azshure

[azshure]

I keep forgetting about this place. And I'm sorry about that!

Anyway, I've been busy working on ReBirth and creating character profiles for my website. (Link should be in bio)

Artwork here!

Jase Raion, Liya Fairaway, Tokei Fairaway, and June Summers!

[azshure]

Meet Eggy, member of the Bad Company and MC in Greed Wars Cycle 3. She's is an alchemist, apothecary, and symphonia (hurdy-gurdy) player living and working at the Good Thyme Inn. She is one of Shallot's adopted girls and calls the guys her 'uncles'

[azshure]

One more one last art piece for 2022

With each ending is a new beginning

A ReBirth if you will.

[azshure]

Lion and Wolf Jase and Kari Jase from ReBirth and my own MC

Kari from Birth of the Storm by @valeriestorm

Both belonging to the awesome publishing house Shadow Spark Publishing

#characterart #BirthoftheStorm #ReBirth #Bookart.

[azshure]

“Now… does the Princess of Aria know how to dance?” He twirled her away from him.

Liya tripped over her feet as he tried to bring her back in. She fell into his arms.

“I’ll take that as a no,” he said with a sly smirk.

ReBirth

[azshure]

Villains in my Good Thyme Inn trilogy

Post about the villains, antags, and general annoyances to my heroes in my current wip

The Barons of Aleton:

Scalvonian (191-248 r. 215) Went to war during the War for Munil, lost bitterly, acquired a parasite that made him eat constantly, always tired, and had difficulty having children. Did not produce an heir until he was almost 40 years old. He sold the Good Thyme Inn to Yamma in 218 after the war, when he was broke and had to pay his soldiers. The queen demanded he pay them immediately or else he'd lose his baronial title and be sent to prison. Died of complications of parasitic infection in 248.

Duvela (230-263 r. 248) Spent much of her adult life building her coffers so she or her descendants could buy the inn back. She was careful to obey the queen’s laws, and thus never caused problems for Marmalade or Shallot. Her caution around the queen was believed to have been caused by a fierce argument they had once that tarnished their relationship. Her death (at age 33) was suspicious, and many believe the queen hired a merchant of dance to kill her.

Velderash (252-297 r. 263) A spoiled brat raised by the regent-steward, Mr. Cloth (219-292). As an adult ruling independently, he was greedy and increased prices/rents whenever he felt he could get away with it. Tried to gradually price Shallot out of the inn so he could buy it back from her. His death in 297 was a supposed “hunting accident,” but it's heavily implied he was killed by Grilled.

Mavolo (275-300) Notoriously corrupt, greedy, and all-around shitty. Increased rent and prices on everything to astronomical levels as part of Adviser Anya’s plan for Aloutia which included the dissolution of rent limits. In the year 300, he was buried alive by Shallot and her boys. The Anti-Greed Army, a revolutionary army comprised of soldiers who deserted from the Aloutian Imperial Army, came in and took credit for his murder.

Riova b. 295 During the revolt, she escaped to safety thanks to a servant taking her to Dawndorrel. She tries to reclaim her ‘birthright’ in 310 (this is part of the Greed Wars Cycle pentalogy, not this trilogy, but I would have been remiss to not mention her existence).

Mr. Cloth, the steward, is a minor book 1 antagonist who will die in a horrible way that only serves to show how badass the heroes are.

Captain Brewer, the Captain of the Guard, is also a minor antagonist who may actually turn to the side of the heroes. I haven't decided what his fate will be. He might die in the revolution, or he might turn traitor and help protect the town after the revolution. We'll see.

Imperial Adviser Anya is mentioned throughout the book, but she's outside the scope of the Bad Company's sphere of influence. She lives far away, in the Imperial Capital city, and she has magic powers that make her invincible to mere commoners. Her death occurs over the course of events in these books, but is not described, nor do the Bad Company have anything to do with it. Her tale is told in the Greed Wars Cycle pentalogy.

[azshure]

In Greek mythology Chronos is the father of Zeus among other gods/goddesses. And a man. He is also occasionally referred to as Father Time.

But my Time? Oh no. She's no man, and never has been one. Time's a bitch. And a twisted one at that.

[azshure]

You have been booped.

[azshure]

The author, Azshure Raine and her MC Jase Raion and his LI Liya Fairaway

[azshure]

I have decided to release ReBirth and beyond under the pen name: Azshure Raine.

I am doing this to separate the old from the new.

The original Book One's events mostly stayed the same but after major revisions and Rewrites certain events take place at different times.

There are significantly less PoVs as said before and the majority of them are of course, Jase the MC and his LI, Liya.

I hope that it is clearer in these rewrites that he is the MC. After all it is centrally about his Journey of discovering who and what he truly is and can be. Which is why I am dropping any mention of "The 13th Zodiac."

13 still plays a big part of the story, but now Liya is simply Eternity and no longer a Zodiac.

So without further ado.

The Blurb of ReBirth: Zodiac Book One.

To be published 7/25/23 through @ShadowSparkPub under the name of Azshure Raine

[azshure]

I'm particularly taken with this one.

Just my "Does he ever smile?" MC, Jase Raion

[azshure]

I guess it's time for me to bless this dash with more random art instead of telling anyone what my book is about 😌✨️

[azshure]

The dark clouds were behind them. The sun returned over the clearing sky, breaking through the ribbons of clouds to let beams of light dance in the depths of the ocean.

