Stephanie Flint - Author and Artist | Adventures in writing and photographic illustration

October 24, 2026 · 9:25 am

The Ballad of the Little Dragon Child

The Dark Forest of Aneth is now out! (Go grab your copy if you haven’t already).

The Dark Forest of Aneth is the ninth and final book in my Legends of Cirena series, but you only need to have read The Restless Sands of Neel and The Dragons of the Mist for it to make sense.)

Earlier this month I included a snippet of the ballad I wrote for The Dark Forest of Aneth, and now I’m sharing the full song!

It’s long, and only bits and pieces worm their way into the main story (though Ro’nor is aware of the entire song, which is why he keeps being haunted by its tune when certain events in The Dark Forest of Aneth remind him of the tale.

The song is also included in the back of the book (along with a hefty glossary for your convenience).

But you can read the whole thing now, even if you haven’t read the story.

The Ballad of the Little Dragon Child

Little dragon child wandered through the wood
though the sun passed low through the green needle veil.
Come little dragon child,
turn back home.
When the fog rolls in so does a wicked gale.

But the little dragon child was a curious one
saw the mist curling low over pond and fern.
Little dragon child waited out the night to see
what forms this time the mist would be.

*Vocalizing* Oh…
Oh little dragon child…
Turn back home…
*Vocalizing*

But he’d heard the tales of the creatures in the wood.
Said, “I’ll camp for a while and then fly when I should.”
His patience was rewarded when as the moon rose
a soft flute sang with the peach moon’s glow.

*Vocalizing*
Come little dragon child…
Come little dragon child…

Come little dragon child, come to me…
*Vocalizing*

Ne’er had the mist danced as it did on that morn.
Swirling and churning in a trance, slow to form.
Gray silhouettes trembled o’er water as glass,
twirling and singing with none to surpass.

As the sun met the moon and the fog burned away,
Her form shifted shape with the tail of a snake
Curved horns of pearl and a magic’s cursed lure,
She smiled his direction and she cried:

“Come little dragon child.
Come to me.
I will show you all the wonders you want to see.
Come little dragon child to the mist
and I promise you you won’t be missed.”

Little dragon child no longer could hide.
Left from the rushes and asked from her side:
What beautiful music had she deigned make?
What magic allowed her to take such a shape?

“I am the goddess who lives in the mist.
I am to be worshipped when moon and sun kiss.
I am the one who you shall answer to now.
Come gather with my children, and I’ll show you how.”

But the little dragon child saw through her disguise,
for the only “gods” were beings who lied.
He feigned perfect interest and promised he’d stay,
when in his heart he knew he’d best slip away.

But she sensed his planned flight and she cried…

“Return little dragon child.
Return to me,
for there is no other place for you to be,
Come little dragon child stay right here
or else you will have more than my words to fear.”

Little dragon child ignored her terse warning,
took to the air as the night turned to morning.
But the monster-goddess grasped the strings of his being,
held with clawed magic and she screamed…

“Come little dragon child.
Return to me.
I will keep you in my garden for eternity.
Stay little dragon child in this mist
for you’ve promised me you will never be free.”

Her magic-laced claws tore the strings of his wings
and ripped them away in a powerful swing.
He gave a sharp cry as he crashed to the ground,
no longer to fly without wings that he found.

But the little dragon child would not be deterred.
He waited for the chance when he could flee from her word.
Waited through the ages until one moonless night
when the monster-goddess slipped from her worshippers’ sights.

The dragon child hid while the monster dropped form.
She partied all night and then close to the morn
fell to her drink in a dulled-senses sleep,
never noticed in the rushes, the dragon who creeped.

Next to her sleeping, a cursed amulet he found,
of magic tied, and then forced by command
to give her such form as to be worshipped as a god,
rather than as a mortal, the monster with claws.

With amulet in hand, he asked for new wings
and the magic agreed, “Yes,” if he’d take it with him.
Though never would he fly on his own again
he rises with a crescent moon to claim freedom.

