#it's the least popular fae tales canon story i've ever written

[not-poignant]

Just finished reading the ending of the ice plague! You mentioned in an earlier ask that you wanted it to feel like a soft landing which I definitely felt you got across and was very happy to read. I was teary eyed for almost the entire thing. Thank you! I loved getting to know Eran and Mosk the last three books, and I wanted to ask if you would ever consider writing an AU that centers around Eran and Mosk the way you’ve written several for Augus and Gwyn. (And sorry if you’ve ever answered this question before, I started reading only two months ago) thanks! <3

I'm so glad you enjoyed the ending! I'm really happy the soft landing came across as well. I know that last chapter starts of sad, but I was really determined to kind of curve that grief towards the happiness and joy of reunification (and all the other emotions it brings). It was also a lot of fun to 'break the rules' and release a really long last chapter, that's basically novella length, instead of breaking it up into four chapters. :D

I wanted to ask if you would ever consider writing an AU that centers around Eran and Mosk the way you’ve written several for Augus and Gwyn.

It's not something I'm ruling out, I'm just also not really inspired with any particular AU ideas with them. Not every pairing that I write inspires AUs. (Although Mosk has inspired the Mosk/Augus Smoke in Autumn AU).

I actually thought my ability to write AUs was kind of broken, or only restricted to Augus/Gwyn, but recently I've learned that Efnisien/Gary are another AU pairing that I can imagine putting in a lot of different circumstances. So I think for me, only certain pairings really inspire that spark? At least right now!

But yeah, if the right idea ever comes to me, it's definitely a possibility! Things are also very coloured by the fact that I just want to get away from the Fae Tales canon right now and have a real break from it, and AUs featuring any of the major major characters (with the exception of Smoke in Autumn / The Nascent Diplomat) feels very much like I'm still being tied down to something.

Like, I very much want to get to know new characters that I'm inspired to write AUs for as well! So I guess a caveat is 'I might want to write a lot of AUs for Mosk/Eran, but not while I'm so existentially worn thin by the series itself.'

A huge deterrent, sadly, is also just that The Ice Plague was just...not...popular for reader engagement. In fact the least popular Fae Tales thing I've ever done in the longer stories. And...that just is part of it. From the beginning, folks told me they didn't like Mosk and Eran as much, and I've been hearing that for like 3-4 years. I guess I just didn't sort of feel like I could justify writing AUs in that environment, because my AUs generally always do worse than the story they derive from, and I just couldn't...really bear that.

But it might be very different after a long break, and a re-read in a year or two, so who knows. :)

#asks and answers #fae tales #fae tales verse #mosk manytrees #eran iliakambar #the ice plague #i have answered this before but like a long time ago so it's not worth finding the ask #i actually thought my AU writing days were over #until i wrote Falling Falling Stars

[not-poignant]

I would LOVE to read the story about Anton and Flitmouse! I loved getting the glimpses into who Flitmouse is as a character in TGATNW and the promises of hurt/comfort. But you already write so much at such a consistently high quality (seriously, how do you sustain it??) that I completely understood no new updates. I remember being extremely pleasantly surprised when you went back to publishing SOTS (and how did that turn out! <3). It’s great to hear you’re still thinking about the story but

But I think most of your readers understand why not all stories can be continued! If it’s ever a novel - great! If it remains as an idea - too bad. Just wanted to say I’ve also never forgotten Flitmouse’s and Antony’s story but I know asking you about updates when you write like a million words every year is putting too much pressure! All your stories are gold, Pia <3

*

Thanks anon!

I'm glad you enjoy Anton and Flitmouse so much, they're lucky to have folks like you who enjoy them :D

There's definitely no harm in asking about updates, either. While it's true that I often have a lot of my writing 'budget' for the year planned out (i.e. where I'm going to spend my words, and how much I'm going to write for that thing) which doesn't leave me much spare room for other projects, the fact is sometimes I do kind of play hooky on all my main projects by writing something else. That's how Smoke in Autumn came about.

Even The Golden Age that Never Was went on a fairly big 8 month hiatus only a handful of chapters into the story. That was because I knew the story would be epic, and I knew I didn't have time to write something that epic. After enough time passed, I was able to come back to it.

Anton and Flitmouse are more complicated because I believe Flitmouse's story would make a good stand-alone novel. Business sense Pia is like 'this could actually contribute to your income, and help you live, and buy things that you need to live' and the rest of me is like 'it'd be nice to keep it in the Golden Age universe, and have cameos from some of the other characters.' And then I get stuck, lol.

(And then also yeah, metrics is a big part of it, as in - how many people engaged at the time? How many people expressed interest since? I wrote in another post that feedback and engagement drives why I write serials in the first place, All the Loose Threads just sadly didn't quite hit that level even at the height of folks reading it. It happens!)

#asks and answers #TGATNW #all the loose threads #anton the brave #alois flitmouse #i got your other message too and you're all good anon! #there were a lot of factors #but feedback + engagement was a big part of it #it's also the reason i've hit a lot of writer's block on The Ice Plague #it's the least popular fae tales canon story i've ever written #and The Ice Plague 3 is the least popular of all the Ice Plague stories #it's wild when I contrast the interest in FFS vs TIP #though I largely know the reasons for that disconnect now #but it certainly causes writer's block #and i just don't like committing to a long story that i might get severe writer's block while writing #halfway through #that's not fun for *anyone* #and i am not that kind of risk-taker

[not-poignant]

Will Ash be getting his own story at some point in the future?

I actually really seriously thought about it for a long time, anon, but given The Ice Plague #3 is the least popular Fae Tales story I've ever written in 8+ years, I won't be writing any more big Fae Tales stories after this one, and I don't intend to write any more canon stories at least for another half decade. I'll just do occasional side AUs like The Nascent Diplomat (which is way more popular than The Ice Plague #3 lol).

But for that reason, I've shelved all future plans for Fae Tales canon follow up stories of any nature, whether canon or canon spin off.

#asks and answers #fae tales #fae tales verse #ash glashtyn #i wouldn't give him his own AU story #though i guess he has two re: Quid Pro Quo #and Strange Sights #and actually The Wildness Within too in a way! #but yeah no um i have had a very disheartening few years re: the decline of popularity re: the canon #and i really don't believe an Ash story would pick up much of an audience honestly #even if there's some of us who would like to see it #sorry anon!