassins, mercenaries, bards, thieves... and basically anything a fantasy loving heart could want. And it's only book one.

And it's coming out next year (just imagine in less than a month I can say that it is coming this year).

When? You may be asking.

Rage Like the Gods is releasing November 11th, 2022

I'm pretty excited but also terrified, I've never really set a date ahead of time since I know just how turbulent publishing can be and how it doesn't always work out the way you want it to, but I'm hoping that this date will work out. It has certain sentimental value to me (if you know, you know). I'm also hoping to put RLtG up for preorder. And I do intend to have preorder incentives, once I figure out just what I'm doing, so you will have that to look forward to as well.

And yes, I know that November 11th is almost an entire year away. Trust me, I'm about to explode from the excitement of finally holding a finished copy in my hands, but it just isn't ready yet. So, wait we all must.

In the meantime, I'll have more books coming out between now and then to tide us over.

One such book is A Tale of Gods and Glory a standalone set in Ruskhazar, the same world as Rage Like the Gods. I am hoping to release that next month, and so far everything seems to be moving along for the timing of that. It will offer a glimpse into the world of Ruskhazar as well as it will tell the chaotic, sometime humorous and sometimes tragic tale of Taliz of Coldhaven.

Between Gods and Demigods the prequel to the Rage Like the Gods series is also out and available for only 99 cents on Amazon or you can receive a free copy of it by signing up to my newsletter.

Black Friday Ebook Sale

 

I'm writing this blog post today instead of Monday for two reasons.

1.) I am currently trying to finish two projects before the end of the month and my schedule is crazy busy

2.) Four of my books are currently at reduced prices from Black Friday through Cyber Monday and I don't want you to miss out on that deal

FREE: Between Gods and Demigods
🌌A tale of sorcery, stubborn Magickers, clashing magic systems, werewolves, and the ability to see the future. This is the prequel to my upcoming high/epic fantasy series Rage Like the Gods. It's already available for free for signing up for my newsletter however that doesn't include the interior illustrations so if you want interior illustrations I suggest you pick it up while it is free on Amazon🌌

FREE: Winter Cursed
🍎A dark fantasy retelling of the tale of Snow White, this darkly lovely story features a princess with ice magic, an exiled dark prince, mercenary dwarfs, a powerful sorceress, and true love's kiss🍎

99 CENTS: A Winter Grim and Lonely
👑 The prequel to Winter Cursed, this tragic tale tells of how an ordinary young sorceress became the wicked queen👑

99 CENTS: Of Gold and Iron
🍂Enter the Otherworld, the home of the beautiful and twisted faeries. Join Jaye MacCullagh as she struggles to navigate this world just long enough to save her brother. Watch what becomes a mortal when they enter the faerie's realm.🍂

Available on Amazon.

There are a whole host of other books currently on sale, by a ton of talented authors including The Lion of the Sea by Mycheline Ryckman a swashbuckling romance that has been on my to-read list for a while, Dawnsong by Bryn Shutt a novella introducing an epic fantasy world, Fairest Son by H.S.J. Williams a fae Snow White retelling, and Wolf Curse by Jes Drew a paranormal romance set in the 1920's. Here's the official listing. Believe me, this is a sale you don't want to miss out on.

Know the Novel— Part Two: Within the WIP

(Image of my five RLtG MCs done by Paige Coffer)

Today we're doing part two of a three part series linkup hosted by Christine Smith. In which I divulge what a typical NaNo looks like in my house. AKA you're about to find out that I don't actually know as much about my WIP as I claim to...

 1. How’s the writing going overall?

It started out a bit slowly. I finished a project on October 30th and every time I finish one project I tend to have a difficult time switching gears and plunging into an entirely different WIP. It does help that this is a WIP I have been working on for a while, so that rough patch of transition has not been as bad as it could be.

I also got sick in the first week of NaNoWriMo and only finally got over the final dredges of it last week.

Plus I started a new job.

All things considered being sick and starting a new project normally put me off two weeks in my writing and starting a new job has been known to put me off for three months. So really it is a miracle I'm writing at all right now. At least that's what I tell myself when I look at how far behind I am on my personal goals. I'm on track even a little ahead for NaNo itself, but I was hoping to write more than 50k this month and currently that is looking less and less likely.

I did however manage to finish Eirik's POV. That leaves only Azern, Thyre, and Dagmy left. Currently I'm bouncing between Thyre's and Dagmy's POV. They are both being really stubborn and not listening to me. They also have opposite problems, Thyre's POV still has so much to do and she's over 10k ahead of Dagmy, and my problem with Dagmy's POV is that she has much less to go. I'm beginning to think that her POV will be a good deal shorter than the others—Eirik is 80k, Meruna is at 60k, Thyre is currently at 40k and hasn't finished yet, but I anticipate that Dagmy's POV will only be around 40-45k words long. I keep telling myself that this is only book one, and Dagmy will get plenty more time in the sun (I'm sorry that was insensitive seeing as she is currently a vampire and doesn't want to be one), but I still feel so bad that her POV is only going to be about half the size of Eirik's. So then I try to think of scenes to add for her, but then I remind myself that this book is already going on 250,000 words and I really probably should just leave it be.

