Hendo Writes

Thanks for tagging me @oh-no-another-idea!

I'll leave it open tag! New words are: front, force, flight, fright, and flee!

Hullo! Good to see you back! Hope you've been keeping well. I've missed seeing Kiris' antics on my dash

STEAMPUNK DRAGONS!!!

It's a passion project that I've been working on for coming up two years now. One of those that grabbed me by the throat and possessed me until I wrote 60k inside a month and it felt less than 20k. I love this story to pieces and I do not have a neat summary prepared. So this may become an essay. You have been warned

Basically: low to mid steampunk setting, kind of alternate Victorian era Britain. A subset of machines have been invented which can pilot themselves, from navigation to imprinting on their owner and following them around; all they need is fuel and maintenance. What this self-piloting machinery cannot do under any circumstances, is fly.

There are plenty of normal machines that can fly, airships and blimps and all that fun stuff, but they all have to be piloted by a crew of humans. The self-piloting machines just cannot do it. Sometimes they crash, most often they never get off the ground.

And then there's the dragons. They were made in Ireland under extreme secrecy, but they malfunctioned during a test flight and casually flew all the way over to Britain completely unaided and unmanned. They defy the laws of physics, they undermine the worldwide understanding of mechanics, and quite simply should not exist. But they do!

And Ireland wants them back. So, Britain doesn't want to let go of these groundbreaking machines without explanation, but also doesn't want to piss off its nearest ally, and Ireland needs to play nice or they'll never get the dragons back before word of them gets out, but neither side is above fighting over them if it comes to that.

And then there's Edwin. My darling Edwin. A mechanic who specialises in the self-piloting machinery, and who cares for nothing more than protecting those closest to him.

Which brings me to Finlay, one of Edwin's closest friends, who happened upon the dragons and unknowingly kept them hidden for two months.

Are you seeing the horrors yet because I love the horrors a lot

I feel that bears the caps. Just about every time, no less.

Also holy shit 60k in a month? You accidentally NaNo'd over there! That's insane. Admittedly: STEAMPUNK DRAGONS and yes I very much can see the horrors propelling a good 60k month.

Hullo! Good to see you back! Hope you've been keeping well. I've missed seeing Kiris' antics on my dash

STEAMPUNK DRAGONS!!!

It's a passion project that I've been working on for coming up two years now. One of those that grabbed me by the throat and possessed me until I wrote 60k inside a month and it felt less than 20k. I love this story to pieces and I do not have a neat summary prepared. So this may become an essay. You have been warned

Basically: low to mid steampunk setting, kind of alternate Victorian era Britain. A subset of machines have been invented which can pilot themselves, from navigation to imprinting on their owner and following them around; all they need is fuel and maintenance. What this self-piloting machinery cannot do under any circumstances, is fly.

There are plenty of normal machines that can fly, airships and blimps and all that fun stuff, but they all have to be piloted by a crew of humans. The self-piloting machines just cannot do it. Sometimes they crash, most often they never get off the ground.

And then there's the dragons. They were made in Ireland under extreme secrecy, but they malfunctioned during a test flight and casually flew all the way over to Britain completely unaided and unmanned. They defy the laws of physics, they undermine the worldwide understanding of mechanics, and quite simply should not exist. But they do!

And Ireland wants them back. So, Britain doesn't want to let go of these groundbreaking machines without explanation, but also doesn't want to piss off its nearest ally, and Ireland needs to play nice or they'll never get the dragons back before word of them gets out, but neither side is above fighting over them if it comes to that.

And then there's Edwin. My darling Edwin. A mechanic who specialises in the self-piloting machinery, and who cares for nothing more than protecting those closest to him.

Which brings me to Finlay, one of Edwin's closest friends, who happened upon the dragons and unknowingly kept them hidden for two months.

Are you seeing the horrors yet because I love the horrors a lot

I feel that bears the caps. Just about every time, no less.

Also holy shit 60k in a month? You accidentally NaNo'd over there! That's insane. Admittedly: STEAMPUNK DRAGONS and yes I very much can see the horrors propelling a good 60k month.

Thanks for tagging me @oh-no-another-idea and @astoldbybillie!

Finlay looked out at the rain still hammering down outside. 'Is that why you're here?' he asked at length. 'Couldn't you sleep?' Edwin followed his gaze. 'No,' he said softly. 'I couldn't.' 'Well, you're welcome in the tent any time,' Finlay joked, uneasy with the sudden quietness of him. 'The door's always open. Or it would be, if I had one.'

I'll leave it open tag!

No one asked for this. But!

Drumroll~ my slain words by year:

2021: 67,597

2022: 31,745

2023: 118,943

2024: 92,264

2025: 62,462

2026 (so far): 8,202

Heyo, been a bit since I updated anything!

Call me Hendo. She/her. I write mostly fantasy and sci-fi, with the occasional horror short story.

Happy to beta read/critique swap most things. Don't be afraid to message about something. In particular, if you've got a flying scene you need eyes on, I'm a pilot--I might be able to help.

Here's what I've got going on. Might do proper WIP introductions if there's interest. Questions, tags, and ask games are welcome!

WIPs

Seed - sci-fi - 12k/55k?

Think Flowers for Algernon meets Mickey 7. Mayfly clones with a research grant.

The first draft for this thing is, for some reason, turning out to be mostly dialogue, which is a bit odd and going to be an absolute PITA to edit up later.

Molly's Maple Mill - cozy fantasy - 35k/70k

"The trouble with semi-sentient maple trees wasn't that they were sentient, but that they weren't sentient enough."

Small town vibes, MC must figure out how to stop her sugar grove from migrating before the next tapping season. Lots of small magic and random things becoming semi sentient/sentient, including Rock, the MC's pet rock.

Tyrant for Sale/Tombspell - high fantasy - 6k/120k

Book 2 in Prince for Hire/Wordbound.

The end goal for Prince was for Kiris to willingly accept a hug; the end goal for this is for Kiris to realize he can give them, too. Also, gotta overthrow a tyrant.

On the Habitats of Gods - academia/high fantasy - 25k/???k (too long)

Think Pokemon's Pokopia meets Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries

In the same universe as Prince/Tyrant, set about 6 months prior. The MC is a student sorcerer working towards her house scholar degree, but in order to pass her alchemy practical, she must complete an independent study. She chooses to research the difference between ingredients unwillingly and willingly given--which is to say, she needs to figure out how to attract gods, and quickly. It's a good thing the cute inquisitor-select student is being forced to help her out.

Untitled - YA fantasy - 3k/70k?

Mermaid flying fish dragon shifters + balls/debutante season.

This thing's mostly concept art right now, I'll be honest.

Completed

Reverberate - military space opera - 105k

Some Desperate Glory + The Vorkosigan Saga

Status: shelved, but realizing there's some spots for edits, so poking at it in my spare time.

Wordbound (formerly: Prince for Hire) - high fantasy - 112k

"When a fugitive god-king whose involuntary prophecies create reality foresees the death of his adoptive parent, he infiltrates an empire’s hostage court to undo his parent’s prophecy before his parent realizes he murdered them."

Thanks for tagging me @space-writes! (And I hope the arm is healing tolerably!)

I'll tag @aalinaaaaaa, @tabswrites, @avrablake, and open tag as always! New word is: FROST

B:

Blotches of colour blotted his vision, dizzying, disorienting.

O:

Of all things, George thought cookies would save Jack from malnutrition. Cookies!

L:

'Like hell,' Mack scoffed. 'Sufferin' you two's bad enough here.'

D:

'Don't touch me!'

but what about "copilot princess?"