*Vocalizing*
Oh little dragon child…
Clever little dragon child…
*Vocalizing*

“I’ve returned not a dragon child,
nor a dragon with wings.
But I’ve brought down a foe who’d imprison all beings.
Now I’ll return through the sunlit mist
with a tale that I’ll never, never forget.”

And as he flew to the bright new morn,
the first of her worshippers discovered her form.
And though he didn’t stay to see what they did,
he smiled when he heard her sharp cry…

“Oh little dragon child,
what have you done to me?
My worshippers have turned, cursed, and now flee.
Oh little dragon child,
be gone with your tricks.
Gone forevermore, my prized amulet!”

Clever little dragon child returned through the wood
as the sun rises high through the green needle veil.
Clever little dragon child
returns back home.
When the fog rolls in, there’s no wicked gale.

*Vocalizing*
Oh clever dragon child…
Returned back home.
*Vocalizing*

There we have it!

“The Ballad of the Little Dragon Child…” which has a few parallels to the events of The Dark Forest of Aneth, if you can spot them. 😉

Read The Dark Forest of Aneth today for only $3.99 and see how I incorporated the ballad into the book…

New to Legends of Cirena? The Restless Sands of Neel and The Dragons of the Mist both lead into this book, and both are in Volume One: six stories for $10 instead of the usual $15. Or start free with The Wind Mage of Maijev.

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Happy reading and writing!

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Tagged as dark fantasy books, dark fantasy songs, fantasy ballad, fantasy music, fantasy poetry, fantasy songs, filk, Infinitas Publishing, legends of cirena, Stephanie Flint, The Wishing Blade Universe, world-building, writing, writing fantasy

October 23, 2026 · 7:31 am

Happy Book Birthday, The Dark Forest of Aneth! 🎉

The conclusion to the Legends of Cirena series is here! 🥳

I had one major goal for book publishing this year… and that was to get at least two full-length novels out, even if they were on the shorter side. The first was Fae. The second, I’m happy to say, is The Dark Forest of Aneth! (And there have even been two short stories released this year! “The Singing Coil,” and the recent release of “What Once Was Silent,” which is part of the Bone Hollow anthology!)

With the release of The Dark Forest of Aneth, we’ve wrapped up the Legends of Cirena series.

((Though, calling it the ‘conclusion’ may be a bit misleading because there are more stories coming from that era, but those are going to be part of a different series.))

This tale brings together elements from the previous books… the obvious regional connections, but also more details on the Oracle’s involvement throughout, more magical connections that have previously only been mentioned and, of course, the character crossover.

But it’s also exciting because, while it does set up some of the stuff that’s coming in a different series, The Dark Forest of Aneth gives us some details we didn’t previously have about the shadows in The Wishing Blade series… and references to Ralendacin.

(Oops, was that a spoiler? 🫢 Can’t say more. You’ll have to read it yourself. 😉 )

Grab the conclusion today!

A mortal dragon forced to face his own past, a hopelessly lost priestess of travel, and a judge who no longer trusts his own judgement…

Read The Dark Forest of Aneth today for only $3.99!

New to Legends of Cirena? The Restless Sands of Neel and The Dragons of the Mist both lead into this book, and both are in Volume One: six stories for $10 instead of the usual $15. Or start free with The Wind Mage of Maijev.

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

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Tagged as dark fantasy, dark fantasy new release, epic fantasy, Infinitas Publishing, intricate world building, legends of cirena, mythic fantasy, new fantasy books, shadowy woods, short dark fantasy novel, Stephanie Flint, The Wishing Blade Universe

October 17, 2026 · 9:29 am

The Cover Design Process for The Dark Forest of Aneth

Cover design process time! 😄

Real quick… most of the pre-order links for The Dark Forest of Aneth are now live!

Pre-Order The Dark Forest of Aneth from your favorite retailer:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Google Play (Link coming soon!) | Kobo | Smashwords

Secured your pre-order?

Onward!

Okay, so the cover design process for The Dark Forest of Aneth has been through two major designs and two computers… since I actually started the original design a while back, but shelved it when I put revisions for Dark Forest on hold.

