#ScribesAndMakers 13. Share a photo (with alt text) or snippet of something you've been working on this week

I'm currently editing the next chapter of Eternal Flame, another one from Sareena's POV.

CW for violence, blood, and gore.

#WordWeavers 13. What are the next steps for your current project?

Finish editing and posting the remaining chapters to Ao3 (18 to go). After that, find at least one beta reader, then implement more improvements, and get the "official" epub version ready.

Hopefully, by then, I'll have found a job, too, which will allow me to get the cover art I want.

#WordWeavers 12. How can a new author find a good editor or agent?

Though I'd like to hire an editor, I don't have the money for that, so I never worked with one. Maybe one day, in which case I'd ask for recs.

As for agents... hah! Yeah, my kind of story isn't the kind that trad pub will be interested in, and I'm super happy with that, so I didn't even bother. And after so many ~stories~ from the trad world, including very recent ones, I really have below-zero desire to ever seek agents.

#WritersCoffeeClub 11. How arbitrary are the names in your work?

I've just come up with an origin for the "faeries" of Chronicles of the Realms, and what I'm doing now? Building their language, so that I know what they'll be called since they're not really faeries, or not how you'd expect of them. They're called Starborne, but I need a name in their language.

That probably gives you a hint about how arbitrary names are (or are *not*) 😅

#PennedPossibilities 1040. Are there any factions or groups within your world?

We have sects, which in the world of wuxia means, "an organization dedicated to the practice of cultivation and/or martial arts."

There are many of those, including the Guardian Sects, which are founded by the Protector Gods of each Great Realm as "official" defenders of those realms e.g. the White Lotus Society in Earthrealm and the Order of the Twin Dragons in Edenia.

And there are some chaotic sects, too...

#WritersCoffeeClub 5. What climes/climates feature in your work?

In Eternal Flame, we have the subpolar climate of Orasan (Vaeternus), the tropical monsoon climate of Dueóng (Edenia), and the cold desert climate of Alämhra, in the south of the same Edenian kingdom. The Hells is a mess, with each layer being drastically different from the other—we literally go from a volcano wasteland to a desert of ice.

I wanted some variety in the main settings, and these were based on real-life inspirations.

#WordWeavers 5. What was the last emotion you wrote? How did you convey it?

Grief.

The anger, the screaming despair. The holding back of "weak" emotions. The anger mixed in with sadness at learning more about the haunted emotional state of said departed person. And, finally, after hours, unable to hold back those tears anymore.