"So be wise, because the world needs more wisdom. If you cannot be wise, pretend to be someone who is and just do what they would do."- Neil Gaiman

Monday, April 29, 2024

Trust Excerpt 5: Exhaustion

 “If you pass out it, it will result with you being in bed, and all of us worried about you,” he said.

“Fine,” I replied with a sigh. “I’ll get in bed, but someone is going to bring me some of that stuff from the box to go over.”

“You need rest,” he said as he picked me up. “Now.”

“I need answers to all of these questions,” I said, scrambling to hold on to him.

“Rayna wants to come up here and talk to you by herself for a minute,” he said. “I’m going to make food while she talks to you, and then we can figure out what to do next. You and I still have some things to talk about.”

“I was hoping you were going to let us move on from that now,” I said.

He carried me up the stairs and placed me softly on the bed. I leaned back into the headboard and he pressed a soft kiss to my temple. He let his lips linger for moment before giving me a soft smile and going back down the stairs to get Rayna.

I closed my eyes and tipped my head back. Everything was such a mess. Nothing made any sense. I was tired all the time. My body and my magic were both sore. Rayna came running up the stairs.

“How are you?” Rayna asked as she jumped on the edge of the bed. “I was worried about you.”

“I’m doing ok,” I said. “I’m just tired. You did good today.”

“I told you, I just wanted to help,” she said. “I can help you.”

She scooted over to me and lifted my arm so she could lay against me. She wrapped her arms around me and sighed. She'd never had comfort before. I knew she hadn’t, but how quickly she sought it out concerned me. She wasn’t standoffish at all. She was temperamental, but not standoffish. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“My shadows like you,” she said. “They talk about you a lot.”

“What do they say about me?”

“They tell me you're upset a lot, but you don’t tell people. They think you should tell James and Nic,” she said.

“What makes you think I don’t tell them?” I asked.

“You don’t tell everything,” she said. “They can feel it.”

“Well,” I said, squeezing her tighter. “Let your shadows know I am working on it.”

She went quiet as we sat there. I still needed to talk to Kathrine about taking Rayna out there. It would be best if it very few people saw her. We didn’t know the full scope of what she could do and how hard it was for her to control it. 

(All excerpts are taken from a lightly edited first draft. Contents may change or be removed entirely from the finished book.)

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Cult Anyone?

 I have a cult now. I can't really tell you how it happened. I came back to the Inn after being busy and was greeted with several people telling me they were my followers. It had something to do with daily word counts, that's really all I know! So. I'm a cult leader! I bless people with cookies (provided by my favorite Confused Cookie Goddess) and writing motivation. 

I know I've talked about the Inn, but I wanna talk about it some more. I love it there so much. It's the writing community I've always wanted. It was what I thought I had in the other group I belonged to. Turns out, vibes are hard to maintain when the leaders of a space don't model the correct behavior. With the Inn, we control that, and it's happy and supportive and just a fantastic group of people I adore being around. We're close to 120 guests at our Inn. It's crazy to me that we have that many people. I love them all. It's really a driving force for me lately. 

This has been a week. It's been complicated and hard and stressful for so many reasons. I've been on the verge of taking my panic attack meds more than once. I keep saying I'm going to do better about maintaining these weekly posts, and I always have good intentions, but I'm busy all the time now. Between writing and working and the Inn and having a child that's an adult but really still a child and some other family things happening. I will try to be better about it. 

There is a new Taylor Swift album coming out at MIDNIGHT TONIGHT! I honestly cannot wait. It's going to be devastatingly good. I can feel it. I'll probably end up staying up way later than I should while listening to the entire thing. The wait it KILLING ME! 

I think that's all for this week. I'm exhausted. 

Until next week ♥

Lyrics in my head:
I gave you all my best me's, my endless empathy
And all I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier
Fighting in only your army
Frontlines, don't you ignore me
I'm the best thing at this party
You're losing me
And I wouldn't marry me either
A pathological people pleaser
Who only wanted you to see her

Monday, April 15, 2024

Maps Anyone?

 The map of Hearth is in Rage, but I have these rough drawings of Tarum and Vale. I made them in paint, so they aren't exactly fabulous, BUT! They will be drawn up and amazing at some point! (also, pretend my scribbles on there are decent lol)

TARUM: 


VALE: 



Monday, April 1, 2024

Annabell's First Charge pt1

 I needed a shower. The problem with amazing workouts was always having to change after. When I could just be home, it wasn’t a big deal. Having to be on campus meant sharing shower space and locker rooms. At least I hadn’t run into anyone yet.

Almost there.

“Ready for one of your own?” Alex said.

I groaned internally while turning to face her. I’d been so close to making it to the showers.

“Do I have to?” I asked. “I still feel like I barely know what I’m doing.”

I flashed her a smile and looked down at my feet. It was what she wanted. She laughed and handed me the file.

“I’m glad you’re still willing to learn from me!”

“Well, you are the best there is,” I said as she pulled me into a hug. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “When does this one start?”

“He was just handed his first assignment. So you can read up on it and then head out in the field to keep an eye on him.”

I flashed her another smile as she turned and walked back down the hallway. I hated the days I was required to be on the campus. I’d been talking to Arthur more and more about how everything around Garrote worked. I wanted out, but there wasn’t a way to make that happen.

I walked into the locker room and flopped down on one of the benches. It wasn’t a big folder. It would be perfect if it was an easy in-and-out job. That would mean I wouldn’t have to get involved in it. It would be nice if this one was decent. Arthur had told some stories, and I really didn’t want to deal with one of those.

I flipped through the relevant information. If it were my job, it’d only take a day, maybe two, depending on how it looked on the first night. Hopefully, the new guy, Onyx, would be on top of it. On the plus side, I knew I wouldn’t get many jobs while watching him. It might be a good vacation.