2. What’s been the most fun aspect about writing this novel so far?

The sheer variety it brings. I have quick passionate romances, slow burns. Morally ambiguous antiheroes and a passionate pacifist follower of the gods who has never broken a law in her life. Some of my characters are born higher up in the social ladder (Meruna), some are born as the lowest of outcasts (Azern), and Dagmy isn't even from Ruskhazar. Thyre is an orphan with no home or family Eirik has lived a charmed life and both his loving parents are alive. And all of my antiheroes have a really skewed view of morality—Eirik is a thief but he is no killer, meanwhile Dagmy is a killer but she thinks that thievery is an act of cowardice, and Thyre will kill and she isn't opposed to stealing either, but she draws the line at infidelity. And then there's Meruna over here who thinks that all of the above is wrong and Azern who can't really afford any moral views because she will do anything if it means the world is saved. I love how each of my characters come from a different walk in life and position, truly showing the depth to this fantasy world I have constructed.

Not to mention the plots... Eirik's is lowkey a Robin Hood retelling. Thyre's involves complicated werewolf and assassin politics and lots of bloodshed. Dagmy deals with monster hunters and vampires and also a lot of bloodshed. Meruna's is dark academia. And Azern is a mixed combination of Thyre's and Meruna's. It's like five books, only it's just one really big and loosely connected novel.

3. What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about?

I absolutely adore my characters, they are so real and alive at this point in the story. They all have their own views of where I should take the book, each in conflict with the other.

Thyre is the problem child. Trouble with a capital T she doesn't know how to play nice. Neither does Dagmy, those two sort of mirror each other's journeys in the book and they are equally troublesome. Meruna is fun because she is the most moral of probably any character I have ever written (I have a thing for antiheroes whoops)

My favorite to write about would be probably Eirik as the MC, but I also adore Hakon from Dagmy's POV since he is so sassy and just has such a heart for complaining. I also adore writing about Azern and Magnar, I spent a whole novella with them so I feel an extra special close connection with them. Also there is Elwis the Eel he's... well I don't know how to describe him, he's very similar to Thyre only even more morally ambiguous, he does the Waltz on that fine line between hero and villain and I just adore him. He's a very minor character in RLtG but a very big player in Ruskhazar as a whole.

Ultimately I love all of my characters, and it really depends on the mood because sometimes I'm in the mood for hacking foolish characters to pieces and that's something Thyre can provide and Eirik cannot.

4. Has your novel surprised you in any way?

As a matter of fact it has, more specifically my character Eirik has surprised me. He is the sole male POV in this book and he is supposed to be a suave, charismatic, nonchalant, flirtatious bard. You know? One that sort of holds to the stereotypes of what a bard is supposed to be.

Except Eirik decided that he didn't want to be like that. Oh, he is certainly smooth-talking and charming, just ask Sassa, but that's only to keep up outward appearances. Internally Eirik is just one big walking, talking existential crisis. He has gone by many titles: Eirik the farmer's son, everything his parents expected him to be. Eirik the alchemist's son, the boy who lives in the outdoors and loves nature but will never quite be able to fill the footsteps left by his mother. Eirik the bard, the life he was so sure he wanted but ultimately left him feeling empty. The thief known as the Masked Wolf, the dauntless hero living the life of adventure that Eirik always wanted, but still doesn't feel quite like him. And Eirik the Chosen One, the man who fled from his destiny.

None of these identities feel quite right to him, but as he flits between them trying to figure out who he truly is, he finds himself dissatisfied in all of these roles and is left wondering if he is truly all that special at all.

I have to admit, this internal conflict of Eirk's sort of came out of nowhere. I was like, noooo he is supposed to be a cavalier hero not this confused boy with an overinflated ego and anxiety, but here we are. Obviously Eirik won out and I did less of the winning.

5. Have you come across any problem areas?

Errr... the timeline. I have five different timelines and none of them add up (some have been months, some weeks, some days... oi vey) so when I end up editing and polishing up this bad boy I'm going to have to figure out a specific timeline and add and subtract days to go with it.

Also Thyre is... difficult to say the least. She is a strong, confrontational, prideful character with a lot of flaws and far fewer redeeming qualities. It's a fine line that stands between her being a hero and a villain, and a lot of the time I'm not entirely sure which side she is on or which side she wants to be on (it's my own fault, I wanted to sort of take a look with her character of what it would look like if someone destined to be the hero decided to take a more villainous path). So she makes a lot of morally ambiguous choices and I made her like this, but also I'm cringing and being like why can't you be more like Metroman? (*crickets chirp as I wait for someone to get that reference*). Also one of her main supporting characters is Vrom and he has speech impediments which make him not the easiest person to write either because he is oftentimes incapable of saying what he wants to say.

