#Laughingstag

[author-a-holmes]

Fantasy Indies April 6th

1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th

(Today's post includes a Darkling Snippet, so I'm tagging the taglist <3 If you want to be added or removed from the taglist, just let me know)

@faelanvance @noirepersonal @queen-kass-the-writer @athenswrites @thelaughingstag @minamoroz @bardic-tales @outpost51 @talesfromaurea @jezifster @ettawritesnstudies

Stumbled over a prompt list for Fantasy Indies on Instagram, so I thought it'd be fun to take part in the list of April's prompts and questions...

April 6th - Saturday Snippet! Word to Find is: "Demand"

This works pretty much like a "Find The Word" tag game, but with only one word to find. So without further ado, a Darkling Snippet...

When Lizzy felt the ground beneath her feet slow to a stop, it took a moment for the world to come back into focus and she stumbled. It was only Connor's grip still firm on her arm that kept her from falling over entirely and she had to bend double and gasp for breath to keep her lunch. "Breathe deeply, Lizzy. I'm sorry," Connor said softly. "It's always jarring for fey to blur, but I needed to accommodate your companions' demand." The reminder that she'd been forcefully removed from the hall, when [Redacted] had the answers she'd been seeking for months, had her struggling, wrenching her arm away from Moore's grasp with a snarl of her own. "She's my mum! I have a right to know what's—" "And if she has been tortured? Brutalised? If she was alive, but is now dead? Do you wish to hear these things directly? Or do you wish me to find the information and relay it to you after I am certain there is nothing further being concealed from you?"

(Promptlist for the rest of April can be found at the bottom of this post)

Hey there!

Do you like the sound of my projects? Feel like supporting me so I can write some more?

Check out my debut fantasy novel ‘Changeling’.

It’s available in Ebook at all your favourite online retailers, and in Paperback, and Hardcover from Amazon.

https://books2read.com/Fey-Touched-Changeling

Would you like to read more of my writing for free?

You can grab the prequel novella to Changeling, “Whatever Happened To Madeline Hail?” by signing up for my newsletter.

http://subscribepage.io/y7a9w8

I also send out Flash Fiction pieces exclusive to my newsletter subscribers, and you’ll be the first to hear about sale prices, cover reveals and blurbs for all my future book releases.

[fey-touched-trilogy]

Reblogged to the Archive...

Hello lovely Taglist people <3

I've just reblogged all the Darkling/Fey Touched related posts from October into the Sideblog/Archive.

Didn't want to tag you all a billion times, so this here is just a single tagged post to tell you that the most recent 36-posts on this blog are from October's "Welcome to Writeblr" event, and the Halloween "Trick or Treat" event.

If you missed any of these posts, snippets, sneak peeks, and worldbuilding shares on my main account, they're now archived here for easy reading access.

Tagging the Taglists...

@ettawritesnstudies @jezifster @jezwrites @faelanvance @noirepersonal @queen-kass-the-writer @athenswrites @thelaughingstag @minamoroz @bardic-tales @outpost51 @talesfromaurea @world-of-fire-and-flight-admin

[fey-touched-trilogy]

Tagging the Taglist <3

@faelanvance @noirepersonal @queen-kass-the-writer @athenswrites @thelaughingstag @minamoroz @bardic-tales @outpost51 @talesfromaurea @jezifster @ettawritesnstudies

writing tip #3589:

when was the last time your protagonist had a good yell

[author-a-holmes]

Fantasy Indies April

1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th

(Today's post includes a Darkling Snippet, so I'm tagging the taglist <3 If you want to be added or removed from the taglist, just let me know)

@faelanvance @noirepersonal @queen-kass-the-writer @athenswrites @thelaughingstag @minamoroz @bardic-tales @outpost51 @talesfromaurea @jezifster @ettawritesnstudies

Stumbled over a prompt list for Fantasy Indies on Instagram, so I thought it'd be fun to take part in the list of April's prompts and questions...

April 5th - It's FREE FRIDAY!! So let's talk a bit about Darkling...

Have you ever heard someone say that every book’s journey is different? Writing every single book goes through a different process? I thought I knew that until I began writing Darkling.

The differences between writing Stolen and Changeling were obvious to me, but it was more in the way the story took shape, and the time it took me to form the structure to my liking.

Darkling is the first time I’ve written a story where I need to backtrack and add whole scenes. Where I need to insert additional chapters to enhance subplots and character dynamics. It’s the first time I’ve genuinely needed a complete second draft.

I don’t think that means its first draft was worse than usual, but Darkling seemed to need more time to coax into existence.

