idlelitany

[idlelitany]

Cut Snippet (Heartstone)

The pain of dealing with endless paperwork, stiff shoulders, and subordinates with too much ego and not enough skill—all of it—was so easily smoothed by this: his head on her lap, while she stroked his hair and occupied herself with some practitioner’s petition. Silent, save for the cicadas humming in the distance.

[idlelitany]

Cut Scene (Heartstone)

This was a random Heartstone scene that didn’t make the cut into the fourth book because there was just no place for it. There aren’t really any spoilers here. Sylvie bought him a new set of robes. Jack had gotten used to random presents appearing in his office—a few articles of clothing here and there, mint-scented salves for old wounds that still ached, oil for his creaky office door, signed…

[idlelitany]

Heartstone Book 4 Available for Digital Pre-Order

Heartstone: The Diamond Alps is now available for digital pre-order on Amazon Kindle and Google Play. The official release date is January 7, 2025. This is the fourth and final book of the Heartstone series. I’m currently working on getting the ebook available on other platforms, so please re-check my Books page in October if you’d prefer a different digital platform. I keep an ebook masterlink…

[idlelitany]

Book Update

This is just an update that I do have the fourth and final book of the Heartstone series completely written. Unfortunately, I’m still saving up for the cover art and all of the other expenses involved with publishing one of these things. Do feel free to send me an email through my contact page on this website if you’d like a digital copy of the book as it’ll be some time before I can get a proper…

[idlelitany]

*blows off cobwebs*

It feels like it’s been ten thousand years since I’ve written here. A student mentioned seeing this blog, and I had the same feeling I always get when I suddenly remember that I have clothes in the dryer that need to be folded, but I’ve waited so long that they’re all wrinkly now. I’m sorry I’ve neglected you so much, blog! (No promises that it won’t happen again after this post.) It’s been an…

[idlelitany]

Life Update

I’ve missed you, blog! I feel like it’s been an age since I last posted anything of substance—surprise, surprise, it has! I’ll be getting busier from here on out as I begin another chapter of my life, so the time I used to dedicate to writing anything fiction-related will unfortunately dwindle. I’ll try to make time for more personal updates at least, so this blog isn’t completely devoid of…

[idlelitany]

Scrawl

The first compliment she had ever given him concerned his eyes. “They’re grounding,” she said, while looking at anything but him, “even when you’re angry.” His eyes had been a private pride ever since.

[idlelitany]

Sometimes I write sappy romance. 💜 https://ift.tt/3aUeni9

[idlelitany]

Available for Pre-Order!

Release Date: December 8, 2020

The Weeping Grove is Available for Pre-order Here: EBOOK MASTERLINK

PAPERBACK: AMAZON UNIVERSAL LINK

“When the flames driving you are doused, When the weight of the living cloaks your shoulders, When you’re shackled with a lifelong burden, Would you still struggle to rise?”

With their newfound possession in hand, Sylvie and Jack uncover the truth behind the First…

[idlelitany]

6

I’d been walking around, looking for something. I don’t quite know what, but by the time I actually stopped searching, night had arrived in earnest. True dark fell over me like a cloak to freeze my bones clean through. There were no people on this block. No soul but my own. It was odd—this solitary wild, where the evening chill continuously chased the hour. Bundles of gathered leaves and branches…

[idlelitany]

Life Update of an Author

Life Update of an Author

Dear Planet,

Happy Birthday! I’m sorry we’re slowly killing you with fireworks.