Dagmy is also quite difficult. She is taciturn and usually quite ill-tempered, and also violent. Unfortunately for her but fortunately for me she is wrapped up in her own personal issues so she doesn't have time to walk that line between hero or villain. Plus Hakon is capable of talking for the both of them so that makes her POV slightly easier to write than Thyre's in that respect.

6. What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?

I'm ridiculously proud of how big this book is. Like, I tend to write long books (The majority of the books I have written are between 120,000-150,000 words) a lot of my books are 400+ pages long. However, Rage Like the Gods trumps them all. It is the longest book I have ever written...

And it isn't even finished yet.

So yeah, maybe some people balk when I say that this book could very well be 800 pages long, but I'm pretty proud of my monstrous child.

7. If you were transported into your novel and became any one of the characters, which one do you think you’d be? Would you take any different actions than they have?

That is a really tough one. I'm torn between being Azern or Meruna.

^^^Azern

^^^ Meruna

I would choose Azern because like ummmm HECK YES TO BEING AN ELF. Also I could see the future (although as the author I already have that ability and I have a far clearer view of the future than poor Azern gets). She actually wants to save Ruskhazar which is another thing that I would do because I love Ruskhazar, sure it's dangerous and on the verge of a civil war and you can't walk two feet without bumping into a monster newly raised from the dead. But also mountains and seashores and there are Aurora Borealis that light up the night sky.

The problem is that Azern is a sorceress, although she was never given the choice on what she would become, and I would probably prefer to be a magicker myself.

However, Meruna is a magicker and she gets to attend the Academy of Magickers and discover new spells. Also she is extremely wealthy although the downside of that is that I would be expected to marry for political gain if I were to choose to be her. I'm not a pacifist either...

So the decision really comes down to whether I would rather be an elf or a magicker... hmm decisions, decisions...

Both have super hawt boyfriends who I 100% would marry. And I would not make the mistake of either of these chicks and FRIENDZONE them. Smh girls... They are literally two of the most ELIGIBLE BACHELORS in all of the frozen peninsula. What were you thinking????

(image via Pinterest)

Azern's Magnar

*screams in frustration in Magicker*

(Image Via Pinterest)

Meruna's Fell

*is also frustrated but far more subtle about it in Magicker*

8. Give us the first sentence or paragraph then 2 (or 3!) more favorite snippets!

Okay, you guys are going to find this HI-larious, especially given the fact that I am so far into this story but I uh... *ahem* I don't actually... *mumbles* I don't know what my first sentence is. You see, the problem goes like this: I have not as of yet decided whose POV I will start with and each one starts differently.

But here are the opening lines to each of my POVs...

Eirik: If anything, the time in prison had given me a chance to compose another song. Upon seeing the destitute state of all my fellow prisoners, I was once again reminded of how wonderful I am in comparison.

They wished they looked as good covered in dirt as I did.

Meruna: This was all just a huge misunderstanding, of that much I was sure. When it came to light what had been done. Oh, how that blasted guard who had so roughly shoved me into the cell and mocked my highborn accent would grovel when he found out. I would be generous, of course, I would forgive the man and not seek to rid him of his position. After all, at the end of the day he was only just doing his job.

Thyre: Truly, I had to make an effort to stop finding myself in situations like this. Or else I would be living a very short life. Still, it gave the bards something to sing about. Not that there were any bards singing about me, but if they did it would be one blasted good song.

Dagmy: Left to my own dark thoughts, I found myself wondering. Who had I killed this time?

Someone important obviously. And I’d been sloppy too. Not that I was exactly secretive when I killed. It was often hard to sneak in full armor toting around a giant great sword. People tended to get the idea about then that you are up to no good.

9. Share an interesting tidbit about the writing process so far! (For example: Have you made any hilarious typos? Derailed from your outline? Killed off a character? Changed projects entirely? Anything you want to share!)

My book is divided into five parts. Like I've literally written it as five separate books, with five separate documents that I'm going to have to join together in the third draft or something.

10. Take us on a tour of what a normal writing day for this novel looks like. Where do you write? What time of day? Alone or with others? Is a lot of coffee (or some other drink) consumed? Do you light candles? Play music? Get distracted by social media (*cough, cough*)? Tell all!

So one of the first things I do when I wake up is think about where I am in my book and where I want to be, what I have to look forward to writing that day. Then while I eat breakfast and clean the kitchen I listen to mood music from my WIP's playlist

This is Rage Like the Gods'

Then I sit down at my laptop and proceed to procrastinate fiercely. Eventually I get around to writing a scene or two. I drink water while I write and nothing else. I can only write if music is playing. I write on my living room couch because my laptop has already decided that it needs a new battery despite the fact that I got it one at the beginning of the summer. Plus it's comfy and my doggie can snuggle me. Half the week I go to work, but on the days I'm not I then return to the laptop and somewhere around 3ish end up writing another few scenes. I tend to write again at 6-8 depending on whether I work or have some other event and only about one night a week I have the hour of 9 free and I write then as well.

In summation I write as much as I can and I procrastinate at least double that. I probably get at least 4-6 hours of writing done a day on average. Not all of it is dedicated to NaNo though, I've been working on a couple of editing projects as well which I tend to do in the late afternoon/evening.

