Yep, it’s that time! I’m (re)introducing myself, yet again!
»»—————————- 𓆩❤︎𓆪 —————————-««
So hi! I’m Locke!
➺ I’m a 21 y/o rising senior in college, majoring in psychology
➺ I’ve been writing for nearly eight years now, and after all that time, I actually have some idea of what I want to do with my work
➺ When I’m not writing, I draw, play video games, read, cross stitch, bullet journal, and dabble in photography during my free time
➺ Some of my favorite games are Minecraft, Stardew Valley, Coral Island, Guild Wars 2, Spiritfarer, and The Evil Within
❝ worlds are burning, my child.
gods alone cannot suffocate the flames.
My Writing
➺ My work probably fits quite loosely under fantasy, but I often dip into all sorts of genres, including but not limited to poetry, steampunk, dystopian, science fiction, supernatural, and more
➺ I’m polyamorous. My characters are polyamorous. Relationship webs are complicated and I love them dearly.
➺ I have quite a few WIPs on the backburner due to my rather chaotic writing style, with only one being a finished first draft. I adore them all and I can’t yet bear to part with any of them, so you’ll probably see some ‘new’ wip snippet pop up occasionally
➺ Lore and worldbuilding makes up most of my word count and takes up most of my time; it’s the most consistent thing I do!
➺ That said, it’s also my current focus, so expect a lot more of it!
my works // world anvil // north haven discord // pinterest
WIP // Fable
➺ My tale is an old one. That much should be quite clear. It is not, however, as it has been told... For in a memory as old as mine, there is a truth worth seeking; a light worth following. Perhaps in the candor of my tale, others will find the necessary inspiration to continue on toward their own light.
Summary
A fairytale retelling in the form of a journal come to life. Written by Myhren, or ‘Merlin’ as they may be better known, Fable contains lifetimes of experiences and the truth behind the fairytales we all know and love.
Fable mainly focuses on the stories of King Arthur, Camelot, Merlin, and associated characters. It is written from Myhren’s point of view, with some discrepancies due to the nature of their immortal life and their experience within a time loop. Entries are not all seemingly in order. Instead, the writings follow Myhren’s stream of consciousness.
Status
This is an ongoing, very long term WIP of mine. I’ve written some pieces, and brainstormed others. I’ll be releasing new entries as I complete them.
Phase: It’s complicated.
wip page / cast page / character intro
WIP // The Minutemage Compendium
➺ The MinuteMage Compendium is a browser-based RPG concept presented in an old-school rpg field guide format. Explore the world of Iane and discover its secrets!
Summary
A clock is ticking in the mist and fog; people have begun to vanish right off the streets, and dark knowledge is kept from the common folk. Thrust into an unknown world, it is up to you to bring corruption to light and save the clockwork city of Iane. Can you find the Minutemage Coin and open the doors before it's too late?
Status
Phase: Brainstorming. I’ll be designing items, NPCs, locations, creatures, enemies, and more. Eventually, I plan on making it into a physical guide and an RPG!
WIP // A Ghost, a Quill, and a Mockingbird
➺ Something in her remembers her past; a part of her that stands tall in the face of another's rage. Mountainous strength, hidden within a mouse. Confidence born of past instinct, of power, of creation and abandonment; Yet her conscious betrays none of it. Her spite does nothing to reveal what she had been so desperate to forget; what her rage continues to remember, impressively extreme for such tame, conscious memory.
Summary
Ghost has lived her entire life in an underground bunker on the planet Serus. The last of her kind after a swarm of vitians invaded her world and slaughtered her people, she spends her days in blissful spite where the vitians are unable to reach her.
It's not in any way peaceful, of course, to hear the screaming from outside the bunker, but as long as she has her music and drink to keep her company, she figures she'll be able to live a nice, conflict free life.
That is, until her simple day-to-day life becomes a bit more interesting; a little more chaotic. Her god has returned, and he's not at all what she expected, nor does he seem all that keen on leaving her alone.
Status
I’m proud to say that GQM, while my eighth existing wip, is the first to have a completed first draft!