I’ve reached a brief lull in my busy schedule as a graduate student; it lasted just long enough for me to remember to make a post for this dusty blog of mine. I don’t get to write as much as I used to because of adult things that monopolize time as if other tasks don’t require it. Well, no, that statement is rather…

[idlelitany]

Part 5 . . . Maurice couldn’t speak. He was unable, or rather unwilling, to explain the sight. Because he knew what would come next if he did. Once he realized for himself that this was no longer the reality he wanted so desperately to be trapped in. . But it happened anyway. . Without warning, the world bent at the edges. His gaze flickered to the side, needing to see her statue one last time. Her feet were fastened upon a pedestal that shined brilliantly, despite the mist. She held him with her stark gaze, as if to anchor him there, so that she could protect him from what was about to come. But even she wasn’t enough to tether him from the being that called. . Her stone façade was the last thing he saw, before shadows guttered from every corner, then grew larger to swallow everything. It darkened his consciousness, breath-by-breath, until it spread across his vision like a silent, starless sky. . Maurice fell forward. . In that dark place between the black waters and the still surface touched by the ancient sun, Maurice vanished. . . -Chapter End- https://ift.tt/2EBpbDM

[idlelitany]

Part 4. . . . The being didn’t even wait for him to agree. It simply vanished in a cloud of icy dust and accepted Maurice’s screams as an answer. Vicious gusts of enflamed wind burst around him. They pulled at his body, yet against all logic, he remained in place. He could feel their effects though. The way they burned his flesh, turning it soft and pink and too raw for anything more than a feather’s touch. It tore him apart at the seams. The wind spun in the empty spaces, rolling needles against the exposed tenderness of his insides. . Maurice wanted little else than to screech profanities at the top of his lungs, to shout at him to stop, but any ability he once had to think past the blurs of hurt had been stripped the moment that wicked voice made his decision for him. . It hurt. Everything hurt. . The space he was in felt as if it had siphoned into itself for the sole purpose of thrashing against him. Maurice knew that the creature decided to bless him for one deluded instant though. Because a vision of endless warmth appeared before his eyes. Fleeting and real. Maurice returned to the world he’d basked in. Everything was just as he’d left it—the frozen water and the storm clouds ready to pour their tears overhead—as if they didn’t just witness how the last few moments had shifted his entire life into a different course. . Maurice watched as the water suddenly began to boil. Steam blew out in an arc. It rose high into the air, obscuring everything from the distant sky above to the stark green trees spattered around him like specks of paint on a grey-white canvas. Ice cracked, then broke messily apart. The sharp sounds filled him with dread. Every inch of the water bubbled in a way that reminded him of overheated stew, made and eaten during simpler times when he camped with the rest of the First Zenith on their march to the north. It allowed him a proper look at the water, which was so thick that it appeared black. Although only a few seconds passed, the entirety of the icy ring in front of him had already returned to its natural state. https://ift.tt/35Jc2nX

[idlelitany]

Heartstone Snippet (Book 4) Book 4 Draft. Ending section of Chapter 1. It's been a long time since I've written anything remotely related to fiction.

[idlelitany]

Part 2 . . . Something cold and malicious shimmered in the back of his mind. . It was then that Maurice felt that something was wrong. Terribly wrong. The distinct sensation of someone staring at him bubbled in his gut. It wasn’t like the adoring gazes of the practitioners that looked to him for guidance or the disdainful ones of those that believed him too arrogant for his own good, no, this was pure burning. Eyes that held onto his form in a way that suspended him in the moment. . Maurice panicked when two horrific slits appeared within every shard. Terror gripped him like a fist. It was tight enough that he couldn’t turn away. A mouthful of pointed teeth surfaced next. The creature’s upper lip was bared high in scorn. Flashes of its face kept appearing, and Maurice stifled the urge to shout. It wasn’t that the glimpses were horrific. Rather, it was the feeling that exploded within him with each one that he saw. He felt as if he was impeding upon the territory of an atrocious being that desired nothing more than to be left alone—and right now, he was profaning that desire. The realization was as shuddering as the swift pale curve of a blade that came unheralded in the dead of night. . The distorted realm he was in lurched beneath his feet at the being’s arrival. . 'What’s going on?' he thought, unable to find his voice to question the presence himself. 'Where am I?' . An abominable tone broke the quiet around him like glass. "Was it you that disturbed my rest?" . 'That voice!' . But this was different from what he’d expected. The being that answered him sounded as if it were submerged in the darkest depths of the sea. It was interlaid with a dozen other timbres to create a tone far deeper than any he’d ever heard. This voice wasn’t soothing or tantalizing like the breathless whispers he used to hear whenever a new Orivellea was formed. No. This was the strong, maddened speech of a man. A violently angry man. . "You seek power." . There was a pause, before… . “I do!” Maurice shouted, swift enough to make him seem desperate. . "Patient, yet eager. I can see it in your memories. You have met another like me—and trapped her." . Maurice shivered. https://ift.tt/34HI2HR