Check beneath the cut for a Darkling Snippet!!

***

“Pathetic,” came the vampire’s voice, filled with weary exasperation. Or possibly disgust. Olwen made it difficult to distinguish between the two tones more often than not. “You do remember fey aren’t natural fighters, right?” Lizzy panted, trying to catch her breath and carefully rolling her neck to stare at Olwen standing in the middle of the sparring ring, hands on her hips and she sneered down at her three easily felled opponents. “And that we don’t heal like vampires,” Booker groaned.

(Promptlist for the rest of April can be found at the bottom of this post)

Hey there!

Do you like the sound of my projects? Feel like supporting me so I can write some more?

Check out my debut fantasy novel ‘Changeling’.

It’s available in Ebook at all your favourite online retailers, and in Paperback, and Hardcover from Amazon.

https://books2read.com/Fey-Touched-Changeling

Would you like to read more of my writing for free?

You can grab the prequel novella to Changeling, “Whatever Happened To Madeline Hail?” by signing up for my newsletter.

http://subscribepage.io/y7a9w8

I also send out Flash Fiction pieces exclusive to my newsletter subscribers, and you’ll be the first to hear about sale prices, cover reveals and blurbs for all my future book releases.

[author-a-holmes]

Writeblr Introduction 2023

Updated: 29th of January 2024

First of all, let's get the 'hello's' out of the way! My name is Ari! I'm a fiction writer in her thirties based in the South-East of England.

I live with my mother and my cat, and spend my days wandering through the fantasy worlds that I've created, and drinking copious amounts of coffee.

While Tumblr is my primary social media platform I'm also on Instagram, Facebook, and Tiktok amongst others. If you'd like to follow me on any of those platforms, you can find links to my profiles via my website; www.aristaholmes.weebly.com

I also have a newsletter you can subscribe to! I send out bi-monthly updates, one around the 15th-17th of the month, including sneak peeks or behind the scenes snippets of my projects, and a second newsletter around the end of the month containing an exclusive piece of Flash Fiction.

If you'd like to be the first to know about ARC opportunities, see my cover reveals, or hear about sale prices on my books, then signing up to my newsletter is the way to go.

For the moment, my newsletter is also the only place you can get your hands on "Whatever Happened to Madeline Hail?" the short prequel to my Fey Touched Trilogy.

To sign up for my Newsletter, please click HERE.

My current list of projects can be found below the cut. If you'd like to be added to my general tag list just comment on this post, if you're interested in a specific project the best way to be kept up to date is to follow the dedicated side-blog.

Each of the dedicated side blogs will contain all project specific content, either posted there directly or reblogged there from here. Dedicated side blogs will contain world building notes, prompt fills, tag games containing project content, and/or snippet shares.

General Tag List:

@/faelanvance @/noirepersonal @/queen-kass-the-writer @/athenswrites @/thelaughingstag @/authorminamoroz @/bardic-tales @/outpost51

@/talesfromaurea (No gore or torture)

Tags: #wipnook #Laughingstag

Fey Touched Trilogy;

Prequel - Whatever Happened To Madeline Hail? (Exclusive to my Newsletter Subscribers)

Book One - Changeling (Available for Purchase Now)

Book Two - Darkling (Due for Release 2024)

Book Three - Fey Touched

Seasonal Special - Once Upon A Fey Touched Holiday

The Fey Touched Trilogy is a New Adult Portal/Contemporary Fantasy and my debut series. Book One, Changeling, was published on March 16th 2023 as a birthday present to my mum, and the second book, Darkling, is expected to be published in 2024.

Tag List: @/jezifster @/ettawritesnstudies

Changeling Blurb

Fey go missing in the mortal realm. Everyone knows that. When Lizzy's mother is the next to vanish she is expected to grieve and move on. Instead Lizzy wants to find out what happened, but the answers she seeks can't be found in the fey realm of Arbaon. With the help of her best friend, Booker Reed, Lizzy is determined to retrace her mother's final steps, straight through an illegal portal and into the mortal realm. Whatever leads she expected to find, it wasn't an academy of vampires, and a world stalked by their rabid cousins, the kavians. Forced to rely on the vampires for protection, and secluded away behind the high walls of Speculo School, it quickly becomes clear that not everyone is pleased with Lizzy and Booker's investigation. ​With danger building the further they dig, the two fey need to decide if the answers they seek are worth risking their lives for. The longer they remain with the vampires, the more Lizzy begins to suspect that her answers instead lie amongst the deadly kavians.