I use Daz Studio 3D, a program which allows me to place figures in a scene, change how they look, pose them, change the environment around them, light the scene, set the camera angles… all that good stuff.

The downside is that rendering the scene can take either a doozy of a graphics card (specifically NVidia, because that’s what Iray, the render engine, uses) OR it takes a doozy of a CPU.

Or it just takes a very long, long time and a very loud, loud computer fan.

Or both.

In the case of my unfortunate (now mostly dead) laptop, I had to render some of these scenes overnight… in the other room, because that fan was loud.

Then Isaac got Jade, a desktop computer we set up to handle work smoothly, gaming, and rendering. Which means that these scenes, which took forever on my old laptop, might take an hour or two to render at full size. And quietly.

(My ears greatly appreciate this… and so does my sleep cycle).

Now… on to the progress renders!

For the first render, I’d focused on setting… I wanted the black gate of the village deep in the forest, lit by turquoise light crystals.

Already we’ve got the issue of it being too dark, but it’s a work in progress.

Very dark rendering of a gate in a forest

While there were some intermediate steps here, I changed the lighting and focused on adding characters. I added a unicorn (chesnathé) framed by the gate, and pulled in Ro’nor and Zynia from their previous covers.

Still too dark.

Also, they’re kind of buried in the ferns. (They are supposed to be hiding, though…)

Very dark rendering of two people hiding while watching a rearing unicorn near a gate in the forest

In the next render, we have light!

Still dark and mysterious, but we can see the figures better.

Sort of.

The low contrast on this would make a poor cover thumbnail, but I digress.

I changed the lighting, played with angle and cover dimensions, adjusted poses, fought a lot with keeping trees from appearing in the middle of characters, and brought them just a bit out of hiding.

Dark rendering of two people crouched among forest ferns watching a rearing unicorn near a village gate

But…

I wasn’t happy with it.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still think the concept is cool. But it wasn’t working to match the other covers, visibility was a fight, and, making matters worse, Ro’nor is no longer in this scene. (Tndrec is, but I wanted the two main characters on the cover).

Maybe I’ll redo this specific version of the cover to include Tndrec as art for the next Legends of Cirena volume. Hmm. *Mental note to work on that.*

Many months later I tried again.

This time I brainstormed with Claude AI about what had gone wrong with the previous cover, what I liked, and what I hoped to have different. After some back and forth, it produced a spec sheet for me to reference.

I went back to Daz (on Jade this time… so much faster…) kept the two characters and the forest, but nixed the unicorn and village, changed the lighting, played more with mist, and…

VOILA!

Already so much happier! 😃

Two people nervously walk through a foggy forest with magic in their hands

I was already pretty happy with this, but I took the rendered image back into Claude and compared it against the comp and asked for suggested improvements. Made some changes, and came up with this for the raw render. (Technically I had one with depth of field applied, one without).

All the images so far have been what came out of Daz Studio, no Photoshop yet.

Now that I was happy with the base images, I took those into Photoshop CS6, touched up the illustration to fix little areas where the clothes weren’t sitting right or overlaying each other correctly, added the effects and title treatment for the series, and here’s the final!

So there you have it! The cover design process for The Dark Forest of Aneth! 🦄

Don’t forget that pre-orders are live! The Dark Forest of Aneth will arrive on October 23rd, 2026!

Pre-Order The Dark Forest of Aneth from your favorite retailer:

* * *

Read the trio of tales following Ro’nor and Zynia…

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

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Filed under Book Covers, Daz 3D, Writing

Tagged as book cover design, creating a fantasy book cover, dark fantasy new release, fantasy covers, Infinitas Publishing, legends of cirena, self-publishing fantasy, Stephanie Flint, The Wishing Blade Universe, writing fantasy

October 10, 2026 · 9:20 am

Cover and Blurb Reveal: The Dark Forest of Aneth

Today I have something special for you… a cover reveal (and the blurb)! 😁

Specifically, the cover for The Dark Forest of Aneth. It’s the final story in my Legends of Cirena series (though there is a spin-off series in the works), which brings together Ro’nor from The Restless Sands of Neel and Zynia from The Dragons of the Mist.

