Hello all! Hope you all are doing well. Spring is just beginning here, which means it’s muddy and windy and cold but getting warmer! I’m eager to spend more time outside again.
Progress on Memories
I keep going back in Book Three and shining up sections or pulling threads fully through, but I’ve got the arcs sorted now for everyone except Ra’ael, and her arc is nearly there. By the numbers, I have 13 more chapters to edit, but I’ve already gone through the timeline and shined things up and organized chapters chronologically while mostly balancing the point of view character. I have a couple scenes left to write and one chapter for Answer to add, but things are going well overall.
It’s hard to be in this mode of editing where progress is being made but it doesn’t exactly look like it, but I’ll be finished soon!
What have I been reading?
I’ve read some amazing books recently in finishing my r/Fantasy Reading Bingo card. The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker, was brutal and amazing. I really enjoyed it.
I also read The Demons We See by Krista D. Ball, which was absolutely fantastic and emotionally gripping–I had to get up in the middle of the night to finish it. It was one of my favorite books for Bingo.
I’m currently just beginning A Touch of Light by Thiago Abdalla and so far it’s really interesting. I’m really enjoying the point of view and the worldbuilding, and the writing style is easy to immerse myself in.
Upcoming Events
I’m really excited about a couple of upcoming events I’ll be engaged with in April. I’ll be at QuaranCon on the Underappreciated genres panel. It’ll be my first time at QuaranCon, so I’m nervous/excited.
Also in April, I’ll be looking through submissions for my first summer mentoring with WriteMentor. It’ll be wonderful to give back, since so many people helped me when I was just starting, too. My goal is to have my edits for Memories done by the time submissions open up!
Newsletter freebie
Today’s freebie is a Rinaryn creation story. I loved immersing myself in mythology when I was younger, and it’s been fun coming up with mythology for my various constructed peoples as well in my stories. Trying to nail the epic storytelling feel is refreshingly different from novel writing!
Sun and Moons
The Sun was a wonderful athlete and sought to woo two sisters. He followed them around and was always trying to impress one of them. The sisters were haughty and wanted nothing to do with Sun, but they liked to make fun of him and so began giving him several tasks. He had to swim down to the deepest ocean to get a bit of seaweed for them, but when he did it they flung it into the rocks of the coast. They instructed him to climb the highest peak to bring back a gold rock. When he did so, they flung it into the streams.
The sisters asked for a rare flower of many colors. When he found it, they threw it into the meadows, where it spread and became the multitude of flowering plants in the spring. They asked for the coldest drink possible to quench their thirst. When the Sun brought it, they poured it on the ground where it became the springs that quench the thirst of those in summer. They asked for a crown of many colors. When the Sun found it, they ripped it apart and scattered it to the winds. The leaves of trees re-enact this every autumn. Finally, they asked for crystals clear and cold. He brought them, but they melted in the hands of the sisters, and they flung them to the skies where they froze and fell light and soft around them, becoming the first snowfall.
The Sun became frustrated and realized he was never going to woo them. As he turned away, the sisters gave him a gift of golden boots. They told him they would make him run faster and jump higher than he ever could before and they apologized for their behavior.
Pleased, Sun put on the boots. The sisters smiled at each other as the Sun ran around them. He was very fast. He ran so fast and his feet hit the ground so hard he made many lakes. He jumped again and again. With each landing, the land shook and the sisters bounced until at last they bounced right into the sky. Repentant of his mistake, the Sun leaped up to chase them, but as he made that one last mighty leap, the boots became stuck in the mud and he leaped right out of them.
He flew into the sky, unable to return again to land, and so they all circled in the sky, the Sun forever chasing the sisters, the Moons. This is why the sun and moons rise and set. The faces of the sisters were so beautiful they shone brightly, but as they realized how mean they were when they’d made fun of him, they hid their faces in darkness. The Sun forgave them and told them stories to cheer them up and they showed their faces again until the guilt lay on them once more and they hid them. This is why the moons have phases. As they journey, the moons and the Sun remember the tasks he did for them. The reminders cause the seasons.
Lost Worlds Promo
Check out this selection of stories set in old worlds–nothing more modern than the 15th century, with no portals/time-travel. These fantasy and historical fiction stories focus solely on older time periods. There are some amazing looking titles in here, and they’re all available free.
