It’s winter!
December is here! I always loved winter. I love the decorating and the music; I love the hot drinks and the cozy atmosphere, and I love writing while the snow falls outside.
Granted, it isn’t snowing just yet over here but I’m excited for when it starts to. I’ve been making some decent progress on my outlining too!
Two of the three characters are mostly ironed out and the details surrounding them are getting filled in steadily (if slowly). The history of this world is also coming along well, the hard part of course is going to be figuring out how it can all be brought to life properly.
I’ll be excited when I can update all of this with the news that I’m properly writing again, and while I wish I already was I want to make sure I do this right.
Until then, have a wonderful winter everyone! I’ll be back with one more blog update before the end of 2024.
Winter on the Hills
It’s mid-November now, and it’s definitely getting colder. I’ve always loved winter, but ti’s sad to see autumn fade away too. Outlining has hit a roadblock as well! I’m stuck on the last chunk of the puzzle but like with all of my writing issues I’m sure it’ll be revealed if I hit the brick wall hard enough.
I’ve been planning on getting more Polaroid film too, as it’s been a hot minute since I’ve done some photography! I’m thinking of adding the memorial drawings I’ve done to the site as well under a separate wing. I’ve got a few other things cooking as well, like more game pieces and a section for books I’ve read too!
I’ve never been one for traditional Thanksgiving meals, but I’ve kind of never been one for most “traditional” things. My thought process is erratic and uneven and messy even when I need something laser-focused.
Enjoy the snow everyone! Have a wonderful time, happy holidays, and I’ll be back beginning of December to share the next update.
The Rule of Three
The number three has always been a favorite of mine. Past, present, future; day, night, the in-between.
My current series is founded on that same rule of three. There are three protagonists, three “eras” and three primary Spiral denominations. There are three “worlds”. Each of our three “Saintblooded” protagonists has a unique power based upon their personality.
With that in mind, I’m planning three stages for these books: the basic outline, the detailed outline, and the rough draft: this then shifts into the rough draft, the refined drafts, and the final draft.
Every day I get closer to finishing this! It’s taken so much time and work but I’m happy to say I’m making steps (even if small ones) toward this series being released.
I hope everyone’s November is going well, and I hope winter is enjoyable! I’ll get back to the writing for now.
All Coming Together
(I love bats)
Hey world! I’m a little behind on the blog this month, been busy planning!
I’m slowly ironing out the world for this story and putting all of the pieces in place.
I’m starting from square one, making sure the world, the dates, the lore, all of it is congruent and with purpose. A lot of my old work is more or less being axed or set aside for this (which stings, but it’s the right thing to do here).
I’m slowly getting more art done, slowly getting more ideas ironed out, and slowly figuring out how to take each step closer toward the goal!
I can’t wait for everyone to see this world. That’s all for this one!
A good burrito…
It’s October! That means my birthday is getting closer, which also means I’m one year older on this grand place we call earth!
But that’s not what I’m here to talk about. I’m here to discuss my books today, and I’m going to ask you a silly question.
Would you rather have a huge burrito filled to the brim with a dozen different things? And I mean massive, breaking apart at the seams with so many wild crazy flavors that it’s overwhelming?
or
Do you want a good burrito with carefully selected flavors and just enough to make it that extra bit fulfilling?
I have a story drafted, a world built, an endless list of documents and ideas I’ve been cramming into my current books. This was to span between nine and twelve books not counting spin-off titles.
I was shooting for a burrito with everything I could cram, whether or not those ideas fit in the first place.
I’m scaling my ideas back now and resetting my world while keeping the ideas I initially loved and wanted as the focus.
This is going to be a series about being whole, about overcoming darkness, about moving forward.
This is a series about Cheryl, who lost everything.
This is a series about Marie, who watched her family give everything away.
This is a series about Fiona, who nearly gave herself up trying to chase others.
And this is a series about Marryanne/Marianne (I’m still debating on if I want to just spell that the normal way), who wants to be whole again no matter the cost.
I’m going to make a damn good burrito by cutting the bloat and fat off of the old recipe. With that said, I look forward to keeping everyone updated! The final journey begins!
