Writing so as not to be dead

He/Him/31. Bi(polar and sexual). I go by Les, which isn't my real name but that doesn't matter. I was previously Wolgerrswraith, but restarted my main to focus on my writing.

I write about elven princes escaping their futures, small towns in Florida haunted in the night, and houses with a preference for devouring gothic romance writers.

My main literary inspirations are Holly Black and Ray Bradbury, with some Stephen King mixed in for flavor. Some of my stories also dip into the Brother Grimm and Irish mythology, which is fine by me.

My current WIP (subject to change, updated when needed):

Sword Against Flame (Novella) (on hold for revisions/editing work):

A two part fantasy novel, where an elf from a magical world of dragons and sorcery finds himself in Japan, circa 1869. Shin Redbriar must work with disgraced ronin Toshima Yagmura to defeat one of the fearsome monsters, before the period of reform becomes one of blood and fire. Part 1 is set in the fantasy world of elves and royal bastards, while part 2 picks up with Toshi in the Meiji Restoration as his world collides violently with Shin's thanks to misused magic.

If It Pleases The Court - Seasonal Fae #1:

The four Courts of the Seasons live in different parts of the day, and generally do not meet unless they have to. Each court runs on its own rules and moral code, and no two are alike.

The iron hearted Winter King has locked up the prince of Summer for trumped up charges. But nothing ever goes smoothly in the world of the fae, especially not when you have a headstrong daughter falling for a charming supposed criminal...

Content warning: Just... so many f-bombs. So, so many. The MC is stressed out and just robbed someone, so don't hold it against him.

Violence/gun violence. A lot of kicking evil kids in the face. Bites, gore, exploding vampires.

Hopefully it was worth it, since I finished the Hollyfield story. A lot of screaming, blood flying, and kicking people in the face.

It also came out way longer than planned. After some editing, it'll be posted on my deviantart, and then linked here.

There's way too much swearing for fictionpress, so why bother with it?

Tagged by @gioia-writes-and-others

Using my newly completed Lost Boys Found for this one

"What the hell are you?" I whispered, knowing the kids could hear me. They shifted in the darkness, moving closer with every moment. My heartbeat seemed so loud, roaring in my ears as I twisted around, trying to keep the gun trained on the moving patches of darkness. Blood dripped from my arm, making red smears on the ruined tile. "I'm leaving," I said, trying to inject some bravery I sure as hell didn't feel into my tone. "First person I see trying to follow me gets shot. Hear me?" No one spoke, the moving shadows suddenly still. Moonlight played across the floor, but never touched the deep pools of darkness in the corners. "Alright. Okay. We're good, then. Have a… day." I didn't know shit, obviously, but it felt good trying to pretend I had the situation under control, that the gun in my hand was enough to keep the children back as I slowly moved towards the door, never fully turning my back to the room.

Tagged by @in-seas-of-green (who hopefully won't mind it's late)

Describe your WIP in five words

Using If It Pleases The Court and a short I'm working on for this.

Fae Are Sort of Assholes

What's in The Weird Woods?

Tagged by @talesofsorrowandofruin

Rules: Explain the plot of your WIP as if it were a clickbait youtube title

Oh, this'll be fun 👀 Using If It Pleases The Court and Lost Boys Found

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-He got imprisoned for crashing a party. What he did next will shock you to your core 🫣

-Woman brought some food to a friend. What happened next changed her life 🙏

-It's true! He ruled with an iron fist... until the people got tired of it! 🪓

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Strange: abandoned mall supposedly haunted (Don't got at 3 am!)

-3 am mall challenge! (I ran out of bullets 😭)

-Crazy kid attacked me! (Pics in link)

-Vampires are real?!? (Not clickbait 🧛‍♂️)

Tagged by @orphanheirs for a confusion causing line

He hissed, and I did the first thing that came to mind: I kicked him in the face. Full force.

🫣

Tagged by @gioia-writes-and-others a bit ago for this.

So have some gore and nonsense from Lost Boys Found

Tagging @willtheweaver @inadequatecowboy @in-seas-of-green

But I'm still writing. So expect the tag games to come through this week into next.

Thanks for the tag @willtheweaver

Since it's late, let's use two for shits and giggles.

