Lately on my socials I’ve been seeing a discussion about romantic fantasy - otherwise known as romantasy. The genre is one that I hold near and dear to my heart, but it’s definitely shifted over the years. Seeing people talk about it made me want to talk about my feelings on the genre, so let’s get into it.

I think romantasy is…not what it used to be. It started out as fantasy with a romance at its core, it drove the story forward. But more and more we’re seeing a shift into what is more a romance novel that has vague fantasy aspects in it, and that bothers me.

For me, romantic fantasy is character driven. We see our primary love interests learn and grow through interacting with each other, and eventually they fall in love. That romance however needs a stable foundation to stand on. That foundation should be something outside of the both of them. Which means you should have a strong sense of what the world and its inner workings should be.

Romance is inherently a character driven genre. But if you combine it with fantasy, you need to also consider the world outside of your characters. There should be an outer conflict, and overarching plot that the characters deal with that pushes them forward, both separately and as a unit. These conflicts push them together, they bond, and eventually fall in love. But then they go back to dealing with the external fantasy plot, working together to solve the problem set forth in the story.

Romantasy’s problem is that it focuses purely on romance. A lot of the time, the world is just an afterthought. It’s totally fine to have a more character driven story, I know I write those, but there still needs to be a sense of a bigger world outside of our characters. One that’s fleshed out enough to feel like it matters and it still functioning in the background of our characters falling in love. We know they’ll have to deal with the world eventually, and whatever external conflict is presented in it. The upside is hat after seeing our main characters fall in love, we know they will be able to handle whatever the outside world is going to throw their way as long as they face it together.

Indi romantasy still sticks to these sorts of structures for the most part. Personally, that’s why I prefer it. Why I want to self publish. But you see the larger scale books in the genre having this paper thin structure that isn’t a good fantasy, or a good romance. I saw on my Blue Sky feed the other day someone saying something very telling. They liked romance, like fantasy, so why don’t they like romantasy?

I think at its core, it’s because the more popular authors in the genre don’t understand that you need to still be telling an engaging story.

What makes a bad romance novel will still make a bad romantasy. Respectively, what makes a bad fantasy will make a bad romantasy. You can’t sacrifice aspects of one genre to lean into the other. You have to be willing to write a story that lends to both genres, otherwise just write in one of them.

That about covers my thoughts on the romantasy genre. If you read the genre, what are your thoughts on it? Let me know in the comments below?

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Besides, I haven't done a what I'm up to style post in a while, and I miss that. So for anyone else who has missed hearing about the happenings on from a random person on the internet, this is for you.

I'm so close to finishing Princess of Dragons Bane. All I have left is one chapter, and the epilogue. At least, that is what I envision. Every time I say that, Garreth and Maeve decide to take over and extend things for a few more chapters. I feel like I can safely say there are two chapters left however, and that is both an exciting and bittersweet feeling.

I learned a lot in posting this serialized novel over here. Things I would do again, and things I wouldn't do again. I plan to write an acknowledgements style post when the story is done, so I'm not going to go into too much detail here, but I'm surprised that this story idea I had and figured why not work on it so I have Substack content blew up into what it became. I love this world, and these characters, and personally, I think they are a great start to my Fairy Tale Retelling Universe. Because of course, like a good indie author, all of my fairy tale retellings will be somewhat connected in the same universe, but still standalones.

Speaking of, I don't get why that's so popular in the indie space. I mean, I guess I do, but why so many people do it is fascinating. I get they want something to connect readers to wanting to pick up their next book, but calling it a series is also somewhat of a stretch. But hey, who am I to judge? I already have a draft 1 and outline for my next retelling, and have integrated Garreth and Maeve post-story into the narrative to make an appearance.

Along those lines, the idea of making a fanfic style crossover with my OCs just won't leave me alone. I can picture it even though one set of characters haven't finished their stories. But I know where their stories will end, and the idea of having them meet with Garreth and Maeve just won't leave me alone. I've been picturing how Maeve and Selece would interact together for ages, and while Selece is definitely more powerful, Maeve would knock her down a few pegs lol.

I've mentioned a novelette I'm working on in notes, and it's so much fun to visit. It's somewhat a departure of what I usually write - to me anyways. I feel like to people who read my work they'd be like what are you talking about, you always write like this. I find myself leaning into cozy fantasy a lot more these days. My stand alone novel is more low fantasy/travel fantasy. But I like character based fiction, whether it is low stakes or high stakes. Cozy is just my general vibe, so it's easier to write that for me in spring.

But angsty characters are totally my vibe too haha. I love how writers can do that, just write based on their moods. This season of life I want to work on something uplifting and hopeful. But when I return to Selece's story, that will take more introspective and angsty writing. I love how we can use telling stories to process our emotions, whether we realize it or not. In working on a lot of the projects I've been focusing on right now, I've seen that I'm processing something or another that I never fully processed. Pretty cool, if I do say so myself.

A part of me says are you really gonna post this jumble of thoughts Crystal? And yeah, probably. If you like this sort of random post, let me know. One thing I love about Substack is being able to experiment with things comfortably, so consider this post an experiment lol.

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Read Garreth and Maeve Story

Read a Short With Selece

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The concept came about when I was trying to publish 2 pre-existing shorts on 11 Reader Publishing. I ran into a bunch of pitfalls, figured I could get the upload to work…only to realize it said it would only upload a 10000 word story or more. So I was likeok, no big deal, just write an anthology and post it up, problem solved. I plot out 3 stories, decide to write the one about a Priestess stopping a shyster of a shadow wielder…and end up with a 10000 word novelette that just keeps on growing.

I'm still working on the thing, and it currently stands at 11500 words lol. But I've learned a lot from this process, so as is my custom, I figured I would break down what I learned to do, and not do throughout the process of shifting this mammoth from short story to novelette.

My biggest take away from this entire experience is to flesh out your character voice before starting your story. I've gone through so many drafts of wonky pros because initially, I was writing a story that read more like an RPG than a book. The main character gets to NPC 1, is given quest, and heads to an inn. Talks to NPC 2, goes to sleep, then a scene happens that probably would contain a battle. Pop out in the morning, talk to NPC 2 again, and get a plot dump. Etc, etc, I think you get the picture. A lot of this would have been avoided if I did the work of making the character ahead of time. Something I normally do, but for some reason, I didn't do for this story.

On the same note, understanding the vibe of your story is so important. Not the theme, but the vibe. Once I realized I was writing a character who saw the world like a fairy tale, the writing style came together. So now, any description I have to write is from the POV of a storybook, which makes things so much easier.

The character's story arc. I know, I know, you're probably like duh! But a lot of times in a short story, I focus more on a sequence of events that fills in the dots of the character's arc. When revamping this story to be a novelette/novella, I had to really think of what the character was doing, and why they feel they are equipped to do it. Initially, this came from her occupation, but in the drafting stages I realized it was indeed an internal struggle FMC had to go through so she could come out of the other end of this adventure having grown. I get doing this for a full blown novel, and longer form stories, but the concept was completely lost on me when coming up with a shorter form story.