For those of you who cannot wait to experience Ruskhazar, I am currently looking for Beta Readers for a standalone novel set about nine years before the events of Rage Like the Gods. You can find out more about that by following this link

Also just fyi, come Black Friday through Cyber Monday a select number of my books will be either free or available for 99 cents. You can view a listing of several other books by other authors that will be on sale here. Happy Thanksgiving, guys!

Of Stars and Shadows Release Party

 

So, I did a thing.

I published Of Stars and Shadows last Friday. It was supposed to be a weekend venture, but I just sort of decided that I wanted to get it done. So somehow, I did. And I'm not entirely sure how I added all of my editor's copyedits (there had to have been at least 400), formatted, and published my book without even a drop of caffeine, but I'm certain that when time comes to pay up for those dark bargains I made, I'll probably be sorry...

But in the meantime, LET'S CELEBRATE!!!

(from Pinterest)

Honestly, I can't believe that I actually kept to my entire crazy publishing schedule this year. I honestly didn't think I would and yet here we are.

Published Between Gods and Demigods in the spring? Check. Publish A Winter Dark and Deadly before the end of summer? I got it in on the last day of August but that still counts! Publish Of Stars and Shadows this fall...

Check.

Honestly, this is just so huge for me, because the most books I've ever managed to publish in a year is two, and that was only one year. For the past several years it has been one book a year. And now I'm celebrating my third release in 2021!!!!

(from Pinterest)

This is a really good sign for me, I have proven to myself that I can focus on a project and get it done in the time I choose (it also means that I've gotten better at estimating how long a project is going to take me). I've also proven that I can publish more than one or two books a year. Next year, I have a slightly crazier publishing plan than I did even this year, but because of how well I have done so far, I'm actually confident that I can accomplish it. (okay, maybe just 85% confident but those are still good odds)

But enough of that! Let's talk about the book that actually got published!

The Of Dreams and Nightmares Trilogy book two Of Stars and Shadows.

It's a sequel so I can't say too much. If you haven't read book one Of Gold and Iron yet, you definitely should. I mean it's a clean faerie romance. What more are you looking for?

So yes, this is book two in a series, it won't make any sense unless you have read book one. OSaS does end on a cliffhanger, and I'm not sorry about it. There will be one final book in the series which I hope to release next year.

It's a romance featuring a couple who can't stand each other. There's lots of snark, sarcasm, and arguing between an ill-tempered human and an arrogant solitary faerie. This story also features a labyrinth that's alive. Faerie court politics. An intricate law that you die if you break. And like at least one kiss.

I’m starting see the way that faeries think. To them life is just one giant chess board, it’s all a game of making moves and waiting to see how your opponent reacts. An ever-evolving scheme where the ends justify the means, and people are just pieces on the board.

This story also includes...

~Irish Folklore

~Hate to love

~Doomed soulmates

~Forgiveness

~Redemption

~Family

~Crafty lies and binding laws

You know how the saying goes. Fool me once, shame on you, but fool me twice…

Well, that’s a shame on me.

This lovely illustration of my two MC's Jaye and Ravven was done by Ireen Chau

“You lied to me,” I grind out.

“It’s what I do, I don’t know why you need to act so surprised.”

Purchase Here

My 2021 releases, I definitely had a color scheme going on here. Two sequels and a prequel, and I couldn't be more excited or more proud of the finished products.

WIP Aesthetics Part Four

(Images via Pinterest)

Today's WIP is not actually technically a WIP yet. Once upon a time A Matter of Curiosity was a WIP, I'm actually have more than 40,000 words written in it but I've had it shelved for a couple of years because it just kept getting bumped back due to the fact that it ties in with A Season of Subterfuge, Courtiers, and War Councils and so cannot be published until after that one (and that one has caused me a good bit of trouble in the past). I'm not entirely sure if I am going to be able to really work on this story till closer to January what with me focusing on Rage Like the Gods as my NaNo project and then trying to get Of Stars and Shadows and A Tale of Gods and Glory ready for publication. But this story just had too many fabulous of aesthetics to leave out of this blogging series. Besides, I intend to be working on it soon so that has to count for something, right?

Genre: Young Adult, Portal Fantasy, Alice Through the Lookingglass reimagining

It is the second and final book in the Return to Amar duology. Book one is A Certain Sort of Madness and is available here.

This is set in the same world as the My Time in Amar series does. In fact this book is where the two series actually begin to intertwine. Hence why it cannot be published until after A Season of Subterfuge.

I will try to avoid spoilers for book one in this post, however be warned this is a book two. And if you haven't read book one you really need to remedy that.

I mean it's got Alice in Wonderland vibes, a sarcastic imaginary friend, a monkey named Chandler, a cowardly illusionist, a circus made up of misfits, rabid faeries that can control plants, and two cousins one who is too crazy for her own good and one who is too sane.

Seriously, what isn't to love?

