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The weather here continues to range between stupid hot and, “We’ve changed our mind and it’s now fall!” This morning is the latter, with gray skies and misting rain. The weather here in the PNW does tend to go all over the place. This summer it’s just felt a little extreme.
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We’ve been taking care of our “critters” here on the property. I’ve been refilling the bird bath as well as all the bird feeders on a regular basis. The poor birds don’t eat much on the really hot days. Then, the first cool day, the feeders get emptied quickly.
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We have troughs that we keep filled with water for the deer. We’ve placed bricks in one, and the birds are using it now as well. We’ve even put up a salt lick for the deer.
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This week, I was rewarded with a sight not a lot of people get to see: Mama feeding her fawns.
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Now, the fawns have been weaned. I’ve seen them go up to her and try to feed and she just steps over them. This is the first time in a while that I’ve seen her allow them access to her.
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I believe that her feeding them in our yard means that she feels safe here. Which has always been part of our plan.
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As for writing, I was sick for the last couple of days. (Stupid summer cold.) So I sat, and I read, and I knitted. Wasn’t up for a lot more than that, along with drinking a lot of tea.
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See, there’s this fantasy mystery that I keep thinking about. And it’s a big project. Complicated mystery. Complicated world. Five realms, each with their own myths, cultures, magic, etc.
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So I spent time wandering around in my head and coming up with a lot of the details of this empire that I’m building. Things continue to surprise me as I’m doing this. For example, I was writing one of those “scholarly” pieces for the start of one of the chapters. The realm that’s landlocked at the center of the four others is actually the strongest of the realms. It’s the home to the capitol city and where the Emperor resides.
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Why? Because it also excels at two other things: magic and spies.
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I’ve never really written something that has a lot of political intrigue, spies, gentry, etc. This is going to be grand, epic fantasy with all the trimmings.
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But at its heart, it’s a mystery novel. As I’m going through this, I keep returning to the mystery. That has to be central. Sure, there’s magic and other cool things. But the mystery is the driving force.
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Basically, the start of the novel, the prologue, probably, will be either the person dying or someone discovering the dead body. Thinking about it right now, it’s probably the former as the person who dies is heavily involved in another conspiracy, that is, the one that killed the former Emperor. So I think it would be better to start off from his POV, control the amount of information being given to the reader, then kill him off.
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This will indicate to the reader the type of book that they’re reading: one where POV characters die. One that has a lot of magic. And set them up for the mystery, because all the reader will know is that the character dies. Not who killed him, because the person only suspects but doesn’t know who. They’ll leave some clues, of course.
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So yeah. Lots of fun with the world building. It won’t be the next novel that I write—that’s probably still going to be the next Ice Elf fantasy book. Probably the one after that, though.
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That’s all I have for now
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A cozy fantasy tale about ice, fire, love, and snow cones!
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When El the Ice Elf asks Mara the fire elemental to marry her, she expects an immediate YES!
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However, a distinct maybe hangs between them.
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Not due to a lack of love, but a lack of tradition.
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The Elves have oodles of ceremonies to choose from.
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As a fire elemental, Mara is singular. She doesn’t know any other fire elementals. She has no true kin. She does want to get married…but the ceremony has to have meaning for both of them.
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El vows to go with Mara to the ends of the world to find rites for Mara to call her own.
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Follow this unlikely couple as they defined themselves, their rituals, and their love in the cozy fantasy sequel to The Ice Elf & The Snow Cone.
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To celebrate the release of the second book in the follow-on series, (First in the Field) the first book of the first series is on sale for just $0.99!
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Also on sale for the month of July!
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Available for the month of July for only $5.99!
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A different kind of ugly duckling story.
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Follow the coming-of-age story of Christina as she goes from thinking of herself as a regular human along her path of discovery as a changeling trolling.
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A new-adult, urban fantasy trilogy through a skewed Seattle and Christina's encounters with outrageous and whimsical characters.
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Includes the following novels:
The Changeling Troll
The Princess Troll
The Fairy-Bridge Troll
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