These things make sense when it comes to a novel length story, but I'd never encountered writing a story with a smaller, yet larger word count. My shorts have either capped out at 5000 words, or I've plotted out novellas that hit 20000 to 25000, so I found it fascinating that writing something with 10000 to 15000 words was such a different experience.

As always, I hope these random musings help someone in some way. Hopefully if you're writing your first novelette, you can learn from my mistakes.

The length of a story doesn't mean you cut corners. It means you make every scene, every word count. Characters have to be sharper, the tone has to be more defined. But none of that means you can skip over processes you would think to do when writing a longer form story.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to work on draft 123454 of this novelette before having to start on the next chapter of Princess of Dragons Bane. So many writing projects, so little time. I wouldn't have it any other way.

~*~*~

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So without further ado, let's break down the Enemies to Lovers trope, its pitfalls, nuances, and how to hopefully use it effectively.

I'm going to give a brief explanation of this trope, because I'm pretty sure everyone knows what it is at this point, if they've read any sort of fantasy novel.

Enemies to Lovers is when our love interests start on the opposite side of a war, a belief system, or ideology that pins them against each other. They are thrown together for plot reasons, and then have to work out their differences. This usually - who am I kidding, always - ends with our pair falling in love, overcoming their differences, understanding each other and beating up the bad guy.

At least, that's how it should go down. Most enemies to lovers wind up being a mish mosh of toxic relationships, paper thin characters, and unrealistic attraction. Thankfully, I haven't read too many bad enemies to lovers, but I have seen them talked about across the bookish community.

The biggest problem with enemies to lovers stems from the author not wanting to put in the work. Sounds harsh, I know, but hear me out.

Insta love is bad in any story, but in enemies to lovers, it's a death sentence. Why does it make sense for mortal enemies to hate each other after hearing rumors of their dastardly deeds, only to melt into each other's arms as soon as they meet?

Oh wait, it doesn't.

Enemies to lovers works well over a passage of time. I'd go as far as to say it should be done over a few books. Our enemies need to butt heads, dislike each other. They need to respect each other professionally enough to want to bridge the gap between hatred, to understanding, to a blooming romance.

We need to get into both characters' heads. We need to see why both of them feel the way they do. Does one party think the kingdom the other hails from is filled with warmongering savages? Do they meet the Princess of that nation, and get surprised by her gentle and compassionate nature?

Does the Princess think her nemesis is a sinister spy master who is heartless, and dastardly, only to be surprised by the tortured heart of gold underneath?

These character traits are basic, but you get what I mean. We need to see reasons why the other side would dislike each other not only on a one on one level, but on a wider scale. With knowledge of why our main characters should dislike each other, it means more when they slowly start unraveling their misconceptions, and start enjoying each other's company.

I can't stress how important fleshing both characters out is to enemies to lovers. We won't care about the characters as individuals, or as a couple otherwise. Getting to know both MCs well leads to a slow burn romance, or a fiery passion readers will be rooting for the entire series.

A three act structure, either across one or multiple books works well for this trope. Imagine book 1 being filled with juicy misunderstanding, and the inkling of a spark of attraction. Book 2 they are obviously into each other, but there are still social barriers between them because of their kingdoms, or world views. By the end of book 2, or the start of book 3, we get them overcoming their obstacles, their misconceptions, and joining up to be the power couple we've waited to see since book 1.

The same goes for a standalone, but instead of three books, go for a three act structure. Set up story beats that really show our characters at their best, so we can take sides, or understand where they're coming from. When they finally clash, we get to see why they would have chemistry, if only they got out of their own ways. Then act 3, we see the culmination of their feelings, and how strong they are when they stand together against the world.

Enemies to lovers can work, if you as the author put in the effort. If you aren't willing to deep dive into your character's motives, morals, and emotional states, then perhaps pick another romantic coupling to base your story on. This trope is for people who enjoy emotional heavy lifting, discussions about right and wrong, and nuanced romances. Insta-love isn't allowed anywhere near enemies to lovers. Not if you want to execute the trope successfully.

What are your feelings on enemies to lovers? How would you execute the trope in your own writing? Have I rambled too much in this post? Let me know in the comments below!

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Last November, I took the plunge and purchased some web hosting. I've been working on the site on and off over the past months, and now it's ready to be unveiled!

You Cand Check it Out Here!

I've also been setting up a newsletter. Anyone who is subscribed to my Substack automatically got subscribed to the newsletter on my site. Don't worry, this newsletter won't be a repeat of what I post on Substack, but instead will be a monthly round up of news, progress updates, and book releases.

If you want to unsubscribe from that newsletter, simply scroll to the bottom of it and click manage subscriptions. This newsletter will be coming out once a month however, and is the best way to stay updated on news relating to my projects, whether they are on Substack or not.

Feel free to let me know if anything needs fixing on the site. I did this completely blind, with the help of tutorials. So if anything is out of order, let me know soI can fix it.

I'm so excited to be taking this step with my work. I used to - and eventually will go back to releasing music on streaming platforms. I never went as far as making a website though, so this is a super exciting step that shows me that I am taking my writing seriously.

That's all for today. Like I said, a quick update for this week. My first newsletter will be going out soon, so look forward to that. And as always, have a great day, and God Bless!

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This subject is very important to me, and I don't think it's a discussion that should be ignored. So in spite of my nervousness, I'm posting it anyway. Everyone, myself included, needs to be brave enough to have these sorts of discussions. Otherwise, people have the possibility of misrepresenting something without even knowing it.

I went on a bit of a Katherine Center bender in December that I was thoroughly enjoying. Her style of romance was my style of romance, filled with happy endings, well represented subplots, and entertaining characters.

Until I read Happiness for Beginners. Spoilers for that book if you read onward. You have been warned.

So every other story of hers I read had good representations of whatever it was tackling. Enter Happiness for Beginners, where it was pretty obvious to me, a blind individual, what was going on with our male main character. He climbed a tree only to lose his footing on the way down - total lack of depth perception. He had night blindness that he wrote off as nothing - once again, super obvious.

Then, the final straw. MMC needs to go get some water, slips down a steep path, and loses his glasses.

Enter a freak out moment with him and the female main character. We then find out…that he's going blind.

But oh, not just going blind folks. Our author did some research. Some research that made me snort as soon as I read what form his blindness took.

Our MMC…had retinitis pigmentosa.

One of the rarest ways to lose your sight. The condition that I so happen to have. A genetic condition that deteriorates your rods and cones until you wind up with little, to no vision. This decline is supposed to be gradual, and your sight should stick around until you're at least 40. For me, I had a genetic strain that went much faster. I had decent vision until I was about 13, then lost most of my vision at 16.

I remember very clearly when I realized my vision wasn't what it used to be. For a while, I was able to get away with squinting really hard to read. It took forever, but at least it was still possible. That ability went away, but I could still see pictures.

