huntressofthesea

[huntressofthesea]

I asked my friend to proofread my book because I KNOW I did not catch all the typos, and

I tried so hard to cut down on my comma usage and now she's adding half of them back in and I am never going to understand comma usage am I?

I apparently never understand to vs too either.

some things are stylistic choices and I'm KEEPING them because it's a CHOICE

And we're also fighting in the document comments because she's trying to correct my British English uses to American English and GIRL WE ARE CANADIAN WE USE BRITISH and because I typed somethings in Chicago-style format (old habits from university days) and she's trying to change it to APA.

#writing #writer #writers #writers of tumblr #writeblr #indie author #editing #writing advice #writing tips #publishing #editor #proofreading

[huntressofthesea]

Has anyone else been having Tumblr glitches today?

Like, at minimum, images aren't loading. But then I'm have the whole website crap out!

[huntressofthesea]

Every once in a while I like rereading what I've written of my mystery novel, and like - okay, the mystery isn't very good at this point. It's just sort of there, being a plot thing.

Really the novel is about the teenage girl narrating it and trying not to mentally break down as a ton of horrifying stuff is happening to her and she realizes her life has been messed up for years to the point she doesn't even remember what she likes to do for fun, and about the teen detective who has decided he's going to be her friend, but hasn't actually realized that's what he'd decided and also has no idea HOW to make friends.

Their dynamic is what's carrying this mystery and keeps making me reread it even though I wrote the dang thing.

#writing #writer #writers #writeblr #writers of tumblr #indie author #mystery novel #character dynamics #writing tropes #character tropes #tropes

[huntressofthesea]

Wish ReWrite - Intro

Summary: I found the actual movie meh, but love some of the ideas from the original concepts, so I decided I'd write my own spin on those ideas.

*some names may be different than they are in the movie, because I couldn't be bothered to check what the actual character names were

Asha has longed dreamed of being chosen as the King's Apprentice and becoming a sorceress who could protect her kingdom of Estas. But King's Apprentices are rarely chosen, and they rarely last long. When, much to her surprise, she is selected, she sees her dream finally within reach. However, when Asha discovers the truth behind the King's power and the horrible grey disease plaguing the kingdom, she finds herself powerless to protect anyone. When a wish upon a star results in an actual star-boy showing up to help her, Asha begins to realize that maybe there's more to the situation than meets the eye, and that maybe, just maybe, she has more than one dream in her.

((Side note: I plan to upload chapters here as I write them. This is just the very VERY beginning))

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Everyone knew sorcerers were almost immortal, which was a good thing, considering kingdoms rise and fall depending on whether or not they have a sorcerer in their court. Kingdoms without one – well, those kingdoms don’t remain kingdoms for long.

Estas was lucky. Our sorcerer was also our king, who’d founded the kingdom over 200 years ago. King Magnifico had built it from the ground up, protecting the kingdom’s land from other sorcerers and providing a haven for those who found themselves kingdomless. It was uncommon for a sorcerer-king to make it to 200 years, but we were very lucky. Sorcerers weren’t all that common.

To start with, only a few people could be born with the capacity to be a sorcerer, and while it was largely believed to be connected to ancestry, sorcerers themselves had a very hard time having children. King Magnifico had married Queen Amaya about 150 years ago – sorcerers could share their extended lifespan with their spouses – but they’d only managed to have a child 20 years ago.

And Princess Penelope didn’t have the sorcerer’s gift.

Others have tried to practice magic without having the sorcerer’s gift, but it’s never quite right. They all end up being either warlocks, who have made deals with foul spirits and found their souls corrupted, or witches, who practice a gentler, less potent magic of herbs and talismans.

If you wanted to do high magic, real magic, you had to be born with it. And even if you were born with it, it didn’t mean you’d develop into a full-fledged sorcerer. That required a lot of studying and practicing and most people quit.

As such, King Magnifico had long been searching for a successor. Even a sorcerer-king as great as him couldn’t live forever, no matter how much he extended his life so Estas would never crumble. Every couple of years a proclamation would be hung about the capital: that they were now taking applications for a new King’s Apprentice.