Elevator Pitch: Alicia is struggling to finally live an ordinary life, but as reality begins to tear apart at the seams she finds herself fighting against her power-mad grandfather, and forced to use her friends as pawns in order to win a game constructed by an exiled faerie prince in his enchanted circus. "Normal" was never within her reach.

Characters:

(all images are from Pinterest, I take no credit for them)

Alicia Hareton

In a chess game she is the king

Curioser and curioser

She likes to imagine six impossible things before breakfast and then make them a reality

Is a girl torn between worlds

Olivia Linton

In a chess game she is the queen

You may underestimate her but she will kick your butt while wearing heels

You can't tell her what to feel or think

Loyalty is a currency all its own

Dante Carlos Alessandro Moretti III

In a chess game he's the rook

Is fluent in three different forms of sarcasm

Mad as a hatter

The imaginary friend who was just a little too real for his own good

In the cast we also have a cowardly illusionist pickpocket and his monkey, a huntsman and his wife, a queen in over her head who is just going to make a bloody mess of things, and her loyal followers.

We also have Marius the Great. Alicia's grandfather, a powerful but crazy mage that believes that only one of them can continue existing in this world. Then there's the faeries... corrupt, perverted, and just like everyone else in this series... completely mad.

Setting:

(Images via Pinterest)

This takes place in the same world as WIP Aesthetics Part Two. However, what A Season of Subterfuge, Courtiers, and War Councils shows on a wider scale, A Matter of Curiosity shows a far narrower view of.

In this story we focus on the faeries who are trapped in Amar due to being exiled from their own world (book one focused heavily on the faerie world itself). While the faeries still in the faerie world are power hungry, cruel, and manipulative, the faeries trapped in Amar have all of these traits with the addition of the fact that they are going mad. There is a darkness that is polluting Amar and all the creatures found within. These perverted faeries tend to roam the woods with little more than animalistic instincts, seeking only to dance their immortal lives away and curse any humans they come across. However, there is a small group led by the exiled prince that hope to live a slightly more civilized life. These faeries choose to slip away into their insanity while living in their elaborate circus, one where they trap any mortals who would happen to stumble upon it.

The majority of this book takes place in this faerie circus, where everything is a very deadly game. It's like chess only the pieces are living beings and you move across the board and win by completing challenges. Alicia and her players against Marius and his. While the faeries watch on with glee as these two sides tear each other apart.

This story definitely focuses on the stranger elements of Amar, showing just how much that darkness has twisted and changed what would have been beautiful magical aspects.

 

(Images via Pinterest)

For more aesthetics you can check out my Spotify or Pinterest Board. You can also add this story to your to-read shelves on Goodreads.

So there you have MoC, no I'm not really working on it just yet, but I do hope to pick it up soon and finally get around to publishing it sometime next year.

WIP Aesthetics Part Three

 

(Images via Pinterest)

Today's post is about my upcoming standalone release A Tale of Gods and Glory. I'm writing this post about a month in advance and really hoping that by the time it publishes I'll be done writing AToGaG (popping in to say that yessss I did indeed finish AToGaG, it took me writing more than 80,000 words in less than 20 days but I finished the first draft on Saturday!). I've not really talked about this story much beyond the occasional mention so here's a bit more of what it's about.

Genre: High Fantasy

Set in the same world as RLtG, AToGaG focuses on a much smaller view of the vast country. Whereas RLtG has many characters, from many backgrounds, all scattered across Ruskhazar; AToGaG is about one man, a foreigner learning about life in this mountainous peninsula for the first time, and it mostly takes place in one remote village.

It's shows how stories are not always what they first appear to be. It's a truly chaotic tale, spanning across three years of time, with three separate plots that somehow intertwine. It's a story of love and loss, new starts and death, and of having to make difficult choices. It tells of how legends are made... the hard way.

Elevator Pitch: Everyone knows the tale of Lord Taliz, the champion of Coldhaven, but no one knows the real story of how a foreigner came to be revered as the savior of the very city he burned to the ground.

Characters:

(character art by Paige Coffer)

Lord Taliz of Coldhaven

Exile, Werewolf, Champion

He's considered the hero of the very city he burned to the ground

A chaotic soul known for always making the wrong choices

Still, he has a way with people and a charm that helps get him through all the troubles of life

He gets betrayed almost as easily as he makes friends

No matter what he is faced with, Taliz never loses his zeal for life

He enjoys using stories to make himself seem more glamorous

Ylfa

Werewolf, Warrior, Unmentioned

The woman the tales forgot...

She and her feelings are not on speaking terms

Has a problem with commitment as well

The only thing she cares about is her pack

She could flirt with you more if she liked you less

She prefers to be no-nonsense because when nonsense gets involved she gets grumpy

Known for making snap judgements she regrets later

Lady Sofarynn of Coldhaven

Sister, Student, Cursed

They say she's the villain of her brother's story...