After several failed attempts to get the original idea for the cover’s design working (along with the story going a different direction and the scene the first cover was referencing no longer existing), I finally finished a cover that has the mood I was aiming for and references a scene from the story.

Here it is!

The Dark Forest of Aneth Cover

I’m super excited!

Pre-orders will be going up soon (right after I finish inputting my proofreading notes and make sure the ebook file is still intact), and I plan to release this on October 23rd!

And, unlike the other Legends of Cirena stories, which were mostly short stories and novellas, this is a novel… 70,000 words! I do recommend reading The Restless Sands of Neel and The Dragons of the Mist first, but you don’t have to have read the other stories to follow this one. Though, if you do, you might spot some of the underlying plot hints that eventually show up in this one.

Also… if you’ve read Magic’s Stealing… there are some Easter eggs in here for ya. 😉

I promised you the cover and the blurb, so here’s the latter!

The Dark Forest of Aneth Blurb

A mortal dragon forced to face his own past, a hopelessly lost priestess of travel, and a judge who no longer trusts his own judgement…

Ro’nor is a dragon, at least by heritage. No wings, no shapeshifting, no fancy powers to make him special. He’s merely a seer, taking odd jobs to dig himself out of debt. Scry the weather. Find missing children. Simple things.

But his latest job leads him to a village of immortals, who need him to find their mortal child, a child with unprecedented power. She’s both a string mage and a creation mage, able to shape the world through sheer force of will. To help Ro’nor, the village grants him a relic more powerful than most gods dare wield—one that can cross both realms and time, with no promise of return.

Zynia is a devoted priestess to the god of land travel. She’ll help anyone who’s lost, which is fine, except right now she’s the one who’s lost, turned about in Aneth’s haunting forest. But when she finally tracks down the missing child, “lost” stops being her biggest problem.

The child’s captors are rigid isolationists who worship the goddess of the dead. One of them, Reyonvindrat, has lived his whole life under the shadows of his priestly brother. His tyrant brother… if he allows himself to consider the blasphemous truth.

The petulant child has magic only Reyonvindrat’s gracious goddess should wield. But his brother’s plans for her could ruin the world’s only chance for surviving a devastating future. Now Reyonvindrat must decide whether to remain faithful to the priest… or faithful to himself.

Rescue the child, and their world may yet survive.

Fail, and their world may unravel before any prophecy comes to pass.

Anyway, there’s going to be a cover design process post coming later this month. And keep an eye out for the pre-order links, coming soon!

* * *

Before The Dark Forest of Aneth… a hapless seer deals with an unexpected adventure in the desert, while a priestess travels farther than she or her god of travel expects when she lands in the realm of dragons…

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

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Tagged as cover reveal, dark fantasy new release, Infinitas Publishing, intricate world building, legends of cirena, short dark fantasy novel, Stephanie Flint, The Wishing Blade Universe, writing, writing craft, writing fantasy

October 7, 2026 · 12:22 pm

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

Today we have the September report! 📋

I’ve highlighted the projects that had changes in blue.

* * *

Changing Tides: (Book 4 of the Distant Horizon series). On hold while working on The Dark Forest of Aneth. Next step is to merge the two revised drafts and start writing the missing scenes.

Deceived #3: On hold. Needs revisions. Tentatively titled Exposed.

Future steps: Input Isaac’s notes from Deceived #5 (formerly #4) into the manuscript, revise Deceived #5, and revise #6 (formerly #5) before handing it to Isaac for his feedback.

Dossiers (Deceived Spin-off): On hold. Next step is a revision round which involves incorporating notes into the manuscript.

Multiverse Chronicles (Distant Horizon Universe Spin-off): On hold. Next up is adding the missing scenes, do a read-through for revision smudge, and then a read-aloud with Isaac. Then it’s off to beta-readers!

Little One (Distant Horizon Prequel): Last time, chapter six had been sent. Now the newsletter is up to chapter eight. (ProWritingAid edits included).

TWB 4: (Book Four of The Wishing Blade series). On hold. Next step is to write the outline and reread the first three books.