Closer to the Beginning
Me when fall
Hey y’all. Been a minute! I didn’t even realize September was close to done until today. Looks like I’m slacking on the blog for once!
Book 1 is currently on one of its final rounds of editing, and that means this project is closer to becoming a reality!
I’ve been taking breaks recently from writing this current series, focusing instead on writing my fantasy and cyberpunk/warhammer inspired ones as a bit of a palette cleanser. On top of that, I’m writing another book, one that’ll probably be a sort of ‘final project’ as far as order of importance goes.
I love writing. I could do it forever. But at the same time, I only want to write a story or a series of it’s something I want to say. Each thing I write needs a purpose, a meaning, a soul of its own before I can justify sending it out to the world.
Cheryl and her dance of destiny will be coming soon. I’m so excited to share it with the world. I hope everyone else loves this universe as much as I do.
That’s it for now everyone. Stay safe and have fun!
September’s here!
I’ve never been a big fan of summer. The other seasons are always far more preferable to me. I love the cool rainy weather and blooming flowers of spring; I love the beautiful colors and autumn vibes of fall; and I love the quiet, soft, calm feeling winter usually brings.
Halloween is always fun. I love dressing up for it, even still. It’s funny, even with my books I prefer setting the stories in my preferred seasons (with Book 1 being the exception it seems, as that’s primarily over summer).
It helps me to get into the right mood for my writing if the weather is something I can jive with. I love rain and storms and cloudy weather.
I don’t have much in way of book updates this time around, sorry y’all! I just wanted to gush about the seasons.
Fall is on the way! The story continues…
It’s almost fall! Fall and spring are my favorite seasons (though I usually love winter too). It’s been an interesting year, and I’ve been working hard on these books. I want them to be as good as I can make them!
I’m hoping that I’ll be able to move forward in the publishing process for book 1 soon. My personal edits are almost ready, and after that I can ship this thing back to my editor.
Book 5 is coming along too; the first draft is roughly 3/4 of the way done. Book 7 is early on but still doing good too. My other series idea is a few chapters into its first draft as well.
I don’t have any other major updates at the moment, so here’s to a good fall! It’s nearly cozy time everyone.
Marryanne, Eve, and Yelena; representing chains
Hey world!
So, I think it would be fair to say my series has a lot of symbolism in it. From the characters themselves to the lesser Gods of the Rizen cult to the very concept of the Abyss itself.
Marryanne is, for all intents and purposes, the key to this series. Nothing else would have come to be if not for her.
Yelena is one of the stand-alone parts of this. She means something both old and new; the past and the future, the old self becoming the new, the self-realizations one has when they grow and evolve and learn, and how those realizations can hurt equally as much as they can help.
Eve is the other standalone. A separate character from the series but still equally important. In a sense, Eve is the guide. They help spur things along when the path is too dark to find, or the weight is too heavy to bear.
Pictured: me whenever Fatal Frame does anything scary (I couldn’t find the artist for this one :( )
The Fatal Frame games have an interesting relationship with weight.
The first is about discovering what happened to a manor in the past and feels a bit more dissociated with the death and weight of the series as a whole to me.
The second game is far more personal; Mio and Mayu, the leading characters, are siblings drawn to an old dead village. There they become intwined with the village’s past and descend into the madness that overtook the place. The twins must make a final choice before they leave, and that choice is intertwined with death itself.
FF3 is far more intimate with its relation; the protagonists are all survivors in some form, their loved ones taken from them without choice. As they are drawn into the ‘manor of sleep’ that is the game’s setting they are confronted with an ever-encroaching choice: to follow their loved ones into the abyss or to reject their beckons and continue living.
FF4 focuses more on medical malpractice and the lengths some go to bring their loved ones back. It ends on a somewhat bittersweet note though.
FF5 is where things get rough. The game has a heavy but not exploitative focus on suicide, on dying and the beliefs one passes with. All of these games have some sort of ‘chains’ on them, a weight that never quite eases but 5 is far more open and far more relentless with how visible and how heavy those metaphorical chains are.
