Holidays & Updates

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First off, I’d like to apologize for not posting updates recently; but honestly, I should just put that as a blanket statement at the top of the site because I don’t post updates all that often. Secondly, an update about the status of the audiobook version of The Kanta Chronicles: it’s being recorded and should hopefully be complete by the end of January, to be released to the public by mid-February if all goes well. I can’t wait until everyone gets to hear it, the narrator does a great job of bringing everyone to life, and it’s a weird experience to hear your words brought to life in such a professional manner.

Lastly, I wanted to give you all a bit of a lore update about holidays in the world of Bolfodier. Since we are in the Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanza/Solstice season (sorry if I missed your specific holiday, but let me know for next year/future updates), I thought it would be an appropriate time to let you all in on the secret that Bolfodier does have holidays that every country celebrates. These four days are known as the Element Days, and are the days in which Bolfodier honours the elements that make up all living things: earth, wind, water and fire. On the days after the solstices and equinoxes, each element is honoured, and large feasts are shared among communities as a whole. Water is honoured in the summer, Earth in autumn, Wind in spring and Fire in winter. Depending on the time of year, the feasts will feature different types of foods that are associated with the honoured element. While Lilith, Hados, Nina and Korena aren’t associated with any of these days (although, they probably should be, as there’s one god(dess) for each Element Day), a general sacrifice to them is made by way of an offering given to the honoured element of that day. In winter, a portion of food is burned in the communal fires; summer sees the drowning of the symbolic representation of a month’s fasting (similar to Lent, people give something up for a month and then throw a representation of said thing into a local water source); in spring people write a wish for the year on a piece of paper and go to the highest place in the area and throw the paper into the wind; and during the autumn they bury a sin/greatest shame from the past year (also written on a piece of paper).

2nd Edition and Audiobook Updates

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Ok, so I know that I haven’t been updating very much recently, but that’s been mainly because I haven’t had much to report. I had to put the audiobook on hold for a bit to raise some capitol (I think I’m good now, but having some more wouldn’t hurt, so donate at my Patreon if you can), and nothing has really happened with L&L beside the few publishers that got back to me in the year and bit since I sent out the requests back in Sept. 2019 saying that they couldn’t do it at the time. Supernaturalis Mortem is slowly coming along, and I’m writing when I can.

But the big thing that I’ve been working on is getting a new printer to help get more copies of The Kanta Chronicles made up for everyone to enjoy. To do that, I enlisted the help of some local publishers by the name of Pine Lake Books. They’ve actually been really helpful and willing to get all this done quickly so that we can have copies out ASAP. I might even ask them to publish L&L to see if they can help bring that to a wider audience.

But that’s really all I got for now. Hopefully I can get the audiobook back into production soon to have it ready by sometime between Christmas and New Year’s. I hope everyone’s staying safe in these crazy times.

Audiobooks

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Hey, look at me, doing an update not too long after I did the last one (and on a Friday to boot). So, as this post’s title suggests, I’ve been dabbling into audiobooks. Since I currently can’t print copies of The Kanta Chronicles, I figured that I should find a way to have people experience it. And so, I’ve begun hosting auditions for people to potentially narrate for me.

I’ve held off on doing this for awhile because I’ve never really liked the idea of audiobooks. Personally, I’ve always enjoyed having a physical copy that I can always consult and don’t have to struggle with rewinding if I need to reread a section. This isn’t to say that I’ve never used them before; when I was growing up, my family used to listen to A Series of Unfortunate Events on tape, which helped with boring car rides. And I hear a lot of people praising Audible these days, so to continue to spread the word on The Kanta Chronicles, I’ve decided to dip my toes in. I’ve had the audition notice up for about 10 days now and have already had about five or six auditions submitted. I’ll probably wait until I have at least 15 before I make a decision, but I’d like some help. If you guys listen to audiobooks, what do you look for in a narrator for you to enjoy experiencing the book in this medium?

