#blackwingwriting

I have decided on a release date for it of Friday, March 20th, 2026, which is the first day of Spring in 2026!

Summary:

In the aftermath of a war, the land of Ascalon has been thrown into order rather than chaos. In the grip of a new queen that strangles choice, the lives of the people are forced into the image of a new nation. Villages that resist disappear. A woman comes to the rescue -- who is this person who seems to read souls? Who is this person who can call the ravens? Will she release the kingdom from its tyrannical rule, or choose to rule herself? Will the prince regain his kingdom with her help, or is she a power to be feared? ...Or perhaps both? In a land with a hidden history, heroes sleep until they are needed; may the monarch beware.

Some of my thoughts about this book:

I enjoyed writing my raven Munin into many scenes of this book.

After the election, I felt very concerned about Stuff™ and I started to feel like my book was no longer relevant, but I think I was wrong... At its heart, behind all the action, adventure, and humor, it's about how knowledge and reason should guide us. I tried to write a world that was inclusive, but in a natural way, not a showy way -- gay people are simply accepted in my world as normal, for example. I placed my world in a fantasy setting to accomplish this goal of equality, since history offers few examples of it. I did not include complex magic systems because the point of my book is reason and knowledge, not flashy fun magic.

I want to start posting more about my writing so I can gain more confidence to really talk to people about it. It would be so helpful if people commented on the posts I make about it, and gave me some advice.

I'm going to post about my writing every Saturday at 6pm so it is easier for my followers to check in, and I will tag the posts with #blackwingwriting

My current works are a fantasy novel featuring ravens, scheduled to be published in April 2025, and a bird training and husbandry book that does not yet have a scheduled release date.

and how I am fictionalizing them in my book "Raven".

(Below is a picture of Munin fluffed up and happy on a trip to the park. She was very chatty that day.)

My two ravens both have personalities that are very distinct from one another. Hugin's personality is protective, and generally calm and cautious. Munin's personality is defined by her inquisitive and active nature. Munin is protective of her things, but she is not protective of Hugin. If she is concerned about something, she will often go to Hugin for help, and Hugin will stand between her and the offending person or object croaking menacingly at it, ready to snap at it if it threatens him or Munin. Interestingly, Hugin is not nearly as good a flyer as Munin though, and seems incapable of her complex aerial turns and graceful landings.

When I decided to include Hugin in my book, I took a while to think about how to make the raven in my book true to Hugin's personality. Frankly, real-life Hugin is a bit clumsy, and seems afraid to try tricky flight maneuvers. I hit upon making my fictional male raven albino, to account for the disadvantage in flight (since albino feathers are more brittle, albino ravens often have trouble surviving in the wild due to difficulty flying.)

Note: Hugin and Munin are my two African ravens. I raised Munin from a baby, and got Hugin when he was 4 years old. I gave Munin many experiences with the goal of making her feel confident in new situations. Hugin was raised very differently, and by someone else.