#alightinashes

I’ve been a bit out of sorts the past week or so and last night I finally felt ready to start writing properly again--so I thought I should share some of my thoughts and how I’m dividing my time between my (many) projects!  Also I just need to put this somewhere so I can remember what I’m working on smh

Projects are listed more or less in the order of priority. 

Eosophobia

novel | goal: 100-120K | current: 20K | about

My main project that you’ve all heard a lot about but seen very actual content from, and whose first chapter I was supposed to post 200 followers ago (rip).  My child.  My precious.  My (gestures vaguely) masterpiece.

I’ve decided that I’m going to ease up on drafting Eos so I can pay more attention to outlining it and getting a firmer grip on the narration. I’m definitely still working on it, this just means that my already slow progress is going to become inevitably slower. 

My original goal was to traditionally publish Eos, but because it’s rather unlike anything I’ve ever read (in both content and style), I’m also starting to prepare for the possibility of self-publishing.  Traditional is still what I’m preferring, but... well, fingers crossed for future-me’s endeavors to find an adventurous agent.  

I’m also now more acutely on the hunt for science-fantasy/biopunk/post-apoc novels to get a better grip of the market.  So I mean, if yall have any reccs, please send them my way! 

I was tagged by the lovely @augusta-writes, thanks hon! <3

I did this earlier for my Eosophobia cast so I’m going to do this for my Alight in Ashes characters.

Lust: Ignatius -- he’ll try anything, with anyone, anywhere, and he’s usually the one to instigate it. 

Gluttony: Welzyn -- life is good when there’s a thousand-mile buffer of oasis between you and the bad things.

Greed: Tezera -- no matter how much power or knowledge she has, she will never have it all, and so it will never be enough.

Sloth: Synier -- “I could save the world or burn it, but honestly, I’d rather sleep in.”

Wrath: Cass -- the world has been terrible to her.  She’ll be worse to it.

Envy: Xyla -- a lifetime of always being just shy of everything has lead her to loathe perfection.

Pride: Deniz -- death is a reasonable alternative to any potential dishonor, and dealing with emotions definitely counts as dishonor. 

2: Post a line from your WIP with no context.  

“I’dprefer to be lightning,” Cass replies absentmindedly. “Striking allat once, a spiral of light and fire and fear. Gone just as quickly, and maybeforgotten in short time, but leaving my scorched mark on this world all thesame.”

3: Does your WIP have a title? If so, explain its significance. If not, what are you calling it for now? 

Yes, my fantasy novel has been titled Alight in Ashes for about a month now and I’m quite pleased with it!   The story is heavily character-based and follows Cassandra, a thief with dreams of grandeur.  When I was first developing Cass I heavily associated her with sparks, and one definition of a spark is “to be alight in ashes”.  Thus, the title. 

4: Describe the setting of your WIP.  

Alight in Ashes takes place in the island continent of Phygaret.  The nation is host to a variety of species–Magi, Elves, Dwarves, Draglings, Troglodytes, Humans, the assortment is wide.  Phygaret is a nation in constant turmoil, with its varying species attempting genocide of the others and its ruling monarchy having fallen so far from power that the unspoken rule is “whoever has the crown in their hands is king”.  

Physically, Phygaret is a beautiful place.  Its eastern edge is consumed by vast deserts and mountain ranges, but its southern side–where Cass’s birthplace of Stehume rests–is built of temperate forests and numerous rivers.  More to the north, the capital region fades into boreal forests before melting back into temperate woods by the ocean.  

I was tagged by the lovely @doctor-q, thanks hon! <3

Rules: Post the last line you wrote and tag as many people as there are words. 

“My patron is Ciela, Goddess of women and wilderness and legends, of fertility and barren spaces, love and lust and all the hatred that fills them.”

I am a thief.

I am a murderer, but also a lover.  A prisoner, a queen, a mortal human.  I am history and starlight and burning flesh, the song of a fire dancing in the forest, the tears of the Gods on a sunny morning.  This crown is my prize and my burden, recklessly stolen from the head of a Fear ArchMagi.

Look to the stars.  Watch them dance, spinning eternally.  Know that legends become stars not because they are heroes, but because the Gods cursed them to burn.  This is not a letter to judge nor jury nor executioner.  This is a warning.  Heed it, lest your head be stolen as easily of those that came before you.

So begins the history of Queen Cassandra, thief and heretic, ruler of the shortest reign known to Phygaret.  The most praised and cursed mortal to walk among the stars, savior of the world, death-bringer to all who survive her.  So begins the time of mortals.  So ends it.

The first novel in my fantasy trilogy The Mortal Constellation, Alight in Ashes illuminates the path of Cassandra Ardi and her path as a petty thief in Phygaret’s rotting society.  In a world cursed to decay, humans–known more commonly in Tongue as “mortals”–have been designated as one of the lowest social tiers, and are beset upon by malicious Hunts that sporadically claim their lives.  Faced with inescapable death, Cass decides that her suicidal last wish is to steal the King’s head from his shoulders.

I was tagged by the lovely @thewingwriter to find the words “room” and/or “white” in my WIP, thanks hon! <3

Here’s “white” from Alight in Ashes...

“His death is yours, if you would have it.  I do not intend to steal lives in this manner.  But there are things he knows—the ways of death, and of fear, and magiks that have been spurned by all but the dead.  Things that no one else can speak of, for to speak of them is lonely and forbidden.  Things I wish to… to know, for the pursuit of knowledge.”

“For power?” My soft laughter dies on the words, croaking darkly.

Tezera looks up, white braids resting haphazardly over her shoulders. Golden eyes find mine.  Seeing nothing.  Watching everything.  “Power is neither good nor evil.  It simply is, and it is always better to have than to be without.”

And “room” from the same WIP...

Everburn hung from the ceiling in cryptic shades of candy red, the sort of lipstick a nightmare would kiss you with.  The room shimmered in the violent light.  A voice struck out from behind me, cracking the silence. “Feeling at home, sweet’eart?”

I’m tagging @firewritten @ava-burton-writing @simpletonscribbler to find the words laughter and/or golden! :)

I was tagged by the lovely @westywrites and the darling @mywritingnarwhal, thanks!!  Sorry this took so long!

“I called her a coward for running away, but what could be more cowardly than my not fighting for her to stay?”