Taliz may be her only living relation, but that doesn't mean that she approves of what he does. In fact, she quite certainly disapproves 

An inquisitive mind, she will never stop trying to unlock the secrets of magic or learn why those not born of Ruskhazar cannot wield it

She is just looking for someone who will love her, take care of her, and give her a place in this world

Almost as accident prone as her brother although she likes to pretend otherwise

Other notable members of the cast include... a pair of ruthless bounty hunters who know little about Ruskhazar or failure, but have to learn both quickly in order to survive. A kindly blacksmith with a large heart and a love for strays, as well as his adopted son and apprentice. A hardened warrior who doesn't know how to take rejection well. And Taliz's pack which consists of the gruff leader, a drunk, a sweet but impetuous flirt, and a warrior only in it for the violence.

Then for villains there are the bitter werewolf hunters and the crafty, conniving shapeshifter that eats werewolves and always keeps its word.

Setting:

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

As I mentioned before, this is the same world that RLtG is set in. And so everything said of Ruskhazar in WIP Aesthetics Part One can be said for this one; however as I also commented, AToGaG offers a far more narrow experience of Ruskhazar.

The majority of this book is set in the village of Coldhaven and the land immediately surrounding it. Coldhaven is a small town, later made infamous for the way it was destroyed, but before that there was nothing about it that made it stand out. Nestled in forested foothills, Coldhaven is built atop an ancient burial ground, and said to have been founded by the great warrior that defeated the very creature buried under its streets. That's of course considered a myth in these modern times, anyone who sees Coldhaven with its muddy streets and derelict buildings can be quite certain that this town isn't special at all.

Although Coldhaven itself doesn't offer much, the surrounding woodland do have an abundance in ways of hunting, fishing, and wood craftmanship; however, it does not get very much trade. There are traveling merchants who go from village to village, offering supplies to those living in the most remote corners of Ruskhazar, however they do not come often, and especially not in the winter. Bandits keep the roads dangerous and inhabitable.

Coldhaven is a primarily Highlander settlement, ruled by a chief elected by the people rather than some wealthy lord. The tavern is by far the most interesting part of the town and draws in many a patron.

The village also houses a small pack of werewolves, some of the only werewolves to actually live within a town with regular humans rather than sequestered off by themselves. This pack tends to balk against the traditional values held by many werewolves, they do not want to live apart from the world safe from discovery of their lycanthropic gift, but instead wish to use the blessings of the wolf to rise in the ranks of life and become legends.

For more aesthetics check out my Pinterest Board and Spotify Playlist for this book.

Think this story sounds pretty swell and exactly like something you would like to read? You can add it to your Goodreads shelves.

Next week we are going back to Amar for the final part of our WIP Aesthetics series. Then Hopefully after that I will have some important announcements as well as NaNo updates to do. Comment Below what you think of Taliz and his story!

Know the Novel Part One: Introduction

(all images via Pinterest)

As November looms on the horizon it's high time I finally announce my NaNo project. And guess what... it's the same exact project I worked on last year. Believe it or not, I actually won NaNoWriMo last year, well, obviously I didn't write a whole novel in the month or else I wouldn't still be working on it a whole year later, but I did write 50,000 words in the month. And no, I didn't put RLtG down through all of 2021 only to just now pick it up to finish it. I've been working on RLtG steadily throughout this whole year even going to write 86,000 words in it over the summer.

The problem? The problem is that RLtG is an absolutely monstrously huge book and is currently sitting at over 215,000 words long and still not done. It is my NaNo goal to finally finish this beast.

I've put it down briefly over this month as I have worked on trying to wrap up my first standalone A Tale of Gods and Glory and I'm really excited to pick it up again despite the fact that I have been working on this project for well over a year and going into my second NaNo, because I love this story just so much. And I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. It shall be vanquished! I shall finally finish it this NaNo... at least... I hope.

Anyway, in other super exciting news, I finally added RLtG to my shelves on Goodreads.

Now... onto the linkup which is being hosted by the lovely Christine Smith.

1. What first sparked the idea for this novel?

(image via Pinterest)

You wouldn't believe it, but actually the first idea for Rage Like the Gods came from playing a video game.

If you've never played Skyrim—first of all, you should probably remedy that—but it is an open world fantasy role playing game. It's the fifth installment in the Elder Scrolls universe, which quite frankly has phenomenal world building. In this game your character, chosen from a large selection of races, is a Dovakhin—dragon born. And that's about it, beyond that fact your character can be literally anything, whatever you choose for them to be. Good? Evil? You decide. You can be a mage, a thief, an assassin, a werewolf, a vampire, a soldier fighting on either side of a civil war, raid burial grounds, build a house, adopt kids (the last two only if you have the Hearthfire add-on), and slay dragons. I mean what more could you want?

This game offers so much with factions, side quests, and places to explore that it is a well established joke in the gaming community that most people who play it always put off the main quest and allow dragons to wreak havoc on the nearby community while they gather ingredients to turn into potions. And by most people I mean, me. I am most people.