The Dark Forest of Aneth (A Legends of Cirena short novel): I did the read-aloud with Isaac using ElevenReader. Isaac made a few minor change suggestions, which I’ve input. After inputting the changes, I started the final proofread of The Dark Forest of Aneth (and finished in early October).

This is on schedule to release in mid-to-late October. (Update: October 23rd is the day I’m aiming for!)

Meanwhile, I had Claude AI help me brainstorm possible blog and newsletter topics for the upcoming launch of The Dark Forest of Aneth, based on the manuscript and what it analyzed worked well in previous newsletters. I’ve now got several ideas I’m excited to write, which will be the focus of the October blog posts.

Legends of Cirena Volume 2: September saw a lot of forward progress on the artwork for volume two.

I’ve got an in-progress scene of Livena and Joran in Ashan (The Wind Mage and the Wolf) designed in Daz. Had Claude review the scene and make some suggestions for improvements based on my concerns. I didn’t take all the suggestions, but I did make revisions and now need to review my test render.

I designed a portrait of Naleni (The Dark Forest of Aneth) in Daz and rendered it. Still debating if I like a different camera angle better, but if I keep the current render, it’s ready to take into Photoshop.

While listening to the Dark Forest read-aloud, I sketched the chapter background art for The Wind Mage and the Wolf and The Dark Forest of Aneth. I’ve started inking the lines for The Dark Forest of Aneth.

I started a character design of Tndrec in Daz. Not yet complete, but once done, I’d like to do a portrait style render of him and I’d like to update the original version of the Dark Forest cover that I dropped to have Tndrec instead, and use it as an illustration for the compilation.

The Ruins of Amixthael (The Gryphon and the Mountain Bear Spin-Off): On hold. Next step is to revise the chapters of the secondary character, then merge the two drafts together.

Future goals: Polish cover. Create blurb.

Untitled LoC Short Story (Standalone – Merchant in Reveratch): On hold. Next step is revisions.

Goals: Figure out a title. Create book cover and blurb. Polish the related poem/ballad so it can be included as back matter.

Untitled LoC Novel (Standalone – Twins in Ferta): Major progress here! Previously I was at chapter thirty-one sent to the newsletter and 73,000 words. In September I reached chapter thirty-three sent to the newsletter, and we’re now at around 91,000 words!

I got ideas for upcoming chapters and drafted several scenes, including buffering one chapter for the October emails. Additionally, I had Claude (Opus 5) review the manuscript and provide me a detailed list of what each of the point-of-view characters knew at the last sent chapter and what they were still seeking, so that I’d be more easily able to bring them all together. There was a lot of brainstorming happening this month.

I also had Claude do some quick research on the senses of snow leopards, which gave me a summary and a list of handy articles to review. (One of the characters can shapechange into a snow leopard, and I wanted an idea of what I could play with when in his point-of-view). Wasn’t perfect, but did give me some ideas to work with.

Also had Claude (Opus 5 in Code) do a chronology review of my Legends of Cirena series based on seasons so I could visually see where each of the stand-alones stood next to each other.

Next step is to continue writing the rough draft.

The Wind Mage and the Wolf Spin-Off (Joran’s Story – A Legends of Cirena short story) : On hold. Needs the rest of the fight scene cross-referenced.

Goals: Edit in ProWritingAid, read-aloud, proofread. Book cover and blurb.

Fae (Huntress 3): I’ve continued work on print formatting, but put it temporarily on hold for other deadlines once it became clear it wouldn’t arrive on time for the Harvest Moon Night Market, after a different restock order was estimated to arrive after. (Previously I’ve thought three weeks was plenty for ordering author copies from Amazon KDP. This no longer appears to be the case).

The basic formatting Claude set up for me worked well, so the part I’m working on is correcting widows/orphans, adjusting rivers, that kind of thing. About halfway through. I also got the interior title page images updated.

Goal is to have this in time for the Poor Artists Sale in December, if accepted into the event.

Horse Shifter Romantasy 🐎: On hold. Next step is to start drafting from the outline.

Dark Romantasy Idea: On hold. I need to finish reviewing the outline to see what’s missing.