Phase: Paused. While I take a step back and move onto other things before revising, adding, and rewriting!
wip page / wip intro
OTHER WIPS // The Back-burner
➺ A list of WIPs I love very much and that have been set aside
It is worth noting that I tend to write a lot of standalone vignettes that don’t pertain to specific stories, as well as a lot of poetry that I like to call my ‘spout of bullshit’
Arcane // world anvil // tag
Alchemist // floating idea // tag
The Demon’s Eyes // world anvil // tag
Encounters of the Primal Sort // world anvil // tag
Faefinder // brainstorming phase // tag
Twisted Tales of Myth
➺ Ellyse of Wonderspire // world anvil // tag
➺ Servant to Dragon and King // floating idea // tag
Wane of the Lunar Human // floating idea // tag
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That Time a Published Author Told Me to Un-Queer My Novel
So, I don't think I ever shared this story on Tumblr before.
As you may know I've spent the past ten years turning my old Welcome to Night Vale fanfic into a stand alone novel called Echo of the Larkspur. Now, I haven't been working on it ten years straight. I'd pick it up, do a bunch of editing and rewriting, submit it to agents/publishers, get turned down, put the book away, wait 2-3 years, dust off the book, re-edit and rewrite, etc etc. A cycle that repeated itself far too many times that I would like.
Well, during one of these cycles when I was in the 'get rejected by every agent and publisher I submit to' stage I asked the writing group I was in what I was doing wrong. Because at this point I had reached a hundred total rejections and I was starting to suspect that the issue was with me.
One of the members of this writing group, a male author who was traditionally published, offered to read my first chapter and give his advice on how to fix it. This was, in retrospect, a mistake. But I was desperate. I sent him the first chapter and waited for his response.
Folks. The email he sent me changed my life.
First he said that agents wouldn't publish my novel because it was Sci-fi with hardcore gay erotica in it. This is curious because while the book certainly is queer, at no point in the conversation with this man did I say it was hardcore erotica. Nor did the first chapter feature any. It's almost as if he assumed that just because something was gay, it had to be hardcore erotica. Interesting.
He went on to say that a Human/Robot pairing was weird and that there was "No Way" my story could seriously address the issues of a relationship like that. Once again, he only read the first chapter. He just...assumed I wouldn't think of that? And that my book wouldn't cover it?
The author then said “I also felt that the LGBTQ inclusion really seems to cloud things.” Direct Quote.
And then this is when he said my favorite quote of them all:
The idea of a book being a sci-fi with romance AND a mystery is a Modern Art Marzipan Owl. It's just too confusing! No one can handle a story that is a mystery in a sci-fi enviroment AND has a romantic subplot! THEIR BRAINS WOULD LITERALLY EXPLODE!
Thankfully he had a solution to my book problem. His answer? Turn the book into an Action Spy Thriller and turn S.A.G.E., a robot that identies as a gay man, into a sexy lady robot who needs a MAN to teach her what it means to be human.
(I assume the male lead will teach the 'confused' female robot how to be human via his penis.)
Now my favorite part about this advice is that at no point did he outright say "Remove the gay part". No, instead he sneakily changed the robot love interest into a female robot as if I wouldn't notice. Just sort of swept away the gay bits as something totally unneeded and just mucking up the narrative. Also that's not the plot of my story, I have no idea where this virus thing came from.
(Also note that the female robot can't be robotic-like at all. Must preserve the average straight-man sex drive at all costs I guess)
He then finished his email basically saying that I should remove everything that 'traditional publishers' don't like (aka the queer parts) and make it easier for 'your average reader' to digest and my book will be good as published!
When I said this email changed my life I meant it. Because it made me realize I'd rather be self published and unknown than traditionally publish milquetoast trash like he suggested. Like holy fuck. If I removed all of the "Difficult" to digest stories out of Echo of the Larkspur then there wouldn't be a book left!
So here I am. Self publishing my Marzipan Modern Art Owl of a book. I know it'll never see the inside of a bookstore or top the charts on Goodreads but hey, I'd rather it speak to one person than have a thousand people get excited for the part where the male lead teaches the lady robot how to be human (via his penis).
If a Queer Sci-fi/Romance/Mystery novel sounds like your jam then consider preordering it!
Looking for something to read now? Can't afford the book? Willing to read in exchange for an honest review? You can join my ARC book readers here!
We need a bookstore that lets us filter with tags like on Ao3, because publishers are losing way too many multifaceted books because they can’t advertise it with three tropes.
For reasons I cannot comprehend Amazon doesn't let you preorder physical copies. They'll be on sale July 23rd, the same day the digital version comes out.