A stand alone novel, 'Faith of the Grim' is an Urban Fantasy that will follow the story of Krysis, a grim reaper who seeks an end to the monotony of her eternal life.

When she stumbled across a paramedic who can catch the souls of his patients and revive them from the brink of death, her curiosity over finding something new and interesting could lead her to stumble into more trouble than she can handle.

Anticipated release date;

Tag List: Empty

2025 Project

Stolen Stories;

Prequel - The Lost Mosswolf

Book One - Stolen

Book Two - Takeover

Book Three - Origin

Book Four - Loyalty

Book Five - Unnamed

Book Six - Unnamed

Stolen is the project of my heart. Book one's first draft is currently complete and sitting at around 140k words and I anticipate the subsequent books to be of equal size.

Stolen is a Romantic Fantasy series that follows the main character, Stella Korazon, as she fights to find her place in the ever turbulent world of Moryann.

Anticipated Release; 20276-2029, two books a year.

Tag List:

@/josephinegerardywriter , @/strangerays , @/whispersintheparchment ,

Stolen Book One Blurb

It had been a long couple of weeks for Stella Korazon.

When a simple pickpocket job goes horribly wrong and sends her entire life spinning into chaos, Stella must figure out how to navigate the treacherous world of Moryann alone.

Finding herself in the City of Antillune Stella is quickly pulled into the middle of a brewing war between two thieves guilds when a recruiter for the guild known as Vine coerces her into stealing from their rival, Guild Master Mosswolf.

Surrounded on all side by rogues, liars, spies and betrayal, it's a constant struggle to know who she should trust, but standing in the heart of it all, can she find somewhere, or someone, to call home?

2027-2029 Project

*UNDER CONSTRUCTION:* I'm still in the worldbuilding phase for this project.

Chronicles of Verald Stories;

Prequel

Book One

Book Two

Book Three

Book Four

Book Five

Book Six

Book Seven

Book Eight

Book Nine

Potentially Book Ten (?) Dependant on Outline Completion.

2029 Project

[author-a-holmes]

Booker and Lizzy get into an arguement right at the start of Changeling. So this is an excerpt from the first Chapter of Changeling!

Changeling Spoilers below the cut...

If you'd like to learn more about Changeling, I've got a dedicated side blog where I reblog all snippets, extracts, and information about the Fey Touched Trilogy series. <3 (LINK-Y)

Fey Touched & General Taglist:

@jezifster @cedar-west @ettawritesnstudies @faelanvance @noirepersonal @queen-kass-the-writer @athenswrites @thelaughingstag @authorminamoroz @bardic-tales @talesfromaurea

She knew full well her plan was obstinate, childish, ridiculous, and borderline insane... not to mention illegal. But she had to do it anyway.

Shifting her weight, nerves closing her throat, Lizzy lifted her chin and took a calming breath. It helped, a little, and she forced herself to speak, and to answer Booker's questions. Relieved to find that her voice was steady, and unwavering, despite the thrumming beat of her heart against her chest.

"I'm going to the mortal realm to search for mum."

Silence.

She'd expected shouting, or laughter, but Booker just stared at her in silence.

Lizzy cleared her throat, heart still thumping hard enough to make her feel sick. As she dropped her gaze, she saw Booker finally stir into action, pushing off the door frame in a sharp movement that made her jump and drew her eyes back to his.

"You're not joking," Booker muttered, shaking his head, "Lizzy, are you insane?" he snapped, his voice raising as the argument she'd predicted finally arrived. "You can't go to the mortal realm! You're not even considered an adult yet! Even if you could sneak past the Court Sentinels at the fairy circles, they would track down and drag you back in a matter of hours."

Despite the tension Lizzy could see in his frame, she couldn't stop the scoff that escaped her at his words. "The Fey Court wouldn't risk anyone to bring me back, and without mum here, you're the only person who'd even try to make them."

"It's Court policy," Booker shot back, voice sharp and eyes narrowing, "adult fey accept the risk of vampire attacks. They accept they might not return, but children, unaccompanied by a chaperone, are to be brought back—"

"Oh come on, Booker! Be realistic!" Lizzy finally snapped, interrupting his recitation of the Fey laws. "You know they wouldn't bother for me, I'm not exactly fey material! Just look at me!"

She spread her arms wide, challenging him to do exactly that, but Booker refused to shift his green eyes from her determined gaze.

Share an excerpt where your characters get into an argument

Check the reblogs to read others’ responses!

If you’d rather make your own post, no problem!