Most didn’t get the position. Years of calls for applications would pass and no Apprentice would be hired. I’d suspected this year would be much the same; until I found out my friends had decided to fill out an application on my behalf.  

#wish #disney wish #wish rewrite #wish reimagined #writers #writeblr #writing #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #disney

[huntressofthesea]

Wayne Tsay on Instagram

[huntressofthesea]

The Tale of the Fire Bird

Excerpt from the first Chant of the Flooded novella

Genre: historical fiction (prehistoric setting), mythology-inspired

I've been working on editing, and prepping for publishing, and I thought I'd share a little bit of it with people! I plan on doing a virtual author reading of this excerpt at a later date.

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“Alright, do you want to tell it, then?”

“Why don’t we just sleep?”

“Everyone knows you get a better sleep after sharing a story.”

I made a vague sound that was almost a laugh in response to that.

“I’ll tell it, if you don’t want to.

“Long ago, many demons walked the earth, from the behemoths who’s bones we still build our homes from, to strange spirits who would drive you mad with a glimpse. There were no clans in those days, for there were few humans and they stayed with their blood families, hiding in crevices to protect them from everything. One of these humans was a man named Gaizka, who protected his family by night, and hunted game by day.

“One day, Gaizka was on the trail of a behemoth, spears in hand, but by the time he had brought down the beast, he realized the day had grown late and he had strayed far from his family. As the night is a dangerous time, he sought out a place to hide in safety for the night. It fell dark before he could find such a place, but in that darkness, he saw something.

“It was as bright as the sun, but smaller, and it flitted through the night sky with an orange glow. Drawn to it, Gaizka followed the light. When he grew close he discovered – the light was a bird! A bird who’s feathers were made of light and who’s flight was made of heat.

“No sooner did he realize this, did the bird vanish, and the morning sun rose.”

I was hardly listening. I knew this tale, and I tried to focus my ears on the sounds of the night, not his voice.

“Gaizka returned to his family and told them what he saw. They thought he had dreamed it. Gaizka was determined to prove to his family that the strange bird existed. He bid them goodbye, took with him his spears, and went out to seek the bird.

“During the day, he saw not a single feather. When night fell, he would see the glowing bird dance in the sky. He followed it for so many days, they became moons, and Gaizka became thin from lack of eating.”

My hand prickled again, Kemen’s hand creeping closer and closer.

“One night, the strange bird rested. It settled itself atop a rocky hill and tucked its head under its wing. Gaizka took the opportunity to sneak up on it.”

A little bit of tension thrummed through me. Kemen’s fingers moved just a bit against the back of my hand.

“The bird was even more wonderous up close. Its feathers crackled and glow, bright as the sun, and as warm as sunlight. Its heat went right to Gaizka’s bones.”

I tried to focus on anything, even his stupid story, to not pay attention to the feather-light feel of him stroking the back of my hand.

“Gaizka wanted to show his family this wonderous creature, and as a hunter he only knew one way, so he readied his spear to strike. But before he could drive the point home, the bird awoke and flew away into the dawn in a flurry of sparks.

“Disappointed, Gaizka returned to hunting the bird. How could he return home, without this incredible prize to show his family? More moons passed, and those moons became years.”

What I wanted to know, was why he kept moving his fingers against my hand.

“Eventually, Gaizka’s strength failed him. His legs could no longer run, his arm could no longer lift his spear, and his eyes could see little beside the brightness of the bird. He fell to the ground, wishing he could at least see his family one last time.

“That night, as Gaizka lay there, the bird approached him. It flew above him in the air, but Gaizka did not rise to chase it. As dawn approached, the bird landed next to Gaizka, who gathered the strength to raise his hand, hoping, perhaps, he could at least touch the bird before he passed.

“The bird did not want to be touched, but it admired the man who had played with it for so long. So the bird went over to Gaizka’s ear and in it whispered it’s song, and through its song, strength and knowledge flowed through Gaizka. The bird then curled itself around the end of the man’s spear, and then, when the spear itself glowed bright, it took off.

“With the fire on his spear to light the way, and the fire bird’s knowledge of how to create it inside him, Gaizka made the long journey back to his home. His partner was long dead, but his children lived on, and their children as well. They were in awe of his fire, and he showed them how to make it.