One day, I was looking at pictures in a Sailor Moon profile book filled with them, only to see Sailor Mars as…a big red blob. I realized I could only really see the color of her skirt. Then I squinted to look at her hair, and saw that darker contrast. To this day, I can only see shapes, and colors if they are right in front of my face. Something that I've come to terms with, but at the time, I needed to go through major counseling to cope with.

So what did Happiness for Beginners do, you might be asking? Well, with the nuance and tact Katherine Center is known for, she…

Had our characters go into a grief spiral, terrified about how “When the lights go out, it's game over. I better experience everything I can before the lights go out…for good.”

FMC is like oh no! I can't imagine MMC being blind and not being able to see my face and the world around him WHYYYY!!!!

And you know what? All of that is fine. That is a totally normal reaction to finding out you're going blind for both you, and your friends and family. So as Katherine Center is known to do, I figured we'd dive a little more into this. Perhaps our MCs figure out everything will all be ok, and losing your sight isn't the end of the world…oh, no. It was literally just a plot device to make FMC stop dragging her feet with the romance.

AHHHHH!!!!

I can't tell you how infuriating this was. Retinitis pigmentosa is one of the rarest conditions for losing your eyesight. It doesn't have a cure, and there have only been tests that are somewhat successful that have worked, and they have to do with stem cell treatments. In other words, nothing substantial enough to try. It felt like Katherine Center just googled “Rare eye diseases” one day, stumbled onto RP, and was like sounds good, copy paste.

I felt offended, and I'm not one to take offense to these sorts of things. I understand everyone isn't well versed in disabled representation, and are doing their best to show it in a way they know how.

This didn't feel like that. It felt like she was using my disability as a plot device. RP wasn't mentioned again in the story. If the blindness subplot was going to be glossed over that way, why not just I don't know, say he's going blind?

My disability is not a plot device to touch on in one chapter, then ignore. If you wanted to put it in your story, then respect it for what it is. Don't sum up the condition in one sentence, then go into a grief spiral, then nothing. Don't use it as the reason why your female character stops being a romantic coward.

If you can't use it right, don't use it at all. Ugh.

I have no idea how to end this post, other than to say thanks for reading my rambles. Oo, wait, if you're going to put a disability into your story, don't treat it like a plot device. There we go.

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📜 I started my Substack in February, which was a major jump out of my comfort zone. I was on the fence about doing so after reading a few posts about it, but am so glad I did because it gave me the writing community I didn't know I needed.

📜 Joining Substack also made me want to have a consistent stream of content to post, so I started writing Princess of Dragons Bane. It's a story I was going to do eventually, after I was done with a few other drafts, so I'm glad joining Substack made me motivated enough to write it as a serialized novel. We're 23 chapters in as of the writing of this post, and are steadily heading towards our finale.

📜 I wrote 3 short stories, started posting micro fiction, and dabbling in different lengths of writing styles. This experimentation was a lot of fun, and stretched my writing brain in a way I wouldn't think it could be stretched. So once again, thanks Substack. I wouldn't have even thought of messing around otherwise..

📜 I Finished 2 manuscripts that I started writing 2 years ago. I'm gonna hop into revisions for them next year, but the fact that I finished them should definitely be celebrated.

📜 I wrote the first draft of my second fairy tale retelling during November. These were characters that I've had in my mind for a while, and it was a blast writing them down after introducing them in a short story earlier this year.

📜 I started writing a novella that I've popped into on and off during the year. I'm three chapters from the end, so I'm gonna work hard to get it done and use it as a simpler launchpad for my first time doing revisions, and finishing up the full process of releasing a book.

📜 I built up an author website after taking the plunge and purchasing said author website. I have things on the back end to finish up, but otherwise, it's done.

📜 On a whim, I published my Christmas short story on 11 Labs Reader publishing. So technically, that's my first self published work, which is strange because it's not the genre I usually write haha.

Writing these down really makes me see I've come a long way when it comes to treating my writing as a business. When I was just writing by myself, I knew I was going to self publish, but I wasn't treating it the way I'm treating it now. I was treating it seriously, but not like a business if that makes sense. This year I pushed my mindset into treating my writing as a business. Learning everything I can about writing, promotion, and social presence.

Here's to 2026 being as fruitful as 2025. I have two stories I want to have up by summer, and I'm going to push myself harder than I ever have before to get that done. Here's to a year filled with creativity, landmarks, and inspiration, hurrah!

***

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The way I want to format these trope talk posts is by talking about the general trope, why I like, or dislike it. Ways to use it effectively, and ways it's used uneffectively.. I read a book recently that handled the miscommunication trope…passably enough, so wanted to use it as an example we can bounce off of.

The miscommunication trope is most commonly found in romance. Picture this, our two main characters are slowly falling in love. The narrative progresses to the point where there's clearly a future both wish to pursue. But wait, oh nos! Someone has been hiding a deep, dark secret. That secret will destroy everything they've built if they let their love interest know.

So they should tell them about it and hash everything out, right? Ha! Please. You're thinking of a reasonable set of people. Instead of discussing anything more than surface level attraction, one, or both of our protagonists' deep, dark secrets need to come out at the most inconvenient of times. Let's say, before the battle to save the kingdom, or the meeting that will secure the contract that will save the company. That way, it looks logical enough to not talk about the chip on our shoulders, and no one will be the wiser when we never speak of it again, wee-hee-hee.

Why talk when we can storm off dramatically? Because that's what most miscommunication tropes endorse. Ignore our problems up to the point of no return, let the secret blow up in our faces. Instead of talking it through, a grand gesture is in order. There's maybe an apology, or a one-sided compromise. No responsibility is taken for the initial secret keeping. Because romance is built on talking as little as possible, I guess.

Miscommunication drives me batty every time, but the book I read recently erked me to the max. This story was a contemporary romance, and our two love interests were friendly throughout the entire story. The Male Love interest hid something from our Female Lead not, one, but two times. The first time his secret was revealed, she yelled at him. A logical reaction. The second time however…

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

The second secret was the plot thread that ran throughout the entire story, the one that was supposed to be the catalyst for said miscommunication. Instead of secret 1's reveal holding the most weight, it was this weaker one that got resolved instantly after it dropped. The book long dilemma was solved with some flowers, and some texting, probably some kissing too, but the book ended at the flowers. I guess we have to assume that they finally talked out their feelings after the kissing, but that's not very satisfactory when it's been a plot point that literally drove the conflict.

The miscommunication trope is so frustrating to me because it's such an easy fix. I don't even mind it being at the crux of a story, if it lends itself to the main character's arc. What really bothers me about it is how miscommunication is resolved. It's usually swept under the rug, easily forgiven, or a combination of the two.

“But Crystal, how would you fully utilize the miscommunication trope?”

I'm glad you asked fair reader. If it were me, I would try to utilize it with a lot of nuance and care.