[idlelitany]

Part 3 . . . The anticipation of retribution was more than enough to send him into hysterics. . "Fear not, for I hold no grudges against you for your work. But know this, I differ from the pitiful ear that your kin managed to reach. We are unalike in every possible way. I do not want your soul in exchange. I do not wish to be burdened with a companion within this edgeless expanse. And for that, you should consider yourself fortunate. . For this is my dwelling. It is not for you to perceive or contemplate. You shall rise again from the serenity of this abyss. I make that vow to you." . The world around him abruptly drew in on itself. The air looped in wide circles that pulled closer with each spin—and there he was, at the center of it. Every heightened coil of air was pure noise that made his ears bleed. His temples pounded with a vengeance unlike anything he’d ever felt before. It extended outwards. Little webbed cracks of pain that moved across his forehead, before consuming the rest of him. Maurice cupped his face between his glowing hands and tried to make it stop. But this hurt wasn’t one so easily appeased. . Despite all he was going through, despite barely having the capacity to consider anything past the pain, that voice still rang loud and clear. It bounced along the walls of his mind. Cold fury from a being that couldn’t be bothered with dealing with the likes of him. . "Ages have passed since I last met a man vigorous enough to pierce the water, to reach inside of this infinite night and draw me out. Stillness is paramount here, but you have managed to create ripples in the dark. An extraordinary feat, though by no means exclusive. Be proud, however, for your desire will be granted because of it." . Amidst the agony, the barest sliver of joy swelled in Maurice’s chest. . … It was taken away in an instant. . "But if you are so keen to tear this world apart to realize your dreams, then I shall show you exactly what that means by beginning with you. You shall feel exactly what it is like to become a sacrifice offered to a heinous god. Over and over again. Until the day you are beckoned back to the world above. . That is the payment I seek." https://ift.tt/2tzoZm9

[idlelitany]

Too much narration. Too much building. It needs cleanup -- soon. When I can. . . . His hands glowed blue as he invoked his power. Maurice crouched to press each digit onto the crystal. It reacted to everything he released. The awareness that he’d roused the remnants trapped within discomfited him in more ways than one. Even still, he didn’t let that stop him. There was too much at stake for fear. Eventually, it reached a point where he was no longer unleashing his magic. The tendrils that stirred inside actively took. They slurped more than he was willing to give, utterly unconcerned for his well-being. Each second that passed bled the lifeblood from his veins. He’d be nothing more than a hollow husk if he allowed this to continue... but he couldn’t pull away. Sight and noise were made dim by an unknown veil abruptly cast upon him. The shape of a world he sought appeared, brilliant and gleaming, before his eyes. The illusion was hazy along the edges. A distorted dream that flickered on and off to leave a cupped hole of emptiness whenever he tried to reach for it. A sparkling light appeared in front of him. The same one that did all of those years ago when he’d trapped Thelarius. It shined gold with the promise of a future close enough to taste. He craved that future. More than he’d ever craved anything before. His head snapped to the side when a distant voice called out, as deep and immense as a call to the ocean. Moments passed before he realized that it was saying his name. Maurice reached out. His hand grasped something solid. Too solid for dreams. The world turned black in all directions. There was a spark, and then shards of ice struck the darkness to form a field of sparkling stars around him. It was breathtaking. The sound of it breaking rang in his ears, even as the dying echo evaporated to blend with the nothingness before him. He stared when the shards reflected a passing shadow. It was so abrupt that he thought he might’ve imagined it. But then it happened a second time, and a third. Maurice drew closer to peer into the shattered ice. Unease swelled inside of him with each step he took. Something cold and malicious shimmered in the back of his mind. https://ift.tt/2PJmlD4