Click here for more “share an excerpt” tips.

[fey-touched-trilogy]

Tagging the Taglist for Darkling Content <3

Fey Touched Taglist:

@ettawritesnstudies @jezifster @jezwrites

General Taglist:

@faelanvance @noirepersonal @queen-kass-the-writer @athenswrites @thelaughingstag @minamoroz @bardic-tales @outpost51 @talesfromaurea

Heads Up Seven Up

Thank you @amewinterswriting for the Tag

Tagging forward, with no pressure, to; @writeblrwithfangs, @faelanvance, @authoralexharvey, @blind-the-winds, @queen-kass-the-writer and @authortango

How To Play:

Share 7 recent lines from your current work in progress.

***

There's going to be Darkling Spoilers beneath the cut. Since it's book 2, proceed at your own risk <3

"And if she has been tortured? Do you wish to hear these things from the lips of a friend as he is interrogated? Or do you wish me to find the information and relay it to you after I am certain he is concealing nothing else from you?"

Lizzy fell silent, still trying to catch her breath through her anger as she shook her head.

"So... you're trying to help me?" She demanded, glaring at him, and [Redacted's] shoulders relaxed as he offered her a small, gentle smile.

"I have been doing nothing but try to help you since I first heard of a fey seeking me out by name," he promised, and Lizzy's eyes fell closed as she let herself just feel the maelstrom of emotions humming through her chest.

[fey-touched-trilogy]

Tagging the Taglist for Darkling Content <3

Fey Touched Taglist:

@ettawritesnstudies @jezifster @jezwrites

General Taglist:

@faelanvance @noirepersonal @queen-kass-the-writer @athenswrites @thelaughingstag @minamoroz @bardic-tales @outpost51 @talesfromaurea

Seven Snippets, Seven People

Thank you @wordsacrossemptypages for the tag!

I'm not going to be able to share Darkling content for this one, I don't think. I think seven snippets from a sequel might be more than I'm willing to put down right now.

But I can share seven snippets from Changeling instead.

Taggin forward, with no pressure, to; @afoolandathief, @oh-no-another-idea, @sleepyowlwrites, @sunset-a-story, @ashen-crest, @fictionalbullshitter, and @mr-writes <3

One.

"What, in the realm, are you doing?" Booker asked her on a heavy exhale, his sleep-coated voice rumbling quietly as he ran a weary hand through the tufts of bed-mussed blonde hair in a vain attempt at smoothing them into place.

"Nothing," Lizzy answered, wincing. It was too short, and too sharp, and she hoped he was still drowsy enough to miss her tells.

Her hope sank when Booker paused in his grooming to blink at her owlishly. It took a couple of seconds before her abrupt answer seemed to register, but when it did his frown deepened into an outright scowl.

"Lizzy, you're fully dressed in the middle of the night, with a bag packed, and the best you can come up with is 'nothing'?"

Two.

... he let himself concentrate on the conversation the two troublemakers at his back were trying to keep quiet.

The pair were doing a good job; they were staying several paces back and speaking in hushed tones. If he were human, or fey, he doubted he'd have noticed their murmured argument at all.

Unfortunately for them both, being a vampire gave him a distinct advantage.

"It's not my fault he's acting like a—"

"Please," Mr Reed breathed, pleading, and cutting off his companion's scathing comment. With Andric's back to them, he didn't bother smothering the amused grin that spread across his face.

Three.

"I just... I couldn't stand being in that house."

"I can't imagine how difficult—"

"No," Andric agreed, cutting Hilda off, his voice quiet, "you can't. Dad's near catatonic with grief, and when he's not he's destroying the house, or picking physical fights with anyone who can punch back harder than him. Mum's splitting her time between crying, and blaming me for—"

"Your brother's situation is not your fault, Andric," Thomas growled. The sound was primal, predatory, and it reminded Andric how much older Walcott was than the average vampire. Slowly, the breath that had caught in his throat released into a sigh and he shrugged.

Four.

"Why?" he asked, and Nameer shrugged one shoulder.

"Rumour is, he's on the warpath. Does it matter why?" he asked, sighing before uncapping their prescribed daily dose of animal blood and stirring it into his mashed potatoes, giving Andric the perfect excuse to grimace in disgust.

"We all know he's a prideful little shit," Nameer continued. "Just figured you might want to be on hand, in case someone needs to have their back."

"Yeah, thanks," Andric murmured, glancing away from the ruined mash and blood, and letting his eyes skip across the hall...

Five.

"You... you believe me?" Lizzy asked, blinking in shock.