Anyway, I had a bunch of different characters who I had put a crazy amount of time roleplaying as. I gave them backstories, fears, weaknesses (for instance one character was sworn to nonviolence just to spice-up my gameplay). And I got to thinking about those characters and I realized that since I had put so much work into creating these character to roleplay as, why not go the next step and write them into a book as well? Most of what I had was my own original concepts, my Skyrim characters were each named after a god or daedra in Skyrim because I was lazy and didn't want to come up with original names. Well, for my own book I can name my characters after the gods of their world and they will in a sense represent those gods.

And so Rage Like the Gods was born. Literally just like that, I was lying in bed, trying to sleep and telling myself that I didn't need a new WIP and my brain was like, it will star your Skyrim characters and you will call it Rage Like the Gods and boom next thing I know it's a year and four months later and I've written 215,000 words and still haven't finished it (pro tip, never listen to your brain, kids*)

*please note that I am only joking, you should listen to your brain at least sometimes

2. Share a blurb (or just an overall summary)!

Now, I know it's a bit long, but the book itself is already well over 200,000 words long so I guess it's pretty fitting.

Ruskhazar is a land of mountains and magic; men and elves. Built atop a fallen civilization and the bodies of demigods and the old monsters, it knows a tenuous peace. However, there are those that believe that not all that is buried should remain so. There is a powerful cult of necromancers bent on bringing about the end of the world as was foretold long ago. If left unchallenged their army of corpses will only grow, until nothing can stop them and the living will fall to their own ancestors.

The gods have chosen mortal champions who will fight against these necromancers and stop this from happening.

Unfortunately, these champions are just strangers waking up in the same jail, with no memory of how they even got there. When an attack from an undead kraken sets them free, they set out on their separate paths, unaware of each other’s presence. And unwilling to save a world that never had any place for them.

Thyre, a former bandit, is seeking a new home, instead she finds two in the form of a werewolf pack and a group of deadly assassins named the Family of Night. Torn between these warring loyalties, she struggles to decide who or what she truly is. An assassin or a werewolf? However, there is one thing that she knows for certain—she will do whatever it takes to make certain that she never loses a family again. Even kill.

Eirik is a bard just trying to make a name for himself. When he falls in love with a beautiful lady knight, he dons a hood and becomes the thief known as the Masked Wolf, in order to steal enough gold to buy himself a better life. By day he woos his love and by night he robs his wealthy employer; and if he can aid the poor miners of the surrounding land then the better for the tales, right? But as he struggles to keep up the ruse, he finds himself wondering how his story will end and if he is truly the hero…or just a rogue.

Meruna is a prodigy of magic. Her future has already been chosen for her and she doesn’t have time to save the world, not when she only has a short time to live out her dream of attending the Academy of Magickers before she is sold off in marriage to further her father’s political goals. Nothing will distract her from her lessons. Not her warrior nun bodyguard, not the handsome academy student born partially immune to magic, not even the ghost who claims to be a victim of a killer in the academy.

Dagmy is an exile from the deserts, determined to make it in this new land by selling her sword arm until she has a chance to reclaim the honor she forfeited. Hiring a fellow mercenary to be her guide, she sets out to become the next legend of Ruskhazar, instead she finds herself transformed into a monster that shrivels in the sunlight. Working for a band of monster hunters, Dagmy infiltrates a lair of vampires. If she can save a small village from their dark plans, she just might earn a cure for herself.

Perhaps fate had lofty plans for them, but the gods’ chosen are determined to make their own destinies. Forget the gods, forget necromancers, forget the mad sorceress determined to unite them and save the world no matter the cost— this isn’t their story. This is the tale of the heroes who never were.

3. Where does the story take place? What are some of your favorite aspects about the setting?

(Images via Pinterest)

RLtG is set in Ruskhazar, it's a peninsula surrounded by a ring of mountains, with a lush valley at its heart. It is the home of four separate clans. Two human clans and two elf races all four have a long history of conflict and do not get along. Ruskhazar is also the home of a small number of foreigners from the deserts who had to leave their home for whatever reasons. It is the only known place where magic can be found, the only place where many things can be found including elves. It has a dual kingship with a human lesser king and an elven higher king.

I honestly love how the different clans interact and how they all think they are better than the others, I also really like the religious system, and history. Another thing I'm exceptionally proud of is the fact that magic is not a rare thing but that most people have it. However it is a little like academics and a lot of people just aren't willing to put in the effort to learn it. I also love how many things were wiped out and buried long ago (an important aspect for a story about the dead coming back) so this book has dragons and krakens and shapeshifters and all sorts of other really cool fantasy monsters but they're all undead!

Another thing I really enjoy about the setting is just how beautiful it is, from jagged mountains, to heavily forested foothills, to northern lights shining in the sky Ruskhazar is just breathtaking in its splendor.

4. Tell us about your protagonist(s).

I have five protagonists in this book...

Thyre the werewolf assassin. She is quite serious and an exceptional warrior who has no qualms against killing anyone who gets in her way. She is fiercely loyal to those she loves and fears nothing except for losing them. However, she does have a soft spot when it comes to true love, she's really quite a romantic at heart.