“With the fire, Gaizka and his family had no need to fear the night. Fire warmed the body and heart and kept evil at bay. To thank the fire bird for its gift, Gaizka and his family decided to share it, and they set out to find other blood families, and teach them the secret of fire.

“Eventually came the day when Gaizka died, but on that day, something wondrous happened. All those who were present were amazed that, when night fell, the fire bird appeared. It landed on Gaizka’s chest, and the two of them turned into a shower of sparks. The sparks flew high, so high that they settled among the stars, and there they remain to this day, an eternal game of tag, watching over the world below.”

The snap of the fire seemed fitting in the silence that fell.

#boosting #writblr #writing #writers of tumblr #writer #prehistoric #prehistoric fiction #exerpt #exerpt from a novella I published #indie author #the stag and the horse #chant of the flooded

[huntressofthesea]

his dark materials will literally always work bc every small child wants an animal companion that loves you most and goes on adventures with you and every adult wants an animal companion that can shoulder some of life’s immense psychologically damage for you. and you can pet it

[huntressofthesea]

31 days, 6 prompts, 1 Home Sweet Home ✨🏡🎃🐈‍⬛✨

Happy Halloween! 🧡

[huntressofthesea]

Say this going around, thought it looked fun.

Got a bingo!

#bingo #writers #writer things bingo #writerslife #writers of tumblr #writing #books #novel #writer #writerscommunity #writers on tumblr #writers and poets #writer things

[huntressofthesea]

Image source: Pinterest

[huntressofthesea]

If you asked someone what their costume was, and they said "the spirit of halloween", what do you envision the costume looks like?

I'm curious, and plotting ideas for my own costume . . .

#halloween #halloween costume #spirit of halloween #trick or treat #all hallows eve #spooky season

[huntressofthesea]

I drew a little something for the Hiveworks micro comic summer~

[huntressofthesea]

#prehistoric #poll #I chose make tools #I love this #chant of the flooded characters are split so only 2 of the main 6 would ever hunt #the rest would do the other tasks #and several of the more prominent side characters are also not gonna be hunting #meat is heavy and lasts a while guys #do not acquire it often

[huntressofthesea]

Honestly working on a magical girls series where a plot device is that a new generation of magical girls get periodically chosen simply because the current team is hitting their 30s or 40s and trying to make it work is a disaster.

But, like, even after forced retirement they STILL get to keep their powers. So the final arc is going to have an 80-year-old magical girl show up to help.

Also I clearly need to find this webtoon mentioned a bunch in the notes.

Middle-aged magical girl.

She's been defending the Earth since the early 90s and she's very tired.

[huntressofthesea]

You know, the first time I hit snooze on that dumb tumblr live thing, it stayed away for like 3 months.

Now it's suddenly decided I have to toggle it every week.

Well, I'm not playing with that nonsense. I'm just removing it from function outright. Thank you firefox's ability to block things.

Now if only I could find a way to get the old dashboard back, and not this twitter-clone nonsense . . .

#why are they doing this nonsense #only good change they did was polls #if I wanted to be on xhitter i'd go there for scrolling

[huntressofthesea]

Mine aren't archaic hominids (~10,000 BP, after all) but I DO have a chapter that is 50% characters going "lake! bath time!" and doing each others' hair.

So, yeah, please can people do more of it.

My god, documentary makers and reconstruction artists, PLEASE let your archaic hominids do self care. Pls let them brush their hair. Pls let them bathe.

#writing #prehistoric

[huntressofthesea]

Despite suffering under the dreaded twitter layout, I'm just BRIEFLY coming back to share this book trailer for my novella, The Stag and the Horse!

It'll be available for purchase in a couple weeks, but you can pre-order it now!

Just go here: https://books2read.com/u/4EEY00

#writing #books #novel #prehistoric #writer #book #writers #book trailer #book marketing #indie author #indie publishing #ebook #kindle ebooks #good ebooks #prehistoric fiction #prehistoric series #chant of the flooded #cotf #the stag and the horse #tsath #writerslife #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writeblr #creative writing #novella #new book #Youtube