Updates

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Ok, so I know that with the world in quarantine, all the free time on our hands, that people might think I’ve been writing like crazy. Oh how wrong you are! As I work an essential job at my local grocery store, my free time has actually gotten less as some of my coworkers are unable/unwilling to work, leaving more for those of us who do. But I am still writing when I can; but as always my process is slow at best and sub-glacial at worst. I’ve posted the next few chapters to Supernaturalis Mortem to FictionPress (link below) for those who wish to see how that story is coming along.

As for the publishing status of Lucifer & Lilith and The Kanta Chronicles Ihave some news. With regards to The Kanta Chronicles, I made an error with regards to properly responding to authentication email around Christmas and have currently lost my ability to print new copies for the time being. I’m trying to get everything back to the way it was, but am still waiting on a few things from the people who helped me publish in the first place (but again with the quarantine, this might take awhile). But if this affects the online merchants like Chapters/Indigo, I don’t know (hopefully it hasn’t, but as I don’t know of anyone who actually has bought a copy that wasn’t from me, I can’t say). As for Lucifer & Lilith, I’m still waiting to hear back from the publishers I sent it out to back in September. I’m still very optimistic about L&L‘s chances of being picked up by someone, and will let the world know when it happens; but again, this whole pandemic situation may make this timetable much longer than initially hoped for back in September.

Stay safe everyone. Hopefully this will all end soon and the world can go back to something that resembles the old normal. In the meantime, I’ll keep writing when I can and post batches of chapters once a few have collected.

https://www.fictionpress.com/s/3228234/1/SUPERNATURALIS-MORTEM

First Chapters to Supernaturalis Mortem Released

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So I know that I’m extremely notorious for not updating this as much as I should (and I’m very sorry about that) but hopefully that will change this coming year (one resolution that I have is to be more active with my writing than I’ve been in the past). But, like this title says, I’ve posted the first few chapters to fictionpress. I’ve taken a page from George R.R. Martin and named the chapters after the character’s whose POV it is from. Let me know what you think of this style and the story in general. Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season!

Some News

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So, I know that I haven’t been updating this a lot recently, and I apologize for that. But I do have some hopefully exciting news: over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been going to different publishing websites and sending them requests to take a look at Lucifer & Lilith! And while I won’t hear back from them until most likely the new year, I’m excited to see what responses I get to that story. So cross your fingers, wish me luck and say a prayer to Hados, Korena and Lilith for me!

New Writings

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So, I’ve been working on the next book while I wait to hear back from literary agencies to help publish L&L. Here’s a sneak peek at what you can expect in my new story: Supernaturalis Mortem!

My sickness had finally caught up with me. As I crawled to the shrine of my goddess at the junction of the three roads, my lifeblood flows out through my fingers and onto the gravel. The great goddess, my goddess, Hecate had kept her promise; she’d kept me safe in the shadows all these years. And for that, I’d eternally be in her debt, should she ever need my services in the next life.

For sixteen years Hecate has protected me and my killings. For sixteen years have I wandered the world and killed indiscriminately. And for sixteen years, all Hecate has required of me for her protection is that whenever I come across anything dealing with the worship of her that I stop and offer a sacrifice of flesh, blood and bone. I think that the body of my final victim and myself, at the same altar that our covenant was first forged, would be proof enough that I have not ever faltered in my worship.

As I raise my bloody hand to the statuette of Hecate in the shrine, my dying eyes play the same trick on me they did all those years ago. For once my hand touched the image of my goddess, I could have sworn it looked upon me with a look both pleased and saddened. “O, goddess of the hidden,” I say. “My soul is yours, a-a-a-a final pay…ment for your protection.”

My strength has finally fled my dying body, as I fall to the ground. My last words, nigh, my last breath a praise to Hecate, my great goddess.