Writers of Warrensburg Anthology – I input the editing feedback on my story and proofread it, then sent it in. Later in the month, the complete book came back with edits input. This goal was to at least proofread my own story and two others; bonus goal was to read entire anthology. I started the proofread in September and finished the complete anthology a couple days into October. (Next step is updating my author bio to send in).

Other Stories: So… my brain decided to throw an idea at me while in the shower… as writer brains often do, and now I’ve got 1000 words of a “pioneers-in-space on another planet with minotaurs” in a closed-door/sweet romance. A very fun 1000 words to write. And the basis of a cover that I designed in Daz. I had Claude review the idea for if there’s any market for this. (Answer… well… we still don’t know. We couldn’t find that particular combination, and most of the minotaur monster romance Claude found leans spicy). But yeah. If this sticks around in my head by the next report I’ll give it its own entry.

(Why do I do this to myself?)

The YA Alien Invasion/Dystopian short story is on hold.

Poetry (?!): No updates.

Game Design:

Phalanx: I need to get a photo showing all of the pieces for the mousepad edition.

Elemental Card Game: On hold. Needs a lot of playtesting because the rules weren’t finalized before I started tinkering with a digital edition.

Legends of Cirena Tabletop Game: I had Claude (Opus 5 on Max) add in the final expansion. I haven’t had a chance to playtest any of the updates, however.

Battle Decks: I had Claude (Opus 5.5) do a review of Battle Decks and update missing rules and functionalities. Still needs play-testing.

Anchor: I need to get a landing page for it set up on the Infinitas Publishing website.

Fantasy RPG Productivity App: On hold.

Cozy Fantasy Pet Sim: On hold. Adult creature lineart needs cleaned up and added to game, and juvenile creature art needs adjustments. I still need to add my own flavor text as well.

KROWN Assessment: Personality quiz for the Huntress universe. On hold. Needs testing, but it should be about ready.

AI Usage and Policy: No new updates. Detailed usage is in this report.

Marketing and Admin:

Continued having Claude do the Amazon Price Check for my permafree books. This has definitely been helpful in catching when they switch and having Claude edit my template so I can fire off the request for a price-match without having to fiddle as much with it. However, many authors are currently reporting issues with getting Amazon to price-match their books to free right now. I’m having mixed luck. Whispers in the Code doesn’t seem to be getting matched correctly, whereas The Wind Mage of Maijev has been hopping on and off free. Good news is that the other retailers are far more stable (and actually let us *choose* to make the book free).
Updated accounting, so we’re still up-to-date with financials!
I continued sending out the Distant Horizon and Wishing Blade universe newsletters on time. Now testing doing resends of the emails to subscribers who weren’t recorded as having opened the first email.
Had Claude review the series catalogue and help me find areas in my notes that needed updating.
Using Claude, I brainstormed ways to help make my books more visible. That surfaced the painfully-out-of-date categories on Amazon that I’d mostly been ignoring but, on looking at them again, realized they were incorrect and in dire need of a quick fix. After doing a temporary fix, I then had Claude pull all the current categories and keywords from KDP into a spreadsheet and review the notes I had it create on my books a while back to suggest new categories and keywords based on what might increase visibility in Amazon searches. I made the final call on which to include and which sounded definitely not right, but most were better than my scattershot approach. Ultimately I’ll want to compare the suggested keywords to Publisher Rocket’s information, which I’ve had Claude start reviewing but not complete. The books that have been updated so far: the Glitch saga books, Legends of Cirena books, Wishing Blade books, and Deceived books. (Some of those might have been updated October 1st instead of September). I had Claude build a skill for selecting keywords/categories on future books.
Got October BookFunnel promos submitted to and scheduled through the newsletter and blog. Started narrowing down choices for November but haven’t yet made the final selections.
Did a hefty review of my newsletters using Claude (both Sonnet 5 and Opus 5.5). I downloaded all the PDF previews from both my Distant Horizon and Wishing Blade newsletter, then had Claude review them for content, tone, and how that matched with opens and clicks over time. This is why I’m trying a later send time and trying the resend test.
Used Claude to update my production schedule/calendar to help me see how different projects are moving, and continued doing weekly check-ins and priority lists.
Still need to finish updating the book page here on this blog.