In my experience, the act of hiding something isn't the biggest issue of the trope. The point where it usually gets bungled is the aftermath after the reveal. Usually, there's only surface level resolution, or surface level discussion. For the miscommunication trope to work, we need to dig deeper. Figuring out why our characters are doing what they did, and what they are using miscommunication to truly shield themselves from.

Our characters argue. I feel like that needs to happen for it to work. But they need to argue about things buried deep. Things that they know are the real reason they haven't been talking to each other honestly. It can be one-sided, or it can be both parties. But we need to see someone in the miscommunication conflict try to reach for the real reason they haven't been fully honest with each other. Otherwise, any resolution feels unsatisfying.

Our characters can storm off, but only after they've spoken to each other in some capacity. Then storming off is a reaction to something more raw. A way for them to process, and blow off steam. The next time they meet, they discuss things in earnest. Hashing out what really bothered them about the whole ordeal, and figuring out how they can move forward and not have this happen again. This doesn't mean it won't happen again, but at least our protagonists are on the same page, and don't want it to happen again. They're stronger after the whole miscommunicating conflict, and we as readers know it's a problem they still have to deal with.

Another way to go about it is making sure the lack of discussion comes from trauma, or fear. This way when the ice is broken, the secretive party can lash out defensively. Finally explaining why they did what they did, and the other character accepting that, but not excusing it. Telling them if they want to move forward they need to be more open, and not just forgiving when the one who miscommunicated finally faces the music.

There's so much more to say about the miscommunication trope, but I'm going to leave it there. Tell me, what have been your most irritating experiences with miscommunication, and what would you do to fix the issue?

I hope you enjoyed this trope talk. If you'd like to support me, you can do so by subscribing to this newsletter, or clicking that button below and buying me a nice cuppa coffee.

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I love storytelling.

It doesn't matter whether it's a book, a video game, a movie, or a TV show. I love storytelling in all its forms. Talking about what makes a good, or bad story. Breaking down themes, breaking down tropes and seeing what makes them tick.

I also love telling stories. Sharing yarns I've woven through poetry, songs, long and short form fiction. Using my imagination to spin tales filled with overcoming obstacles, finding your place in the world, discovering hope and choosing to embrace it to triumph over despair.

I share my stories on this Substack, and it felt like that was the only thing that I could share. You know, keeping your brand cohesive and all that. But after being on Substack for almost a year now, I realized that isn't enough for me anymore.

I want to talk about the craft of storytelling too. Break down tropes, talk about what makes a good, and bad scene. Dissect stories I love, or disliked, and figure out why they make me feel the things I feel when I finish them. Diving into analyzing different story telling mediums, and sharing my fantasy romance alongside it.

Creating New Sections

For that reason, I've created two sections, gasp! When I first joined Substack I was like, what's the point? But after being here a while, I totally get why they're so useful.

I want you guys to engage with content you subscribed to me for. If you want to read all of my posts, I am very grateful. I'm always floored with how many of you are reading my stories. Thank you so much for being a part of my community. But if you'd rather only get my Fiction posts, The Storytellers Yarns is for you. For my trope talks, storytelling breakdowns, writing progress and journey posts, I've created The Storytellers Lab.

You can subscribe to either, or both publications depending on what you're looking to read. And if I decide to add more content as my Substack journey progresses, another section will be added for that.

I understand everyone's time is valuable, so I wanted to make sure you had options for the content you wish to engage with. No matter how you decide to subscribe, or follow my work, I greatly appreciate your support. I'm not exaggerating when I say I wouldn't be in this phase ofmy journey without your support. Substack has bolstered my confidence in a way I couldn't imagine when I first joined it earlier this year.

Logo Reveal

I have a bad habit of holding myself back in creative endeavors. I wanted to break that habit with my writing, and Substack has helped me do that. I got a logo designed - thank you to Get Covers - to reflect this new shift in my mind set. So without further ado, here's the reveal.

Alt image description:: A tapestry with a braided, golden yellow border has the words “Crystal Dennis” in the same yellowish gold on the top line in all caps. Underneath it, “The Sightless Storyteller” is written in a cursive like font that looks like a signature. The tapestry has a faint scroll design as a weave, and is a deep, forest green color. The entire logo has a fabric looking feel.

It was very important to me to have my logo look tactile to represent the Sightless part of The Sightless Storyteller. Get Covers did a fantastic job with the vision I had for the design, and I'm so excited to have this as my logo moving forward.

I can't wait to start this new stretch of my journey. Honestly, it wouldn't be possible without Substack. Joining it has really helped me figure out what I want to do with my brand moving forward, and what I enjoy creating on a regular basis.

Princess of Dragon's Bane will still go up twice a month. The main thing changing is that I'll be posting trope talks, and story telling based posts on the off PODB weeks, along with the other types of posts I normally do on PODB's off weeks.

Once again, thank you so much for joining me on my writing journey. I've learned so much from engaging in the Substack community, and can't wait to learn more as my journey progresses.

If you like reading clean fantasy romance filled with well meaning, headstrong protagonists, then why not give my stories a try? My major work is a serialized tale inspired by Beauty and the Beast that you can check out below.

I've never mentioned it before, because I'm terrible at self promotion, but I also have a Ko-fi. If you like what I do, and want to support my work, you can buy me a nice cuppa by clicking the button below.

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Read Princess of Dragons Bane Here

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This made me want to go read something I knew I would enjoy. I'd gotten the audio book of The Last Unicorn a few months ago, and hadn't gotten around to reading it. I grew up watching the movie and adore it, so was like the book can't do me wrong, even though I've never read the author before.

I was blown away.

The characters, the storytelling, the pros. Everything about it made me love the movie even more, made me find layers of meaning both in its narrative, and in life. The themes of living life to the fullest and discovering the magic in both yourself and the world were far more prevalent than they were in the movie. While I like both, and I find extra meaning now that I can add the novel's deeper world building to the movie, I would have to say the book is a far more impactful experience. If you haven't read it, I can't recommend it more.

But reading it made me realize something about modern fantasy.

It doesn't hold a candle to the classics.

I started to think of why that would be, and it clicked so quickly it was staggering. A lot of modern fantasy is so hard pressed to push the darkness over the light. To tell us people are morally gray, and we need to accept that. We need to accept them. Grimdark or not, everyone has an agenda they want to push. That agenda usually has something to do with tolerance and acceptance, no matter what a person has said or done.

But pushing those messages without the core of morality is wrong. What of good versus evil, hope conquering despair. Walking in the shadows, only to have them shed at the end of a story arc. Because darkness does not define us. Darkness has no claim on our hearts.

The Last Unicorn shows us this through so many of the characters. It leans so hard on what is right, and what is wrong. It doesn't shy away from the harshness of the world, but also doesn't shy away from joy. Within the dark, there is always a light. There's always a Unicorn that will make you feel a joy you haven't felt in years. A Unicorn that will help you find yourself again, and banish the darkness.