And for those who don't do Amazon (totally fair) my book will be put up for sale on other websites like B&N, Kobo, and Itch.io 90 days after the Amazon release.
So uh it has been pointed out that I never actually said what the plot of the novel is in this post so LET ME FIX THAT REAL QUICK:
“The sole survivor of a massacre, Dr. Ciro Kwakkenbos, has spent the last six years in intensive therapy. He’s finally capable of working with Artificial Intelligence again—and comes to the Ceres colony determined to prevent robots from committing any future atrocities.
When he arrives, Ciro realizes the robot in charge of the colony’s security, S.A.G.E. (Sentient Automated Geo-sentinel Engineer), is dangerously close to complete sentience. S.A.G.E. is more interested in observing the colonists’ everyday lives (and matching them with appropriate musical soundtracks) than following its intended programming. Robots aren’t supposed to be charming, kind, or compassionate, either.
But as Ciro investigates, he discovers S.A.G.E. has learned how to lie and—possibly—harm and kill humans. Worse, S.A.G.E.’s memories have been hacked, deleting a deadly secret.
Despite the danger S.A.G.E. poses, Ciro can’t deny the feelings growing between them. Now Ciro must unravel the truth behind the missing memories—before S.A.G.E. and the colony are doomed.”
I hope y'all love Ciro and S.A.G.E. as much as I do.
And Huggabot. But Huggabot is a whole 'nother thing.
ATTENTION! Due to a slight hiccup the physical copies of Echo of the Larkspur will be released on July 26th! The ebook will still be available the 23rd! Mark your calendars! And if you want a signed copy drop me a line!
the nature of humanity is that friend groups in public being very loud is obnoxious and annoying and need to be more mindful of others but my friend group in public being loud is joyful and lively and everyone giving us looks is a miserable friendless Grinch that needs to appreciate life
stop being pretentious in the notes and acting like you've never been annoyed by the same behavior u exhibit with your friends <3 nature of humanity is that we're all simultaneously the loud children in the street AND the grumpy annoyed old man who doesn't return footballs
hating racists is good ! but if youre only hating the oppressor and not uplifting the oppressed all you are doing is using a performative method to direct your anger at. being angry is good, but its not enough. you have to love too. uplift the ones that should be uplifted. celebrate black art and culture and people. celebrate blackness for the beauty it is
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it’s the way miss americana was framed as this massive, tearful political awakening where she finally broke her silence because she couldn’t bear to be on the wrong side of history... only for her to pivot entirely in every aspect of her life + releasing 47 vinyl variants of the same album to block independent artists + dating problematic men while the world burns. the documentary was nothing more than a marketing campaign to rebrand her as an underdog. she literally told us she’s a mastermind, why are people still shocked when the math adds up to pure capitalism? and before anyone tries to yell misogyny: it is entirely possible to think the media historically mistreated her and think her current corporate greed is indefensible. both can be true. equality doesn't mean women get a free pass to operate like a multinational conglomerate without criticism. she explicitly capitalized on a faux-feminist, politically active rebrand in miss americana to gain cultural favor. weaponizing feminism as a shield against legitimate critique—like her silence on human rights issues or her massive carbon footprint—actually degrades the movement. you can love her music and still recognize that billionaire status requires exploitation, regardless of gender.
It was a huge milestone of scientific and technological advancement. (Plus, at the time, politically significant). Humanity went to space! We set foot on a celestial body that was not earth for the first time in human history! That’s a big deal! I’ve never thought about it before but now that I have, it’s ridiculous to me that that’s not part of our everyday lives and the public consciousness anymore. Why don’t we have a public holiday and a family barbecue about it. Why have I never seen the original broadcast of the moon landing? It should be all over the news every year!
It’s July 20th. That’s the day of the moon landing. Next year is going to be the 54th anniversary. I’m ordering astronaut shaped cookie cutters on Etsy and I’m going to have a goddamn potluck. You’re all invited.
PITCH: We call it Moon Day, and then every 7 years when it falls on a Monday, that's an even BIGGER deal and we call that Moon Day Monday and go absolutely apeshit about it (the next Moon Day Monday is in 2026 so we have a couple trial runs first)
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Something by I love about Black Menswear is how they’re not afraid of color and personality. It’s not just the same boring black or blue suit jacket every time. It’s also just very dapper.
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Animation time works differently. Fifteen seconds for them is five hours for me. Kinda makes you wonder. Five hours for me must be like five days for my animator
