Breaking News: I HAVE A BOOK!

 So it's been a few days since I've updated here last, and a lot's happened since last time. Before anything else, though, I want to reassure you that I will be getting back to the Great Discworld Re-Read. Having a bit of Discworld to read when the round world is being, well, the way it's being, has been both a joy and a delight.

First things first! I've been working on a book since 2020. I made it my goal to finish a complete draft by the end of 2025, and I met that goal. By the end of March this year, I had re-read the entire manuscript and discovered that while there were a few changes I needed to make, they weren't nearly as extensive as I'd feared. In a spurt of enthusiasm and energy, I finished it to the point that I was willing to make it available to the public. All this to say that my first book, The Infinite Library, is now available! You can find it for free on Royal Road, or if you'd like to own a copy, you can find it on Kindle or in paperback on Amazon or on Kobo.

When I was little, I promised myself that one day, I would have a book with my name on it. Thanks to indie publishing and never giving up on the dream, I finally made good on that promise.

That's me!

In the meantime, I'm also competing in the NYC Midnight Short Story contest for the second year running. Each year people enter and are put into groups, and each group is given a different prompt (usually a genre, a subject, and a character), and an extremely short amount of time to write a story. Round one was 8 days to write 2,000 words. I've never made it past the first round, but the important thing is that I am guaranteed feedback from the judges. The feedback may not always been completely useful, but hearing from impartial readers has done wonders for both my craft and my confidence. 

I made round two this year! After the initial astonishment and reading the feedback (which was much more complimentary than I expected), I had to hunker down to write the story for round two - this time, I had three days to write 1,750 words on a completely new prompt. I actually just submitted my story about half an hour ago, about 11 hours before it was due, after going through two rounds with my favorite beta-readers. Once again, I don't expect to make it to the next round, but I'm looking forward to getting the feedback.

I've been writing since I figured out how to, and I've been doing so consistently and deliberately for the last ten years or so. I don't see myself giving up my day job to write full time, if nothing else than because I need health insurance and a stable income, but I've always wanted to tell stories. I've built up my confidence enough to let other people read what I write, and it's starting to feel like people are enjoying the stories I tell. If that's all I leave behind in this world, then I'll consider it a win.

Story A Day May 2025 - May 1 (Magical Mentor Masterpiece)

Because I don't have enough projects on the fire, I decided to take the Story A Day Challenge as part of the 100 Day Project. I decided, as well, that this would be a great way for me to use the multitude of story prompt products that I've collected over the years. So! If you follow me on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or Bluesky, you'll see a video for each story that I'll be posting here. I'll also be posting these as extremely rough drafts or outlines, so, don't be expecting anything particularly well-written.

On today's menu is a story seed from The Story Engine, one of my absolute favorite writing tools. Here's the video: 

And the story (well, the first part of the story, and an outline of what comes next):

Indro Massara hadn’t been so angry since he’d received his last critique from his former patron. That buffoon had dared to question his use of color in the depiction of the garden of Eden - as if the old man had been there himself! - and refused to pay the full amount for the work, even though Indro had demonstrated its full magical potential. Apparently, it wasn’t enough to make the eyes of the serpent glow - he had wanted the apple to glow in a different color as well, even though that was not something any but the greatest masters could manage, and the old man was far too cheap to pay for that kind of work.

Even then, it had only been work. Yes, it had irked him that the man refused to acknowledge his genius, but he was used to having the mere mortal ignore his true importance. This, however, this was something else entirely, and it was simply not to be borne.

He slapped the envelope down on the table and slumped into the wingback chair next to it, nearly knocking it backwards with the force of his irritation. As though drawn by a magnet, his hand picked up the enveloped again and again he read the words on the embossed invitation. She had sent him an invitation! The very idea of having that kind of hubris! Did she have no shame?

Your presence is cordially requested at the unveiling of the newest masterpiece…Masterpiece, ha! There was no way anything that slip of a girl could produce could be considered a “masterpiece”… of Zama De Petris at the home of her patron, Fabio Pieri. “Patron,” of course, could only mean that she was using her feminine wiles on him in order to get money out of him to pay for some art supplies, along with whatever fripperies people of her sort wanted.

Indro stewed in his chair for a while, as the shadows grew longer through his tall windows. Finally, one of the servants knocked on the door hesitantly to let him know that dinner would be served at his pleasure, and he forced himself to dress.

• Indro goes to art unveiling, investigates the masterpiece
• Recognizes the magic in the art surpasses his own, gets big mad
• Tries to talk to Zama, she blows him off, he gets bigger madder
• Indro starts spreading rumors about Zama’s work, it’s not hers, she’s sleeping her way into the art world
• Zama confronts Indro at his art unveiling, with receipts, shuts his rumormongering down in front of his patrons
• Indro demands satisfaction, challenges to an artist duel (each paint a magical painting in front of a judge/audience, best magic and art win)
• Zama stomps him but hard
• Indro is destroyed, decides to move away, but does pay up per the terms of the duel (whatever those end up being)