"You've no reason to lie."

"Well, no. I don't, but— but everyone else—. Even with Cara's help, I—"

"I am not in the habit of deluding myself, just because the reality is something I don't wish to contemplate," Gladstone said, lowering her cup to the desk.

Six.

Even as the words spilt over his tongue and across his lips, Andric knew his tone was too hard, too harsh, and her shell-shocked expression only reinforced that.

Booker was glaring at him, and Andric sighed, "Lizzy—"

"Don't," she hissed. "I don't want to hear it."

She spun on her heel and stalked over to the door, yanking it open and disappearing into the hall before Andric was able to shake himself out of his shock.

Seven.

It was the growing silence that made him grind to a halt, Lizzy almost stumbling into him at his abrupt stillness. He could feel the weight of her gaze on his face and swiped his thumb across her hand again, but he couldn't spare her any additional reassurance, before tilting his head to listen to the forest.

His brow furrowed, as he strained his hearing to its limits, but there was nothing.

Not a bird ruffling its feathers, not a mosquito whining in the distance. Perfect stillness, and Andric felt nausea begin gathering in the pit of his stomach.

[fey-touched-trilogy]

Tagging my General & Fey Touched Taglists <3

@faelanvance @noirepersonal @queen-kass-the-writer @athenswrites @thelaughingstag @authorminamoroz @bardic-tales @talesfromaurea @jezifster @cedar-west

Heads up, 7 up...

Rules: Share your last 7 lines and then tag 7 people!

Thank you @primroseprime2019 for the tag! <3

I'm working on Book Two of my Fey Touched Trilogy at the moment, so I thought I was going to have to be careful what I shared to avoid spoilers, but luckily the very last 7 lines I wrote aren't too bad.

There's nothing plot-revealing in there, but if you don't want to see spoilers about how Lizzy and Andric's relationship might grow and/or develop, I've shoved the excerpt under a Read more <3

Tagging forward, with no pressure, to; @sleepyowlwrites @artbyeloquent @afoolandathief @ashen-crest @avrablake @my-writblr @moonscribbler and anyone else who wants to play. Consider this an open tag <3

Seven Sentences from Darkling, Book Two of the Fey Touched Trilogy

The soft press of his lips against her cheek pulled Lizzy out of her head, and she blinked up at Andric in surprise as he pulled back, his hand still holding the door to his room open ready for her to step through, and his soft smile widened with quiet amusement.

"Sleep well, Lizzy."

"Right. Yes. Thank you. You too," Lizzy spluttered, wincing at the jumble of words that spilled over her lips. She could feel her cheeks burning and ducked her head quickly, letting her long hair fall over her shoulders as an impromptu shield as she stepped into the hall and went back to her room, refusing to glance back at Andric, already able to taste his gentle amusement in the air.

[fey-touched-trilogy]

Fey Touched and General Taglist under read-more...

@jezifster @cedar-west @faelanvance @noirepersonal @queen-kass-the-writer @athenswrites @thelaughingstag @talesfromaurea @authorminamoroz @bardic-tales @writeblrsupport

If you'd like to be added or removed from any of my taglists, please let me know <3

Six Sentence Sunday

It's been a while since I've done a Six Sentence Sunday, but here we are!

Tagging, with no pressure; Anyone who wants to take part! But also, specifically... @havendearest @faelanvance @queen-kass-the-writer @authorminamoroz @afoolandathief @artbyeloquent @quilloftheclouds @blind-the-winds @athenixrose @josephinegerardywriter <3 <3

I'm so close to finishing the first draft of Changeling that I wanted to celebrate with a snippet. I've been avoiding posting anything too close to the end of the book, but here's a section from chapter thirty-six (Of what looks like is going to be 40 total chapters.)

He could feel her eyes on his face, and swiped his thumb across her hand again, but he couldn't spare her more reassurance than that, tilting his head to listen to the forest. He could feel his brow furrowing as he strained his hearing to it's limits but there was nothing.

Not a bird ruffling its feathers, not a mosquito whining in the distance. Perfect stillness, and Andric felt nausea begin gathering in the pit of his stomach.

Their route back to the school had been cut off, but worse, he didn't know which direction to head in. Without a clue from the wildlife of the forest, there could be a kavian around the next tree and he wouldn't know until it lunged for Lizzy's throat.

[fey-touched-trilogy]

Reblog to Archive!

Share an excerpt where your characters get into an argument

Check the reblogs to read others’ responses!

If you’d rather make your own post, no problem!

Click here for more “share an excerpt” tips.