The ocean gave way to large cliffs and distant forests. On the horizon, a series of docks and buildings were nestled inside the root system of the massive Mother Tree. Clouds twisted around the massive Mother Tree as it reached toward the sky, branches desperate to touch it. Greenery grew over the sides and cascaded down columns carved deep into the roots, which rested against a large building towering over the rest of the city.

“It’s…” Liya’s jaw dropped at how big the Mother Tree truly was. She could barely make out the tops of the branches; they reached so far into the sky that they vanished.

“Beautiful,” June replied, finishing her sentence.

[azshure]

My Fantasy Books

All my stories take place in a fantasy world called the Pentagonal Dominion. It's a collection of planes connected to Earth, but I don't include humans (with one exception). Any time I mention a year, it's that world's year, not in any way connected to years on Earth.

Please be aware that ALL my books are for 18+ only. Though they vary in the exact kind of content, you can expect them all to include some degree of violence, swearing, sexual content, or dark themes not appropriate for MG or YA books.

Map of the PD made by @dewiwrites

Merchants of Knowledge and Magic is my first novel, taking place in the year 561.

STATUS: Published

Cover was drawn by @crossroadart-seabear . In fact, for the sake of making tags easier, all the art I'm going to include in this update post will be by them, lol.

It follows the journey of an intersex dragonfly-person, Calinthe, who travels across the many planes of the Pentagonal Dominion in search of secrets which she feeds to her boss in exchange for goods and promises of retirement. Calinthe follows a religion which forbids its followers from using money. She is sent on a quest by her boss, the Demon Lord of Ignorance, to retrieve his henchman who was captured by slavers in the Women's Republic of Ophidia, a land where women enslave all men, intersex, agender, trans, or any people they deem "not female enough" by their standards.

MoKaM is the 'brain' or 'mind' of the Merchants trio. Calinthe is intelligent, clever, sassy, and a little bit arrogant. She devoted to her God, Lucognidus, but around others, she can be brash.

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Merchants of Light and Bone is my second novel, taking place in the year 561 concurrently with MoKaM.

STATUS: Due to be published in August 2023

Pictured above: Su, one of Amiere's two spouses.

MoLaB is the story of a father who lost his daughter in a freak earthquake accident and his journey through coping with trauma, saving a girl who is being abused by her father, and seeking answers for his own daughter's strange death (after all, how can a freak earthquake happen in a world with no plate tectonics? They don't even have a word for 'earthquake').

MoLaB's setting is tropical, taking place almost entirely on Aloutia, on the equatorial coastline. The main character, Amiere, is a polyamorous bisexual lion-man with a wife, enby husband, and several kids. He works as a merchant of light, carving glowing crystals into statues for customers.

MoLaB is the 'heart' or 'soul' of the Merchants trio. It emphasizes powerful, sad emotions, contrasting beautiful scenery with the tempest of emotions bubbling inside Amiere's heart.

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Merchants of Dance and Hedonism is the third Merchants novel, taking place in the year 561 concurrently with MoKaM and MoLaB

STATUS: On hold

MoDaH is about a genderless shapeshifting person, Tynan, who came into existence at the start of the book. Born with the power to transform into almost anything (within a size limit) and the power to *know* anything they wish, they are born as the perfect assassin. Which is exactly what a "merchant of dance" is: a magic-using assassin sent to eradicate other magic-users, demons, or high-class targets. If Tynan chooses not to engage in such activities, their country will end up going to war with Ophidia (feminist nation which enslaves all non-women) and the Makai (demon nation that kills all people to recycle their parts and revive them as demons). And if that happens, their sisters will be drafted into the war as child soldiers.

MoDaH is the 'body' of the Merchants trio. Tynan is a shapeshifter and many of the problems they face are solved through creative and clever use of transformations.

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Good Thyme With Bad Company takes place in the year 300.

STATUS: Currently writing

It's less of a traditional novel and more of a collection of short stories, microfiction, and completely out-of-place smut about the cast of characters who have infested my mind palace for the last few months.

It's best described as "Polycule of characters living in a dystopic capitalist steampunk hellscape fighting to change the genre of their book to cozy fantasy."

The characters live and work in a warm, steampunk/fantasy aesthetic inn called the Good Thyme Inn, working to pay their ever-increasing rent while finding joy and love in their fellow found family members, many of whom have faced horrific traumas.

The second half of the book, once some of their problems have been 'resolved', focuses on the cozy aspects. These characters love and adore one another and many scenes in this part of the book will be cute, slice-of-life, or smutty in nature, while laying low on the trauma or violence.

This book is currently my precious. It's near and dear to my heart. I am obsessed with my characters and their dynamics. I hope my readers will fall in love with them as much as I have!

[azshure]

HOLY CRAP! I can’t believe it has been a full year since I released From A Heart-Shaped Box.

Thank you to everyone who has made its first year out in the wild a blast!

🫀Nine illustrated short stories 🫀One illustrated novella 🫀Love, Loss, Sacrifice, etc. 🫀4.8 out of 5 ⭐️

#bookanniversary #oneyearold #oneyear #writersofinstagram #readingcommunity #readersofinstagram #FromAHeartShapedBox #indieauthor #Amazon #goodreads #myheart #happybirthday https://www.instagram.com/p/CkqshCGLAdO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[azshure]

Time is not on their side, and Fate has other plans.

[azshure]

Still working on this piece, but the differences between them from Chapter One to Chapter Thirteen is clearer here..