Epilogue: June 2022

Happy June and welcome!

If you’re part of the 31 people who have been around here for a while, then you’ve seen how I’ve flailed and fumbled, trying to figure out how a writing blog fits in with my author’s journey, and attempting to stay updated at least every so often. Well, you’ll be pleased to know that I (think I) have it all figured out now, or at least have it figured out for my short term, and short long term (medium term?) goals.

June has been a bit of a teaser of what’s to come, so this post will serve to summarize the previous month, as well as give some sneak peeks into the future of this space.

I’d originally intended June to be a blitzkrieg of content, but much like writing a novel or cooking spaghetti, throwing everything you have at the wall is probably not the best idea. And so we slowly dipped a toe in.

I’m aware that the format of this post will change as the blog’s format begins to solidify, but for now, I’ve tried to organize everything as best as I can.

Chapter Roundup
We’ve had a lot going on around here!

Serial Launch
We launched our first serial! In honor of Pride Month, we launched Unspoken, a story of light misinterpretation, love, letters, and unspoken feelings. Eagidia has been betrothed to an heir of a far-off kingdom, after her father discovers she has feelings for a lady in her court. For those of you who know my fanfiction, you know there will be character twists and turns, but don’t worry – I always promise a satisfying ending! 😉

This started as a flash fic, then grew to something much larger, sure to entertain for a long time. Find the first chapter of Unspoken here.

Fanfiction
We wrapped up the first official sequel to my original Dragon Age fanfiction over here, and I’ve started posting sneak peeks for my followers over here for my next ones!

Court intrigue follows Leliana home from Orlais, and threatens not only her idyllic homecoming, but the life of the Hero of Ferelden herself. Find the first chapter of No Longer Yours here. (Also, please note the disclaimer at the bottom. I don’t own Dragon Age, this is fanfiction, no profits, etc etc.).

Around the Internet
A few posts that caught my eye around the interwebs that you might find interesting!

Our good friend over at The Shameful Narcissist Speaks, as ever, has so many cool writing, reading, and gaming/gaming blog projects in the works that I can only be in awe. I love catching up with what’s going on over there, and you can also see what she’s been up to in her State of the Writer post. Or, if you want to be dazzled by her review of Mackenzie Lee’s The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, click here.

I have so much respect for her writing, and it is very comforting to watch someone I admire going through the same growing pains as I am when it comes to pursuing publishing, author websites, and the like.

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Matt Doyle at Matt Doyle Media always has interesting articles. And, wow, does he have a lot going on right now! From Project Awoo to all manners of horror genre’d projects, I can only hope to find so many fantastic opportunities! He and I have some different tastes in media, so I don’t always have a lot to say over on his site, but I really liked reading his most recent Book Spotlight on Bed of Rose and Thorns by Lee Hunt. It had me at “standalone fantasy” and “political intrigue,” for sure.

We also put up the first of a two-part post on Disney’s Encanto, and how each character represents a different aspect of dealing with trauma. Next month, we’ll be getting into the details of what we can learn from them about healing, so be sure you’re up to date with the first post here.

Reader Footnotes!

While I have your eye… You have a chance to be featured here, too! Next month I’ll be posting some haikus sent in by readers. The topic for July’s Haiku Swap will be: your favorite fandom

A haiku is a three-line poem, comprised of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables, respectively.

You can participate in two ways:

• Tweet your haiku with the hashtag #HaikuSwap and tag me @AlixIsAllWrite, before July 22
  
• Email me your haiku (and title if you have one) before July 22 using the Contact Page, and also please let me whether you’d like me to post your name with your poem. Please be aware that I will not be posting last names; usernames are okay if you prefer, as well!

I’m looking forward to finding out which fandoms you all are in!

Here’s mine, from Dragon Age, told from the perspective of Leliana to her Grey Warden love:

Your heart over mine.
Although the distance is great
I will hold you here.

Looking forward to reading your haikus!!

Books By The Dozen

Or so at least I aspire to read… I’m over on GoodReads when I remember to update it, but I’ve recently been hit with a string of things I have to read for work. So, while it’s all really interesting and I’m enjoying what I’m reading, it’s a little outside of my whole “being a fiction author” thing I’m going for here.

Having said that, I recently read The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, and it quickly rocketed to my top fiction book for 2022. It was and absolute delight to read. As a fan of fantasy, I felt right at home in the world of goblins and elves, and as a fan of Dragon Age and A Song of Ice and Fire, I felt right at home with the court intrigue. The characters were memorable, even though it took me the entire book to get the hang of the naming conventions of the world, and I loved the subtlety with which Ms. Addison led her readers. The final reveal should have been obvious, but still managed to not be, because there were so many plots against the emperor and personal relationships and moving parts to keep track of that, like the young emperor, Maia, I found myself just barely keeping up and adapting to the quick-moving politics.

I would classify it as a fantasy-thriller (ironically, the same genre I would classify my own work-in-progress), and one thing that I appreciated was that when something was resolved, it was resolved. Maybe that’s my nature as a gamer, but I like when problems stay fixed, especially when there are so many to keep track of.

I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone interested in high fantasy and court intrigue!

Current Reads

I’m currently reading Song of the Shieldmaiden by Ashley Hagood, an extremely talented writer that I originally met in another life and under a different username. I’m not too far in, but I am quite enjoying myself so far!

I’m also reading the non-fiction book The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack, which is on hold as I read through Sheildmaiden, but the 10 pages I read, I very much liked (haha).

Starting next month, we’ll also be adding a Background and Backstories feature post. Since July has five Saturdays, the idea is that this will be on one of them, but moving forward it will be finding a new home. Here, we’ll talk about the people and places you’ll come across in my novel (soft release scheduled for next fall, but more details will be posted as available).

And there we have it! Happy June to all, thank you for joining, and please don’t be shy about following. It really does help me out on my writing journey. Signing up certainly makes you part of the cool kids, privy to behind-the-scenes, deleted scenes, and all manners of extra goodies, so I’m looking forward to seeing you around soon!

Warmly,
Alix

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