The weight of these same kinds of ‘chains’ is present in my books too, though not as a symbolism for death or grief as much as the all-encompassing weight of mental struggle. The Void, the Abyss, whatever title gets slapped to it, it is more than just a dark omnipresence but a feeling, a thought, a memory, even a sound that evokes those least-liked memories in a person.
Okay, now for something lighter! Don’t want to make you think my work is just about cults and death and violence, just part of it!
I’ve come up with other series ideas over the writing of my current series. It isn’t going to take a backseat, far from that in fact. It’ll still be the prime focus, but the need to write something else that’s lighter in comparison has been growing on me since I began drafting this series over 10 years ago (holy cow it’s really been a long time).
My focus now, aside from editing Book 1 and drafting books 5 and 7 is focused on drafting the first manuscript for my next series. It’ll still have weight to it, still be dark and have those chains at times, but it won’t be nearly as constant.
Flea and Rorschach, that’s all I’ll drop for now!
Pictured: Art from the game Elden Ring. This piece has probably influenced the fantasy idea I’ve been brewing more than any other thing.
Project Zero and the Abyss
Hey folks, writing is coming along good! Book 5’s first draft is roughly halfway done! My final edits of book 1 are also coming to a close soon, and I’m looking forward to the moment I can send it off to my editor.
Pictured above: me when literally anything happens with my books
The ‘abyss’ of this story is kind of a personal one, and writing about it is both freeing and taxing in equal amount. It’s also kind of eerie writing about something so dark at times, but this is a story about winning a war, not a battle.
Speaking of eerie, I finally played through Fatal Frame 1 through 3, and that was something else! I love those games, with 3 being my favorite by far. Rei is braver than most people for sure.
Pictured: me when literally anything ever happens in Fatal Frame (credit to Terri Wiseden!)
The first book’s cover has been finished too! That’s another exciting thing. I’m getting closer to publishing with each day. That’s all for now! Peace out world!
Art, Snakes, and Knowledge
It’s weird having my work start to take a full, tangible shape. It’s no longer just an idea or just some words on a document, but a real, graspable thing.
I’m in the process of getting the art for my book cover back currently, as well as having another wonderful artist create character art for the website. Seeing other people put my ideas and words into reality in their own creative way is so… exciting! Having their spin, their creative freedom filtered over my ideas and seeing how they translate my scrambled mess of thoughts and ideas into something real is just… Wow.
I’m so excited, so thrilled, so nervous, so worried. I’ve been replaying both the Metal Gear Solid series and Alan Wake 1 - partially for the inspiration they helped to originally give me and partially because I love (and in the case of MGS love and loathe) these games. I recently finished painting a resin statue too. It looks terrible, but there’s something fun in it too. It’s calming in a way.
I’ve been working on my sketching abilities too, need to keep the tools sharp right?
I’m terrified the world won’t like my books, but at the same time, a part of me is okay if it doesn’t. I’m writing these for myself as much as anyone else, but if others love my work, then I’ll be happy too.
I’ll slap a picture or two below to show what I’ve been up to!
The sketch I did! Neighbor’s dog included.
I love how the picture makes the paintjob look even worse.
Anyways, that’s all from me today!
Games, books, and other bidness…
So, I’ve been working on making this website for a long time. I’m scatterbrained on most days so it can be hard to form enough thoughts and energy into something precise.
I’m working on a lot of things at once here. I’m hunting artists for cover art and other exciting things. I hope to have backgrounds, character art, etc. all that jazz so that my stories and dreams can better be realized. I can’t wait to show off their great work! On top of that I’m writing book 5 (about halfway done with the first draft) and re-editing my first book so that my editor doesn’t give up hope on me! (I kid, thank you Susan, you’ve been amazing!)
I’ve also gotten into DnD recently with some friends, I’m still trying to practice guitar, and I might get into painting miniatures (40k has consumed my brain lately).
I’ve got a million ideas, both for this book series and two others I hope to write some time in my future. We’ll see how that goes. Check back here in like 10 years or something.
I’m also going to be reading more books, and I’m excited for that too!
Take care world, I hope I can make someone else’s day better.
The beginning of something more!
So I’ve decided I’ll be writing a blog to catalogue the progression of my books, story ideas, and personal adventures!