The line edits are done! I’m working on a cover! As my Christmas gift to you, I’ll do a Cover Reveal on Friday the 24th, so stop back then!
Sorry for the exclamation points. I’m very excited.
Tag: writing
Journey to the Water Interlude One: Citadel Gate
“I’ve remembered my name,” Khalim said. “Will you help me?”
The moon-faced owl preened the crook of one wing with its beak. “And why should I do that, little one?”
Khalim walked to the base of the arch on which the owl perched, beside the stair that led to the temple he could never open. “Why do you call me that? I’m larger than you.”
“Is that what you see?”
He nodded. He was half as tall as the arch, and though the owl’s wings were broad, he guessed he could hold its body in his arms.
The owl lowered its wing and studied him with one eye. “Interesting. And what do you look like?”
It was a strange question, seeing as the owl was looking him in the face, but Khalim would play along. The last thing he wished to do was offend the only being he had seen in such a long time—perhaps forever. He wasn’t sure. He looked down at his hands.
For a brief flash, he saw what he expected to see—brown skin, calluses, the frayed hem of a sleeve. Then his flesh turned to white marble, with two black veins twining up each of his wrists. His clothing became ridges of stone, exquisitely carved of the same material that formed the walls of the citadel.
Continue reading “Journey to the Water Interlude One: Citadel Gate”Journey to the Water Chapter V: The Emerald Sea
I was a day out of Banwa town, and I had yet to see another soul on the muddy road beside the river. It likely would not have made a difference—Bran was a steppe horse, an exceedingly rare sight this far south. Any other traveler would have been just as much at a loss as I.
I took him down the riverbank and into the snow-fed water, letting it cool his legs and his belly. He rallied after a few minutes, and we continued on our way, but after an hour he slowed again, panting.
Aysulu would have known what to do. But she was half a world away, and I had not seen her in more than a year, since I had left Phyreios. Bran had been her last gift to me. I considered, briefly, leaving him, or selling him in the hopes that he would find his way into the hands of someone who could better care for him, but as soon as the thought came to me, I pushed it aside. He deserved better, as did Aysulu’s friendship, and I feared he was the only thing keeping me from the madness of solitude as I traveled alone in this strange land.
Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter V: The Emerald Sea”NaNo Update: Calling It Here
Hello, friends. As predicted, the booster shot has hit me like a small-to-medium tractor, and my whole body hurts and my brain is mush.
I am about halfway through Chapter XXIV of Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea, with a total of 76,832 words. The draft has grown more than I anticipated! The original version of this book, published on this blog between 2019 and 2020, was 77,707 words. With three and a half chapters left, I’m guessing this new version will be well over the expected 80k.
I expect I’ll be back at it tomorrow–my second Covid shot back in April put me down for about 24 hours–and I hope to have this draft done by the end of the week. Then comes final revisions, researching ebook and print-on-demand platforms, formatting, and uploading!
I will keep you posted!
Also, check back tomorrow for the latest chapter of Journey to the Water.
I appreciate you!
NaNo Update: The Home Stretch
12,000 words (of an estimated 80k) and 3 days to go! If you’re curious, I’m a little ways in to rewriting Interlude Four of Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea.
I’ll be on Twitch tonight streaming Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice if you want to come hang out with me.
Journey to the Water Chapter IV: The Hills of Maagay
A single lantern flared to life atop the fort wall, and I could just make out a quiet conversation of alarm above the whispering of the wind in the trees. Dark shapes of men moved about on the battlements.
I approached, my axe on my shoulder and my other hand free and held up in what I hoped was a gesture of peace. “My name is Eske,” I shouted in the tongue of the Dragon Temple. Some of the men in the town could understand me, and if I was right, some of these men would, as well. “I want to speak to your leader.”
Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter IV: The Hills of Maagay”Journey to the Water Chapter III: Banwa Province
My axe came down on the first guard’s head. His helmet caved in over his face and he stumbled backward with a curse I could not understand. The others pressed in around me, fencing me in with their spears. A flash to my left caught my eye, and I stepped back, fearing a deadly point.
It was only the shaft of a spear darting toward me. It glanced harmlessly off my shoulder. They still intended to bring me in alive.
Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter III: Banwa Province”Directory
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Continue reading “Directory”Journey to the Water Chapter II: The Road South
The dragon sent me south, to the Isles of Ashinya. There, I was to speak with the elders, who kept an artifact they called the Dreaming Eye in a temple on the largest island. With their help, I might be able to use it, and it would open the way to the other world that I sought. I was unsure exactly how it worked, but I trusted the word of the dragon.
“You cannot travel as I do,” she said. “You are human, and you will require human guidance. Pay your obeisance to the wise women of Ashinya, and they will help you.”
Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter II: The Road South”Journey to the Water Chapter I: The Dragon Temple
Phyreios was in ruins. A gaping black maw lay open at the base of the mountain, where the worm had gone back from whence it came, into the bowels of the earth. Under the clear autumn sky, a miasma of smoke and dust hovered over the rubble. The survivors were few, and they had nothing but what they were able to carry, but they lived, and they would rebuild. A god walked among them, and he would lead them to a golden age of peace and prosperity—a god who wore the face of my beloved.
Continue reading “Journey to the Water Chapter I: The Dragon Temple”
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