Eirik is the lucky bard thief. He's the half-elf son of a farmer and an alchemist and is recently realizing that the life he chose for himself isn't quite as filled with glamour as he thought. This has caused him a considerable amount of anxiety. However, nothing can truly bring down his good spirits and he still has faith that somehow he can make it all work out in the end.

Meruna is a student studying at the academy. It has always been her dream to attend there and she is not going to give up that dream for anything. Born to a wealthy family of a powerful legacy and the only heir set to inherit it all, but Meruna sees this as more of a burden than anything. She believes that her whole life has been decided and this time at the academy is her only time to live the life she wants before it all must end.

Dagmy is an exile from the deserts. Quiet and stern, Dagmy only cares about remaking herself in this new world and wiping away the blemish that has stained her honor. She believes that if she does enough great deeds she will be able to do so, however she is really quite inexperienced in what life in Ruskhazar is like and that inexperience has led to her becoming a vampire, a cursed existence that she despises.

Azern is a sorceress with a shattered mind. She is able to see glimpses of the future, but these glances have taken their toll and left her struggling with a split personality disorder. She has been an outcast her whole life and she is tired of playing it safe. At this point she is willing to do anything—and I do mean anything—in order to save the world.

5. Who (or what) is the antagonist?

Generally, I avoid talking about the antagonists of RLtG, because this story has a lot of antagonists and most of them are spoilers.

However, individual antagonists for each of my protagonists aside, there are a lot of general antagonists. Sorcerers, corrupt nobles, bandits, vampires, werewolves, undead krakens... I mean you name it, they have probably tried to kill my main characters at least once.

The series itself has a couple of main antagonists, but again some of them are spoilers (and by spoiler, I mean that my characters oftentimes don't realize they are actually villains until it is too late and they are getting stabbed in the backs). However, there is a cult of angry vengeful necromancers who are the root cause to most of the problems plaguing Ruskhazar. And I would say they are probably the main antagonist for the series. As this is only book one, and they are the series big bad, naturally they aren't in as much of RLtG as they are in later books.

6. What excites you the most about this novel?

Gosh, am I only supposed to pick on thing?

Okay, I'm going to have to go with the character relationships. From the romances between my MCs and their love interests (with the sheer number of MCs I have been able to explore a lot of different types of romance), to the relationships with them and their antagonists which are oftentimes quite complex with interesting pasts. There are some very strong friendships in these books that I just absolutely adore, but I also really like the relationships between my MCs.

They don't always get along.

In fact, some of my main characters develop a sort of antagonistic relationship with each other as the series progresses, now please note they have almost zero interactions in RLtG itself, this book is to establish them and their roles in the world and then as the series progresses, those roles begin merging or clashing as they meet each other in different stages of their lives.

7. Is this going to be a series? standalone? something else?

Rage Like the Gods is the first book in a five book long series. It also has a prequel Between Gods and Demigods which came out earlier this year.

Purchase here

8. Are you plotting? pantsing? plansting?

Plansting, I guess. When I first started writing this book a year ago I was very much pansting it, however I've since figured out a game plan for almost the entire series so coming into NaNo I definitely know a lot of what needs to happen, however there's still much that I have yet to figure out.

9. Name a few unique elements about this story.

It's a take on the classic "chosen ones" trope, except my characters decided they didn't want to save the world. So basically it's the story of the chosen ones deciding they would rather buy a house, join a guild, get married or do basically anything else except for saving the world. Only they are trying to do all of that while imbued with the powers of the gods and while the world crumbles around them as monsters and dead things threaten literally everyone.

Also, my main characters are all connected through their destiny, they are supposed to save the world together. However since they have since decided to ditch saving the world, they don't actually have anything to do with each other. They don't even really know each other. Their stories are entirely disconnected from the other—now to be fair this is only true in RLtG specifically, obviously the rest of the story is the tangled tale of my characters finally getting to know each other.

Essentially it is five separate books in one, hence why it is so long. But it is...

Eirik's book about thieves and romance

Meruna's book with the academy and magical serial killers

Thyre's book with werewolves and assassins

and Dagmy's book with monster hunters and vampires

The final book I would say is Azern's and it's the one that follows the plot of the series because it is about actually trying to save the world.

10. Share some fun “extras” of the story (a song or full playlist, some aesthetics, a collage, a Pinterest board, a map you’ve made, a special theme you’re going to incorporate, ANYTHING you want to share!).

(drawing of the RLtG cast by yours truly)

(the RLtG cast as drawn by my good friend Lisa Elis)

Here's my Spotify Playlist

And here's my Pinterest Board

And a few of the collages I have made for this story... (all images via Pinterest)

(the first collage I ever made for RLtG, it was my lock screen and my home screen for my phone last NaNo)

(my first attempt at making something for just my five MCs)

(the girl's only collage)

(a collage for the fellas)

(My latest attempt at making something just for my five MCs)

So there you have it, one last glorious month and then hopefully I will have finished RLtG. Be honest, how many of you saw it coming that I would pick this story to be my NaNo project? Who else is doing NaNoWriMo? If you are, I would love to hear a little about your project. Comment below!