Next up: Continue overhauling book categories, keywords, and blurbs (aside from blurbs, four series are complete now). Review and update book prices; watch Book Blurb Magic course on books with multiple POVs, review a social media and newsletter email PDF I bought. Continue updating the design of individual Infinitas Publishing book pages and adding metadata. Continue adding books to the Stripe store for direct sales (alternately, review new BookFunnel feature offering Square sales?). Add alt text to images in earlier ebook files.

Repurposing Old Newsletter Content:

Only one post included re-purposed content this month:

When the Gods Get Involved – Meddling Deities in the Wishing Blade and Distant Horizon Universes (DHU/WBU) – *new*
Two Versions of Telepathy – Magic versus Superpower in the Wishing Blade and Distant Horizon Universes (DHU/WBU) – *new*
Complex Villains – “Evil” isn’t their one defining trait (HNT/WBU/DHU) – *new*
The Cover Design Process for Starless Night (DHU) – *repurposed*

Events: No events in September, however, I submitted the application for the Harvest Moon Night Market (October 11th in Calumet, MI).

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: I have a new project I’m working on for another publisher; this one includes book cover, print, and ebook formatting. I’m doing the cover in Daz, and the front image has almost reached approval stage. Next up will be ebook formatting. Goal is to have the ebook ready for them by November.

Meanwhile, I still need to upload a minor revision to the formatting project that includes the ASIN, as well as the age categories that KDP is asking for.

Future Goals: Update the SBibbPhoto website to incorporate Daz work and fix the SEO information. Finish designing cute mascot for a local store. Finish editing photos for a local Aikido group.

SIFlint Art: Five keychain designs and the plant dragon lanyard were ordered through Vograce, plus a rainbow planet pencil bag that I had designed but not previously ordered. I restocked a few other items. Wasn’t sure if they would arrive on time for the Harvest Moon Night Market, but the friend who I ordered them with said they have arrived! (The arrival is technically for the October report).

I made edits to my Daz character design of Edea for the Legends of Cirena stories. Doesn’t have a scene in volume two so I’m including it here, instead.

Daz PA: Back catalogue still doing decent, likely due to the month-long sales on Daz focused on PAs. Probably spent more than I should have investing in more assets during those sales, but I am now well-set on the pieces I needed to complete several upcoming projects.

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Happy writing and reading (Or 3D rendering if you’re into Daz)! 🙂

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Filed under Business Ventures, Daz 3D, Writing

Tagged as 3d artist, AI in self-publishing, AI process for authors, an author's process, indie publisher, Infinitas Publishing, Isaac Flint, publishing, SBibb, self-publishing, siflint art, Stephanie Flint, writing

October 6, 2026 · 9:58 am

Monthly Book Promotion Highlight

Spooky season is here… and so are the dark fantasy or sci-fi reads!

This month I’m featuring the Be Very Afraid! Scary and Dark Themes in Fantasy & Science Fiction ebook promo, the Witches’ Bookshelf ebook promo, the Not-So-Sacred October Reads ebook promo, and the YA/NA Dystopian & Dystopian Fantasy ebook promo!

Not So Sacred October Reads - Dark Fiction Ebook Promo

(Note: The giveaways above are hosted through BookFunnel. Authors will usually ask for your email address, and in many cases, the author will collect these addresses for their newsletters.)

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I hope you find a good book! 😀

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October 3, 2026 · 9:19 am

A snippet of a song from The Dark Forest of Aneth – the Ballad of the Little Dragon Child

I’ve had a lot of fun including songs in my stories, and my upcoming novel, The Dark Forest of Aneth, is no exception.

The Dark Forest of Aneth is book nine of my Legends of Cirena series, but you only need to have read The Restless Sands of Neel and The Dragons of the Mist for it to make sense. Dark Forest is the cross-over of those two short stories, with characters from each having been summoned to find and rescue an overly powerful child in the foreboding forest of Aneth.