I started reading indie fantasy because it sticks more to themes of morality that mankind wants to paint in grays. But there is no gray. Humanity can understand why someone does something, and still say it's the wrong thing to do. This world has turned into a world of “understanding”. That understanding has caused us to turn away from what is right, and what is wrong. Explaining away the bad. Saying morality can bend because someone out there can understand why someone did something..

It can't.

Humanity needs hard lines, as does our fantasy. Good versus evil, hope conquering despair. If humanity decides to shy away from absolutes, then we suffer. If humanity wants to glorify the darkness, then that's all we'll see.

The Last Unicorn understands this. It understands that there is good with the bad, hope with despair. Experiencing life, and not shying away from both its triumphs, and its hardships, is a magic all its own.

Draw a line in the sand. Know what is right and what is wrong. Use the guidelines that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ has given. Look to the Ten Commandments as your guide. Draw those same lines in your fantasy, and you will have a story that stands the test of time.

~*~*~

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I've finished a draft before, but finishing this one feels different. This story is what got me back into writing in the first place. I come up with stories in my head, and play them out when I have quiet time to myself. The story in question was one that I really enjoyed, and thought why not turn it into a novel? I'd used the same characters in different stories, but for some reason this one called to me, because they fit perfectly into it. So I thought why not dive into writing again by working on this story.

I was involved in making music at the time, but was put into a position where I didn't have a good setup for producing it. My creative brain was starting to implode, and since I've always loved writing, I figured I could get into that far easier than making music again. I had my phone, and Google Docs. All I needed was a bluetooth keyboard, and in February 2023 I was ready to go.

I went into writing original stories blind - pun not intended. But the last time I'd written an original was when I was 18, and you know how that goes. You write down a full on first draft, think it's amazing, then get discouraged when it's like ugh, not as good as you thought, whaaaat? Editing, multiple drafts, revisions, revamping a story that didn't work never crossed my mind back then. It's so funny to think of now.

Hopping to writing fanfiction, you'd think my brain would be like aha, so this is how it really works. But nope. Apparently my mind couldn't figure out fanfic writing helped as practice for original works, at least, not until 2023.

I didn't realize it at the time, but writing fanfiction really helped me develop my voice. Rereading old fics, I see echoes of my style that I still utilize today. They've only gotten stronger, now that I'm working on original works. I gotta say this is the first time in my life where I've actually started to learn about writing craft. And now 30 something year old me is like 18 year old me, why did you think any of that was ok?

I'm happy I went back to writing again. So happy I have two drafts that I get to go back and revise. Having two projects under my belt has gotten me thinking of what comes next however. I know I want to work on getting one of them - the stand alone fantasy - published by next year. The manuscript that is the first book in a series is a little more tricky. As much as I said I was going to publish book 1 and then write book 2, I'm debating whether it would be worth getting everything in order for book 1, having it sit around and wait for books 2 and 3 to be done, and then release them all a month apart or something. Lots to consider, and I'll probably have a concrete answer when I'm done revising the draft.

One thing I'm certain of is that I want to stop putting off making a website. I kept on using the excuse of you have no drafts done, …but I don't think I can use that anymore, not with projects completed, and short stories floating around the internet. I understand better why it's so important to have your own personal hub. Because as much as I enjoy Substack, I really want my own space to go along with this one.

Of course Princess of Dragons Bane will still go up bi-weekly, but I'm debating whether or not to post some different style content over here. Things like trope talks, blindness based articles and the like. I'll probably try posting some over here and see how I enjoy writing them. I used to write articles like that on another blog, and kind of miss writing those sorts of articles now.

But yeah, so excited to have two, two drafts of two stories done!!! That means I have over 200,000 words to tinker with. I'm so excited to read my books from the lens of a reader, then take notes and see what needs fixing. Still a little nervous about finding beta readers, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

This post is a little all over the place, but if I've learned anything, I'm definitely more of a stream of consciousness writer that goes in and fixes chapters later. I'm gonna take a break, enjoy reading some books, and decide which manuscript I want to chunk into first, woo!

~*~*~

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I live off grid, and live a slow living life. I lived this way before I went off grid, and it did wonders for my mental health. Jumping back into writing over the past few years however, I've noticed a rather concerning trend. Churn out a book quickly, so you can jump onto the next project, and the next, and the next. Because our brains can't rest, our brains can't process. No matter how much we want them to.

If a fast paced writing style is enjoyable to you, that's different. That's just your style, like slower writing is mine. It's the pressure, the stress to post things quickly, or else you're losing out on some phantom audience you may not even have yet that gets to me. An audience will come in its own time, no matter how fast or slow you publish your work.

I need to write slow, I need to enjoy the process to learn and grow. Two years have passed, and I've finished one manuscript. Ironically, the second project I've started. The first manuscript is nearing its conclusion as we speak. And, in its defense, it's the first book in a duology or trilogy (I haven't decided which yet) so that took more plotting, more rewrites.

I know with the stand-alone finished manuscript, I'm going to have to rewrite chunks of the beginning like I did with the start of my series already. Why? Because as the months have gone by, I've become a better writer. I've discovered my voice. I found a community on Substack that pushes me to write in different genres, different styles. I've experimented with short stories, with dribbles, and I feel through all of those things I've gone back to my works in progress with something new to add, a more developed voice. If I had powered through and posted my very first draft of any of my stories, I would have wound up with a product I wasn't happy with, and would have pulled down anyway.

Because I did.

When Kindlevella was a thing, I thought it would be a good idea to post chapters as I went. A sort of motivation tactic. So the first, or close to first, draft of my series’ first book was going up week to week. No one was reading it mind you, but I thought it would help me with writing it.

What it really did was make me get stressed. Kindlevella's setup leaned way too hard in posting swiftly, ignoring quality control. In the end, I abandoned posting over there. Opting to completely rewrite the beginning anyway, because I thought it was cringe. I was glad when Kindlevella said it would remove the stories when it shut down, because it was a version of the story I wasn't proud of any longer.

The draft I have, and am currently working on is drastically different. And while it also hasn't been read by anyone, it isn't because no one is reading it on a platform on the internet I've posted it on. It's because it isn't finished, and isn't sharable yet. And when it is finished, I want to take it slow and get everything not perfect, but as polished as it's going to get before I release it out into the world.

I could have saved myself a lot of stress by realizing I'm a slower paced writer. I don't want to pop out a book every one, two or three months. That process isn't satisfying to me. I don't feel I can learn my craft that way. I enjoy taking long breaks, marinating the plot in my brain when I can't figure out what needs to come next. And if I really can't figure out what comes next, I enjoy making a bullet list of what has happened in the story thus far, and what needs to happen as a result.

I also love when after all of that planning my characters throw me for a loop and decide they want the story to go a different way. I was going to say I'm looking at you Maeve, but all of my female leads have thrown themselves into a tight spot in one way or another.

And that's the fun of slow writing. I get to grow, rest, and spend much needed time with my characters. Now the downside of this is I have a hard time letting go of my besties, but I tell myself they technically aren't out in the world yet, so I don't have to say goodbye anytime soon. I do have to do revisions and editing passes after all.