L&L Finally Finished

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Well, after a few months (mostly spent not doing what I’m supposed to be doing) I’ve finally finished going through Lucifer & Lilith and have it ready to send to publishers! So over the next few weeks I’m going to try and shop around until I find someone who loves the story as much as I do and is willing to publish it for the world to fall in love with it. So wish me luck! And then once I’ve found someone to publish L&L, I’m going to start writing out the plot for my next story, which I’ll hopefully start writing by the summer (but I make no promises as work dramatically picks up then). Hopefully, Lucifer & Lilith will be on shelves sooner than we can hope.

PS If anyone has a good name for L&L that’s short, isn’t just their names and fits the story, please let me know, as I feel the current title is too wordy.

Origins of The Reckoning

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One of the many things that I took as influences when writing The Kanta Chronicles was TV. As I’ve previously said, my influences are a wide array of trivia, entertainment, history, religions, mythologies and the works of other writers. So it should come as no surprise that a crucial aspect of the story came from my obsession with TV. In particular, the concept of Reckonings came from the eighth episode of season three of the fantastic BBC show Merlin called The Eye of the Phoenix. And if anyone has ever watched this episode, they will know how blatantly I took the concept and rituals of Reckonings from it. But one thing that I didn’t take from the episode is how the Reckonings of the three male Kantas seen in the book were instrumental in how their time as King was perceived. Leo, Pan’s father, was a king respected and renowned for his ability to speak to people from different points of view; something he honed during his year spent in silence studying people in three different countries across Bolfodier. Pan, whose rule (while not completely shown in the book) was one remembered by his subjects and contemporaries for his great base of knowledge in nearly all aspects of his world; a knowledge base that was greatly aggregated by his finding and hoarding of the Valin Twins’ library and the books contained within. And Shade, whose rule is highly influenced by righting the wrongs committed in the past and shedding new light on taboo topics, had a Reckoning that forced him to confront wrongs committed nearly thirteen thousand years ago and attempt to begin the (inter)national healing needed.

And these connections are not on accident (retroactively introduced, but no accident). The Reckoning of any Brarian prince is meant to be seen as a forging of the prince into the king he will become. In the exposition about the Reckoning dumped at the start of the third part of the book, it states that failing in accomplishing the goal of the quest chosen is not an option. And that’s because should a prince fail, it means he will fail the kingdom; failing to complete one’s Reckoning shows that you are not (for lack of a better term) man enough to rule, and that immaturity proves that the prince that fails is unworthy of the crown.

Writing Connections

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Ok, so recently (as in my recent posts, not time because we all know how lacking I am in being punctual online) I’ve mentioned some of the tropes/connections between my two latest stories (The Kanta Chronicles and Lucifer & Lilith). And today, I’d like to give you guys some more of these so that you can always recognize my writings in the future. And while all of these aspects won’t always be in the story I’m writing, there’s sure to be a few.

Now, I’ve already mentioned how I use twins, and how the elder is usually the female and she’s more powerful than her younger brother. I’ve also said how I’ll usually take a name of a character in one story and give it to another; this is something that a lot of authors do I find and I’m just another practitioner of this hallowed tradition. Another thing that I constantly find myself doing is taking parts of stories from other authors and using them in my own while putting my own spin on it. This is what I did with Cadel Thymab in The Kanta Chronicles (for the full story there, there’s a early post about it). Another hallowed tradition that I fully subject my writing to is making allusions to other works that influence me. I do this usually a bit more stealthily in my humble opinion, than my previous point, but for more details, check out some of my earliest post here.

Finally, I’d like to discuss the Language of Darkness. It’s something that is present in both L&L and The Kanta Chronicles and hope to find a way to incorporate it into all my future works. In essence, the Language or Tongue of Darkness is a string of gurgling and grunting that only those born with the ability to can understand. And for someone to be able to understand it, and not be born to a parent/parents that can, is extremely rare. In The Kanta Chronicles, only Ladies of the Night can understand it; and in L&L only the angels of the Pit and their offspring can understand it. The exception to this is Lilith who when she first met Tartarus ate a special but rare crystal that allowed her to do so. And while Kara can understand thanks to the mental connection she shares with both her parents, her twin brother Shien cannot. And since that ties so nicely into my first point, I think that is where I will stop.