candlemouse

[candlemouse]

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I’m not exaggerating in the slightest.

The way lantur weaves together words to convey emotions, political intrigue, and relationships is like no other. The writing is absolutely amazing. She seamlessly covers large sections of time and by the end of the book, I felt like I had grown with Tessa. She was a dear friend.

Every character felt so well-developed and everything so real, that I truly got lost inside the world.

The romance in this book is also absolutely amazing. It was also incredibly refreshing. I have never read anything with that trajectory.

100000/10 Recommend!! It is absolutely amazing!!!!!

2006: A conversation with a military recruiter prompts 18-year-old Tessa Halifax to enlist in the US Army after graduation. This pivotal decision takes her from her New Jersey suburb to the streets of Baghdad, as a military working dog handler. In Iraq, Tessa meets disillusioned soldier Ryan Chao. Their experiences as soldiers lead them to make a dramatic departure from the careers they envisioned for themselves. 2025: Tessa’s ultimate goal as Chief of Staff to Vice President Ryan Chao is to help him win the White House in 2028. However, fallout from the events of the 2024 election cause a ripple effect that permanently alters Tessa’s life.  A Box Full of Darkness is an intensely personal story of strength and resilience, of healing and rebuilding after loss, and of devotion to the causes - and people - that matter the most. 

So many of you have read my writing (Strings, Lights in the Shadow, Delicate) over the past several years, across different fandoms. Thank you for being so supportive. All of your encouragement on tumblr and Archive of our Own helped me take the step toward writing an original novel. I'm so excited to share this with you.

Paperbacks are available here and on Amazon. The ebook is also available on Amazon. Unfortunately, Kindle devices are experiencing technical difficulties at the moment, and if you plan on reading on a Kindle device you may want to wait for the next update coming soon. However, the ebook works great on iPads and other browsers. As you can see from the screenshot, the paperback is beautiful and is well worth the wait. :)

Thank you to @chewytriforce for her cover art and design, and @broomchickabroom for her interior design and typesetting!

If you have any questions about purchasing the novel or ebook, please don't hesitate to contact me. ❤️

#if you’re my friend you’ve probably already heard me gushing about this book #to my friends and everyone else!!! go get it!!!!!! #it is amazing

[candlemouse]

They’re so silly <3

[candlemouse]

“Is This Healthy” is a comic that I made for an independent study in which I looked deeper into the idea of health, mental, physical, and emotional as it relates to myself.

This project was extremely personal and I thank any of you who take the time to read it

[candlemouse]

"But why would you want to imagine, read or write about a relationship that wasn't healthy, good or desirable to you personally?"

I genuinely don't know how to explain the concept of fiction to you.

[candlemouse]

I'm not gonna lie. I WOULD go into Muriels shack. She seems like she'd have great gossip.

[candlemouse]

my skrunklys

[candlemouse]

Merlin and Arthur Pendragon - Art by Alice Blake

[candlemouse]

I love when I get to bomb people in my silly little kids horse game

#star stable online #ssoblr #sso

[candlemouse]

Happy belated Valentine’s Day 🤍🩷🧡

Trying out new styles, but I don’t think this one is for me.

[candlemouse]

Questions for Heir to Light! Since you're done with the writing/over half way done posting, I'm curious to know: What's been your favorite chapter/scene of the fic? Is there anything major about the plot that you've changed over the course of planning the story out? I love hearing about the writing process and what people decide to edit out, so it'd be cool to see your take.

Oh my god! Yes! This will be super long. Thank you for asking!

My favorite chapter is hard to pick but I really love the two chapters where Kendra and Garreth first go on a date. (It was first written as one chapter and split for posting) It was the first time we really got to see Garreth’s character and how they worked off each other which was really exciting.

I also like the two chapters of from Seth’s POV of the battle in the Terrabellian courtroom. Seth is so fun because he loves adventure and is more flippant about things, whereas Kendra is waxing poetic about descriptions and stuff like that so the contrast is fun.

The chapter with Kendra's magic reveal is also a favorite because the fic was quite literally born from the thought of that moment.

I also love this most recent chapter where Kendra and Ronodin meet because that was so fun to write. I also really like this Kendra chapter that will post soon that further develops her relationship with Garreth…and I have also really enjoyed writing the second-to-last chapter but no spoilers!