On that note, I've had to tell myself to slow down when it comes to wanting to push my stories out there. I've set the goal to have ___ published at ___ time and failed to meet it time and time again. so this year I've just told myself to take it slow. Edit the stories I need to edit, release them when they're ready to be released. If that pushes when I would have liked to release them back a few months to a year, that's alright. I'd rather take it slow and have a product I'm proud of, and I know I've done my best.

I don't like rushing out one story, then the next, then the next. I like growing with my stories gradually and applying what I've learned to the same manuscript. I like enjoying the process for what it is in all of it's fun, it's mess, it's discoveries. If that means it takes me longer to self publish, that's fine. I'm here for the long haul, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of the process.

~*~*~

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Why five things? Because five is a nice number, and lists make it easier to condense my mishmosh of thoughts into something digestible.

I've thoroughly enjoyed my little writing project of finding a prompt and writing 50 word micro fiction. I've bounced between AI generated prompts, to using a writing prompt app on my phone. Personally, I prefer the AI generated prompts, mainly because of the customizable aspect of generation. I tell it “Give me a prompt about a griffin” and it comes up with things I can mess with until one prompt speaks to me. If you ever are stumped and want to write something with a prompt, I'd suggest giving this method a go.

Now without further ado, my list of learned things.

Writing dribbles really help with concise consistency. It's a fun game, adding and subtracting words until you hit your mark. Sometimes it goes super smoothly. Sometimes, you've run too long or two short. Sometimes you need to change up entire sentences that in turn changes the entire theme of your dribble. But it all helps your imagination grow. It all helps your writing muscle flex. It's tons of fun, especially if you're a gamer.

Don't be afraid to post something you don't like. Because more than likely, someone else will like it. There was one I posted - I can't remember which one at this point - was so bad, I almost didn't hit publish. I remember seeing a lot of likes on that post and being like “hrmm, I guess they're seeing something I'm not”. It's helped me be far less critical about my writing, and far more comfortable with publishing things that I don't view as perfect. To the point where when I have enough dribbles, I am seriously thinking about publishing them into a collection.

Don't be afraid to experiment. The dribbles have made me want to look into writing longer short stories, 1000 to 1500 word flash fiction. I used to write these easily back in my fan fiction days, but originals tend to make my head hit a brick wall. Just going with the flow and writing something short has shown me I don't need to be afraid to play. A story will come at its own time, and at its own length. I just need to be open to mining for it sometimes.

some things can be strictly scheduled. Others should happen when the mood strikes. I write dribbles when I feel like it, and it really helps clear out my creative cobwebs so to speak.

Writing prompts are your friend. I don't really like using them for long form stuff, it just isn't my style. But for micro and flash fiction, they help tons because I usually don't have a good idea for something short. I still mine for an idea through the prompts, but having a sea of ideas to launch off of super help. Use them however you see fit, and don't feel pressured to use them the way you don't want to.

Conclusion

It’s tons of fun coming up with a short, zippy story. They've helped me figure out more of my style, helped me with writing more sensory forward descriptions, and helped me with getting those oh so important vibes front and center. If you write this style of fiction, feel free to talk about your experiences in the comments. Let's learn together!

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For the record, I'm not diving into the implications of AI when it comes to creativity debate. But if you want a quick run down of my stance on AI, it's a tool you should use however you are comfortable using it. I'm blind, so I probably use it more than most people. The share screen and video casting features help a lot with identifying things, and I have had success using it to read a manga, which was never possible with software in the past.

writing wise, I use it for brainstorming, research, and idea farming. I plotted out the majority of Princess of Dragons Bane initial outline by bouncing back and forth with Gemini. That being said, Gemini only got the bare bones of an idea to sprout. I haven't gone back to it since for anything plot related with the story, but it was a great springboard for pushing a fledgling idea forward.

My ideas usually start as one sentence. Something along the lines of “What if Beauty wanted to hunt the Beast?”. Without Gemini as a conversation partner of sorts, that was where Princess of Dragons Bane would have stayed. Where I think AI shines is being able to get your brain past self imposed road blocks, and responding to your ideas and furthering that idea until it's something cohesive enough for you to stop speaking with it.

How did this method work when using Gemini as a critique partner? Pretty well. The main things I enjoyed when putting full chapters into it was that it gave constructive criticism, and could use your writing as examples when trying to show you how to improve. For instance, when it said I was telling too much and I asked what it meant, it pulled the specific point it was talking about and rewrote what it had in mind to show me a version that showed, didn't tell.

Did I like that sample? Honestly, not at all. Gemini is really hammy when it starts to write something, leaning hard into the tropes of the genre. but if you want help really picking a part of a concept you've had issues with grasping, seeing it through the lens of your own work really is an asset.

My major issue with AI as a critique partner was that it began to get repetitive after about a week of using it. So many times I would get “show, don't tell”. and while that is a valid criticism, I personally do not want to be showing, not telling 100% of the time. Gemini acts like that's the only way you should be writing, and I have a feeling that's based on the structure of writing it's curated through its database.

Gemini also doesn't take writing style into account unless you give it context. If it had an issue with something and I was like “But it's this way for this reason” it was like “Oh, ok, nevermind then”. A human critique partner would have some pushback. You would have a discussion about why you think it works, why they think it doesn't, and talk about whether it's a big enough issue to change if you're really married to the idea. Gemini doesn't have that capability, simply because…it isn't human. Something I think is very important to realize moving forward with AI.

What are my final thoughts? honestly, about the same as they were when I started this experiment. One thing I will say is I felt like running my work constantly through the AI, while useful at first, was making me question if I was really improving, or if I was just listening to Gemini. In the end, I realized my instincts were still sound and Gemini did help with fine tuning some things I wouldn't have caught. But I would have preferred to not deal with that little bout of existential imposter syndrome, no matter how short lived.

If you need help with something and are alone, AI is great. Buuuut I would say you really need to be confident in your voice and style before using it, otherwise it can lead you to write in a very extremist, mechanical way. It leans towards the structure of writing more than voice and style. Useful at times, but stifling if you follow it to the letter.

AI is a tool as I stated earlier. Use it like you would use any tool, like a thesaurus, or writing craft book. At a certain point,you should evolve past certain advice. Your writing should be improving. If you find any AI is stunting that growth, then stop using it for a while.

If you need basic help or just want to run a chapter past a virtual pair of eyes and can be objective with Gemini's advice, go for it. But if using it makes you question things, then maybe don't

Note: I used Gemini because it's what I have the easiest access to. I've used Met AI in the past and didn't like how vague it was with its critiques. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has tried this with Chat GBT, or any other AI programs out there.

~*~*~

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Anyway, hope you enjoy this old glimpse into my writing journey. Now without further ado, here we go.

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Some characters don’t fit certain stories. I learned that in my first draft of The Element of Rebellion. I had a pair of mercenaries in draft 1, that a side character ran into during a subplot. My initial plan was to have them form a trio, and figure out some plot points to bring back to the main characters at storis end, and that would set up for book 2.