Daniel Devereaux

-At least 120 years old, give or take

-Sailed on the Titanic, but was already a vampire by then

-Has been in four stories and been edited out of all four because it just wasn't working (He'll get one someday)

-Causes mayhem in my Sims saves whenever I add him

-Is heavily based, visually, on Ian Somerhalder (because I'm A. a visual writer with my oc's and B. unoriginal sometimes)

-Started out as just a vampire hunter, then a half vampire, then just a full on asshole/seducer type

Helena

-One of several characters named for A Midsummer Night's Dream in her story, but the only one to not have the borrowed name altered at all

-She was originally going to die tragically, but I've redone most of the ending to her story to have her kick some ass, get stabbed a lot, and live like a boss bitch. Because that's more fun

-Was originally a man, but the story didn't want to work with a prince trying to save a jailed princess, so Hamish became Helena

-Has killed two people in canon, and might kill more in future stories (Don't fuck with Helena...)

-Officially the third character I've written to commit patricide to escape an abusive homelife. I don't want to know what that says about me

Tagged by @gioia-writes-and-others about *coughs loudly* days ago 🫠🫠🫠

Using Murdering Beauty/If It Pleases The Court for this

T - There wasn't a spare piece of gold to be had in the kingdom, let alone bread or meat for someone outside of your family

A - All there was to do was sit, and lose yourself in your thoughts.

M - Members of the Court lingered at the fringes, gossiping in groups as we passed.

I - "I can…move things," I replied softly. "If I try hard enough."

N - "No one is ever pardoned here. You're a fool if you think otherwise."

G - Green thrived there, the light filtered through leaves and boughs, unable to reach the path unaltered.

Tagging @willtheweaver @orphanheirs @inadequatecowboy @moonandris

Tagged by @orphanheirs for this. Thanks!

What was your first favorite book?

When I was little, I had this thick paperback from the Dollar Store called Fairyland Favorites. It was mostly a hodge podge of "cute" stories for kid's at bedtime, like mermaids finding out people suck ass, elves getting evicted for being annoying, and a chick who won't stop jinxing her neighbors turning into a frog. I loved that stupid thing to death, but sadly it got lost at some point.

2. What is your current favorite book?

The Good Neighbors, by Holly Black. (It's a graphic novel, but screw it)

3. What Genre is your favorite, reading or writing?

Fantasy, mostly YA when possible, but sometimes "harder" stuff like Tolkien or Terry Brooks

4. Favorite trope?

"What an asshole... oh, wait, shit, I love them"

It's cheesy, and I love it every single time.

5. If you could, what world building or story would you love to have written yourself?

I'd make whatever bargain with whatever deity I'd have to for me to have written Elfhame instead of Holly Black, but it is what it is.

6. Your favorite line (or three) that you've written?

Outside, in the cold night, a lone wolf howled its melancholy. The sounded echoed through the high mountains, coming back to me as I stood in the dungeons like a song half forgotten.

7. Favorite medium to experience a story? (Book, IF, video game, movie, etc)

Movies. I love a good, engrossing movie. Indie's are great, but a glossy blockbuster is fine, too.

8. Favorite character versus your favorite character to write: Who would win?

My favorite fictional character is Alice from Lewis Carroll, and my favorite to write (when I get to) is Lestrain.

Knowing them both, they'd probably be best friends for five minutes, then get in a fight over whether or not flowers could talk. Then Les would steal her allowance money.

9. What story keeps inspiring you to keep writing?

Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti. If someone can put so much into a dozen pages, then I can finish a single short story.

10. Random fun fact about you, your writing, your interests!

Fun fact about my writing: I got in trouble at summer camp in Boy Scouts once for making up a story where all the adults died and the kids took over the world. I regretted nothing.

Fun fact about me: I've never watched Game of Thrones, and at this point I'm too afraid to try. Also it looks boring as hell to me.

Fun fact about my interests: I have read too many shitty YA novels just to read about fae being assholes for kicks, and probably won't stop anytime soon.

When you start cowboy dancing to Chappell Roan, and your fairy room mate who hates pop music gets pissed and leaves

Also this set piece that isn't functiononable, but will hopefully look kinda cool when I'm done

It's meant to be like the ship and pond exploded up and ruined the house. WIP