Now, did anything change? 100% yes! So much! I have a document that just holds cut scenes (usually cut because it changes). Sometimes, though it works back in in a different chapter at a different point in the plot. As for major things…

This was literally a Merlin AU when I had first written the first two chapters. I literally forgot that was the original idea until I thought about your question. I think there's a few fossils that might show that, because I think I mentioned the old religion a few times.

Eve and Seth originally were going to have a romantic relationship. But, that changed pretty early on as I just didn’t see it anymore and I only wanted to focus on one romance.

Originally, Eve had Calvin hidden instead of Raxtus. But, when I was like, how are we going to get out of Terrabelle? It made much more sense to have Raxtus.

The whole battle getting out of Terrabelle was supposed to be the climax and everything end. This changed once I sat down with each of my conflicts and realized that wasn’t going to cut it. Also, Ronodin was going to be there!

Originally, Garreth was going to suffer a fatal injury and Kendra would heal him, thus revealing her magic for the first time. (This was super hard to cut but arcs just shifted by that point!)

Also, it was just going to be Seth and Kendra POV alternating. But, then, I really felt we needed to see it from Garreth and Eve. Also sometimes it helps for the narrator to be unfamiliar with what’s happening…so there’s actually one more Garreth chapter coming!

Another major thing is that Garreth and Kendra’s romance also completely just died. Like, 20,000 words of we are never ever ever getting back together. And it had a much darker tone than usual. This was of course affected by my own break up and I could finally write correctly again after I got over that. Big LOL!

Originally, Lena and Tanu also accompanied the group to Terrabelle. But, it was too big of a cast so I cut them out.

Major things changed a lot because the outline I originally made three years ago had only the most, most important things (which generally stayed the same). The beginning of every major arc so like chapter 1, 9, or 16, was when I usually figured out the nitty-gritty for the eight or so chapters. But, that meant that sometimes stuff I had already written didn’t line up with the trajectory anymore so it had to be cut…because I write out of order a lot.

Thank you so much for your questions! I know this was super long lol, but I had a lot fun thinking about the answers. <3333

#thank you! #ask anything anytime i am an open book #lunar-lurker #heir to light

[candlemouse]

I love when fiction makes the audience feel guilty about their role as the audience. When something fucked up is treated as a joke but later it's recognised how fucked up it was and the audience feels guilty for finding it funny. When a character breaks the fourth wall to plead for help, and you can't do anything so you just watch. And you know that the characters pain isn't real, but they're begging for help and you're not helping because their suffering is entertainment for you

#end of the guy who didn’t like musicals

[candlemouse]

little royai thing, from a challenge on twitter

#I am in my feels

[candlemouse]

Have you seen the crap they're putting on children's television nowadays? When I was a kid, TV shows made for us were meant to do one thing: sell toys. Now they're all about doing fun activities with your friends, and learning about your responsibilities to greater social harmony. No wonder capitalism is flaming out like a Boeing stock option.

Thing is, even with this renewed focus on teaching children not to be useless, cranky ultra-consumers, the shows don't exactly teach valuable skills. Yeah, yeah, I know, interpersonal discussion, knowing about recycling, outer space, Freudian psychoanalysis, how to make change. All that stuff is covered, and it's fine, but it seems like shows are expecting parents to fill in the gap with these skills. Skills the parents often don't have. The cycle needs to be fixed, and it's television's role, as always, to tell people what to do.

Kids should be learning about the different kinds of screwdrivers, basic wiring, how to replace floor moulding, and what sorts of chemicals might inadvertently create bombs. If there's time, they can cover less practical information, like how to drive an unsynchronized manual transmission in a Detroit Diesel. I'm not asking for too much: I think children do not necessarily need to know how to operate a Lenco unless they're planning on going drag racing, which is a sign of excellent parenting already.

That's why I've bought the rights to the entire back catalogue of The New Yankee Workshop, and recruited a pop starlet to sing a new earworm of a theme song. We're gonna chop up the existing episodes with lots of fast transitions, exploding effects, and a dance party at the end. Wouldn't you rather your toddler ask you for a scroll saw for Christmas?

#it has taken me so long to notice the car pattern in this short stories ghag I constantly read yet I also think that I’m confused sometimes

[candlemouse]

screaming crying my sweet sweet girl

#this is cool #if only it was a diffeent film sfudio 😭

[candlemouse]

new chapter! ronodin comes back and another secret is revealed!

#heir to light #fablehaven #fhdw

[candlemouse]

are they… you know… [trying to die for each other while adamantly refusing to acknowledge their feelings] soulmates?

[candlemouse]

why does nobody ever talk about this line