When I wrote that plot however, I don’t know, something just didn’t fit right. I’d gotten all the way into writing draft 1 of book 2 when I realized I needed to revamp the entire story and start completely fresh, because the mercenaries just didn’t contribute to the story in the way I wanted them to.

Another side character was married in draft 1. The reason? Really, just because when I played out this story in my head, he was married. But even then, his wife didn’t contribute anything to the story, and it made me realize that even though she was a character that was near and dear to my heart, she didn’t belong in The Element of Rebellion.

The female mercenary I thought was a good character. Her backstory was in direct conflict with the side characters, and when I wrote them both interacting in draft 1, there was just such a chemistry between them that I liked. The male mercenary was supposed to be her love interest, but he was this stoic, brooding type that didn’t fit her quiet optimism. The supporting character however, his differences fit hers well. He used shadow magic, she fought shadow magic. He had an issue with the female MC because of her power, and the mercenary was going to have an issue with him because of his. The dynamic of the two was just such a good foil to the overall plot, that I got rid of their two love interests so I could smash them together, and make them the secondary romance for the story.

What happened to the male mercenary? Well, he got shuffled over to A Bard’s Ambition. Originally, the male lead in that was drastically different. But when writing draft 1, I didn’t like how he meshed with Eve, my female lead. The story has changed very, very drastically since then, but shifting the male mercenary character into Eve’s main love interest not only worked so well, but it gave Eve more of a characterization I didn’t expect. She needed to have a bit more grit to her if she was going to be dealing with this version of her love interest, and so far I really like how it’s coming out.

But, I would have never figured that out if I wasn’t willing to move around characters I thought fit in one story, to another.

And who knows, maybe the wife character will pop up in another story later down the line. I like having the freedom of shifting around characters like this until they slot into the right story. I have so many characters I’ve used in stories I’ve created in my head throughout the years, we’ll see how many of them get brought to life on the page.

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I tried writing the entire manuscript on one document. When I went to edit it, I got overwhelmed. It didn't help that my document lagged - I've upgraded hardware since then, so that's no longer an issue - but all in all just thinking about tackling a 100,000 word manuscript on one doc was so stressful I never wanted to try.

I came from the background of writing fanfiction on fanfiction.net. In order to upload story chapters, you need to have each chapter on a separate word document. I thought to myself, “I attempted the way everyone else said to do it, why not go back to this.” because not only did it stress out my phone less, but it helped my brain look at things differently. I'm huge on compartmentalizing my life so things are less stressful in general. So applying this method to my drafting should have been a no brainer.

Next is how I work on each chapter. Unpopular opinion, but I edit as I go. Once again, because the thought of editing an entire thing at once freaks me out. But also because I got a writing tip from a script writer who said they work that way, and it helps them because you have to edit less later on your second pass. Reading what I have after finishing draft 2, I already see it will take less work to get the story where I want it to be. And that in itself takes a huge load off my mind.

I may have to add and subtract chapters and scenes. Fix up my writing in the early chapters, simply because I've been writing this draft over a few years, and my writing has improved. But I'm far more comfortable tackling one chapter at a time, and working on it until it's as good as it's going to get before moving on with the rest of the story. This makes each chapter take anywhere between three days to seven days. But my end product is heavily rooted in my story themes with the characters not out of character, and that allows me to not feel like I need to do major lifting later because I took the time to flesh out each chapter as much as I could in the first pass.

This method isn't quick by any stretch of the imagination. I've been bouncing between projects, but finishing one draft of one project has taken about a year. I'm totally fine with this. Some perfectionist urges will never fade. But it's the opposite of, say, fast drafting. If I get stuck, I take the time to make a bullet list and write out the story thus far, plus what needs to happen next. That gets me unstuck, and motivated to move forward.

I'm half pantser, half plotter. Once again, this works for me when my brain gets overloaded and I just need to write everything out. The slow pace matches my slow living lifestyle. I'm alright with implementing it for an end product that I know I will be proud of, even if it isn't perfect.

Now keep in mind, I'm not using this method on a dump draft. I use this when I have some degree of a concrete outline. I still treat dump drafts as a place to hurl all of my initial ideas, then bullet list an outline before moving on to the for realsies draft. But for the draft I plan to sink my teeth into, I do all of these things. Totally compartmentalized, slow paced, and stress free…as much as possible, at least.

I would love to hear about your drafting process in the comments below. And once again, I hope this helps anyone who may be trying more traditional ways of drafting but are hitting a brick wall. Because of my disability, I always have to find alternative ways to do things. This way is how I found to comfortably write in an accessible way.

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Songbird and Samba have only gone through 2 drafts. My NaNoWriMo challenge, and the draft I'm working on right now. Because of how I write however, this draft is like a lot of drafts if that makes sense. I edit each chapter as I go, so each chapter has already gone through about 3 or 4 drafts before I've moved on to the next one. It's probably why I take longer to write a book, but I find this works much better for me than leaving the entire book to revise so thoroughly at once. Attempting that process makes my mind shut down, so I need to compartmentalize hardcore to keep my productivity.

Enter Adam. In the very first outline, he wasn't a mercenary Prince. He was going to be a performer that worked at the same tavern as Eve. An admirer from afar who kind of just..followed her around. The initial draft of the story also had Eve losing her ticket to the capital and having to join the travelling caravan. Adam was going to follow her there for…reasons. I can't even remember them anymore.

As you see, that version of both the story, and Adam were too nebulus to keep around for long. It felt far too passive. Those things were just…happening to the characters for the sake of moving the plot forward. Eve is also this headstrong, stubborn, force of nature. Whereas that version of Adam was just like I care about you but I won't get in your way. It just didn't make sense for her to fall in love with him, other than once again, reasons.

I remembered bouncing around the idea of making Adam a mercenary before I started writing. I thought it would be a bit too much, but once I needed to rewrite Adam, I decided to give that a go. He's still a Prince in hiding, but his personality got a major overhaul. He still hangs out around the tavern Eve performs in, but he's much more emotionally distant. Winds up picking fights with her because that's easier than sharing his real feelings. Those arguments turn into heated debates over the years, then fade into mutual dislike (spoilers, more mutual like) and that's where our characters are at the start of the story.

That shift in his character leveled the playing field so to speak. And in this draft of the story, Eve and Adam feel like two people who are into each other, but both don't know how to share their feelings. It also holds more weight when he finally reveals his feelings and learns to communicate not only with Eve, but with his family. That sort of character growth simply wasn't present with the original version of Adam.

This Adam is far less open. He'd rather pick a fight with Eve and look after her from the shadows. This change gave me enough leeway to build both him and Eve into more developed characters. I know in revisions, I may have to flesh out their dynamic a bit more, but this is a far better foundation than the floppy Adam of draft one.

Adam has a subplot in this version of the story, having to deal more with the possibility of the coup, his familial issues. This gave Eve space to deal with the performance side of things. And now I'm at the point of their plots converging, and both of them being able to learn from each other.

For me, it's always important to have every main or main supporting character be able to stand on their own two feet. If I can't have the possibility of writing a scene, or a chapter from their point of view, then I reconsider why they are sticking around as a central part of the story. The first version of Adam made me consider whether it was worth giving Eve a love interest in the first place. This version of Adam, I enjoy when we get an interlude into his mind and subplot.

I'd like to leave this post with a bit of advice. don't be afraid to reevaluate the presence of some characters. If you need to retool them, remove them, or add new character traits, don't be afraid to take that risk. It's a pain to rework things sometimes, but it's worth it if in the end your story is what you originally envisioned.

~*~*~

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The piece of advice that helped me the most was formatting the story with a three or five act structure. I wound up doing a three act structure, and having a clear beginning, middle and end helped me keep things concise. I was still flexible with plot points changing, but knowing the general structure of where I wanted the story to go really kept me focused on keeping things short.

Have fleshed out characters. This story is a prequel to a story I'll be writing in the future, so I already had the character work in place. I'm currently working on plotting out another short that doesn't have that however, and the difference in narrative flow is staggering. I know I'll have to make a basic outline for the major players in my next story, because a short focuses on a very narrow point you need to make sure your characters shine.

On the flipside, make sure your theming is stable. That can change throughout your drafting, but you need to have a basic understanding of the theme you want to get across. World building for me is more on the back burner, but still important. The nature of short stories takes place in one or two settings, so I treat the world more like a scene in a stage play.

Don't be afraid to treat the short like you're writing your novel. I wrote The Misty Maiden over a week, treating each section like its own chapter. Trying to write a short of that length would have been really overwhelming if I tried to do it in my usual daily session, so chunking it into scenes over a few days for me was the best way to go. Of course this may not be necessary with a shorter work, but for something 3000 words or more I'd say break up your writing sessions.

Just like the theme, knowing your plot is important. This also links back to the three act structure, but for me plot is more flexible than character beats.

And of course, have fun. If an idea isn't working, maybe put it on the shelf for later. don't stress, don't strain your brain. I find if the story isn't flowing, then you shouldn't be writing it at that point in time.

Conclusion

I know this information is nothing new, , but I wanted to share how I went about writing a short in case anyone else was starting out with this format and wanted some guidance. I know I wouldn't have tried to write a short without help from other writers. I've noticed writing a short story has also helped my writing for my works in progress. So whether you want to write a 2000 word short or a 10000 word short, I'd say give it a go. You never know where playing around with pros can take you.

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Read The Misty Maiden Here

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The first draft of Songbird and Samba started out as a NaNoWriMo project in 2023 (RIP.). At that time it was called A Bard's Ambition. Because Eve was going to be the central character, and it was going to be more focused on her journey and her romance. A lot of the same plot beats were still happening up to that point - Eve was going to join a travelling caravan that was super competitive and cut throat. It was going to be at the center of a kingdom wide conspiracy. But I needed a certain thing to happen to Eve on a more personal level, and this is where Julia came in.

In draft 1, Julia started as the antagonist to Eve's story. Eve was going to audition for the caravan, Julia spiked her drink with something that wrecked her throat, cementing Miss Samba as an enemy.

After Eve fights through the audition, she gets a spot on the Lark. Julia felt bad about what she had done, became her friend, and the two formed the performance duo that is in the current draft of the story.

Julia fascinated me from the start. What would make her go to such an extreme length with Eve? My brain instantly came up with a noblewoman fallen from grace. The caravan is her only source of security, and she was a dancer that had no other options. Because the head of the caravan blackmailed her to spike her drink, or else she'd be thrown off the caravan. So it was easy to mold that motivation into a fully fleshed out character who could stand on the same level as Eve.

A lot of what I came up with on draft 1 got canned for the current version of Miss Samba. She still has the nobility backstory, but instead she dreams of dancing on the caravan because her Mother used to be a dancer there. She meets up with an old friend, and he convinces her to audition in the first few chapters. Eve then gets thrown on the caravan, and they meet on far more friendlier terms.

Julia was just so charismatic as soon as she hit the page. I wanted to get to know her. Discover what type of backstory this character would have. Now, she's a dancer who has to fight to take risks, eventually does so because of her relationship with Eve, and they both grow because of it.

One of the biggest things I struggled with on my first draft was Eve needing someone to bounce off of. After I wrote Julia as her performance partner, everything started to click. I remember when I started writing draft 2 I was so excited to have both of them meet. But I needed to flesh out both of their backstories before they met, so when they did meet each other there was a weight to why they wanted to become friends.

I think it's so rare to find fiction that focuses on a pair of female friends. Usually, there's a female main character with a supporting BFF. But in Songbird and Samba, it was important to me to show that they are both main characters in their own right so their friendship can shine when they're together, but they could also move the plot forward by themselves when need be.

There are chapters from both Eve and Julia's perspectives in Songbird and Samba. Both of them have their own love interests, and their own hardships to face throughout the story while also dealing with handling their friendship as it evolves over the course of the book.

It's my hope that people will identify with Julia or Eve in some way. Both characters are vastly different, but find common ground through their love of the arts. Their friendship is tested, their beliefs are tested, but in the end they come through because they've created a support group and also have each other to rely on.

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I wanted to introduce another one of my projects today. It's a stand alone novel I've been working on for the past few years, and I'm excitedly chipping away at the last few chapters of my second draft. I want to share character profiles, behind the scenes posts, and other goodies about the novel. But that wouldn't make much sense unless you guys knew what it was about, so let me introduce you all to Songbird and Samba.

Synopses:

Her entire life, Eve Cappella has longed to go to the capital city of lute to pursue her dream of becoming one of the King's star singers. Now that she's saved enough money, that's exactly what she's going to do. But when she gets involved with a bothersome mercenary, and an even more bothersome kingdom wide conspiracy, Eve has to decide what lengths she's willing to go to for fame.

Julia Samba knows what it's like to survive. Having fallen from grace as a noblewoman, she's barely gotten by on the charity of others. But when a chance meeting with an old friend pushes her to audition for the kingdom's premier caravan, her life begins to shift in ways she could never imagine.

When the two of them meet, they realize they can reach their goals far easier together. But when the caravan they perform on turns out to be involved in the very coup they were trying to avoid, it's up to Julia and Eve to stop it before it spreads throughout the entire kingdom.

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I started this story with a very basic theme. What lengths would someone go to for the sake of following their dreams? Both Eve and Julia wrestle with that concept throughout the story, realizing that maybe what they thought they wanted wasn't as perfect as they imagined it would be.

The world of Lute is very much a cozy, travel based fantasy. The world has no magic. It's purely based on the performing arts with major medieval vibes. Character interactions, and political drama are Songbird and Samba's bread and butter. So I hope you enjoy hearing about the behind the scenes of the story as I slowly work towards its release.

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