I knew I wanted Dark Forest to have a song tied into it, same as how The Restless Sands of Neel had a song from it that related to the culture of the Darden Isles. But, while writing The Dark Forest of Aneth, I originally only had bits and pieces of the song, and an idea of how the tale would go. It was only after I finished the final major set of revisions on the story itself that I also finished the full draft of the ballad… which has a few parallels to events in the story.

Here’s a snippet from The Ballad of the Little Dragon Child:

Little dragon child wandered through the wood
though the sun passed low through the green needle veil.
Come little dragon child,
turn back home.
When the fog rolls in so does a wicked gale.

But the little dragon child was a curious one
saw the mist curling low over pond and fern.
Little dragon child waited out the night to see
what forms this time the mist would be.

*Vocalizing* Oh…

Oh little dragon child…
Turn back home…

*Vocalizing*

Those are the first couple sections of several. Like I said, it’s a ballad.

I have a rough idea of how to sing it (from my very un-nuanced perspective of music writing), but haven’t quite nailed down the rhythm yet without tripping over myself in some of the later verses.

I’ll have another post about the ballad in a later week, but speaking of The Dark Forest of Aneth…

Expect a cover reveal soon! 😃

If you’re on the Wishing Blade Universe newsletter, you’ve already seen the new cover. But if not, I’ll be revealing that cover right here on the blog sometime next week. (Click here if you want to sign up for Wishing Blade Universe news! You’ll also get an ebook copy of Stone and String, as thanks. 😊)

Later this month on the blog, I’ll do a breakdown of the process the cover went through in order to get it to its current state. I’ll have a few other Dark Forest themed posts, too.

Why?

Well, it’s almost ready to release! As in, it’s coming before the end of the month! *Happy dance.*

I’m on the final proofread right now, and once that’s done, I’ll start the upload process and get the pre-order links set up. Which means the Legends of Cirena series will have its conclusion!

Well… first conclusion.

The Dark Forest of Aneth wraps up the very loose plot thread running throughout the Legends series, and ties directly into Magic’s Stealing from the Wishing Blade series.

But I’ve already written a couple more short stories that come after this one, and I’m working on an in-progress novel that takes place around the same time. But those will be spin-off series, rather than continuing as Legends of Cirena #10.

* * *

Prepare for The Dark Forest of Aneth… by reading the prequel short stories following two of the main characters!

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Happy reading and writing!

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Tagged as fantasy ballad, fantasy music, fantasy songs, filk, Infinitas Publishing, intricate world building, legends of cirena, Stephanie Flint, The Wishing Blade Universe, world-building, writing, writing craft, writing fantasy

September 26, 2026 · 9:27 am

The Cover Design Process for Starless Night

The cover for Starless Night went through several iterations before Isaac and I landed on one we both liked.

Back in October of 2020…

With the rough draft for Starless Night complete, and the rough draft for Changing Tides a third of the way there, in theory, (at the time I’d hoped to have it complete by the end of October because I really wanted to write something new for NaNoWriMo), I had the first “final” version of the cover made for Starless Night. Polished and everything!

(Spoiler… this isn’t the cover that ended up on the book)

I had focused on a scene at the climax of the story, a masquerade, but with Jenna’s shadow as the thorny tree representing the brain seed in her head (also part of the climax).

But feedback suggested the model didn’t quite work and the dress wasn’t quite right (I mean, it wasn’t going to match the story perfectly anyway because I was working with stock photography), but Isaac pointed out that the dress wasn’t particularly fitting for a ballroom masquerade (especially one set in the near future).

Cue a bit of Daz work, and I changed up the dress and did more retouching on the background.

This is where I ended up. (Poor Jenna, who doesn’t usually like dresses, is now on her third dress description for this story). She got more vines and a more modern dress (as much as I liked the original).

But after asking other authors their thoughts on the cover’s genre, I came to the realization that the background was giving the wrong impression.

While there are definitely fantasy elements (even more so in Starless Night than Fractured Skies), it should still be hitting sci-fi adventure elements, and not so much urban or contemporary fantasy.

At least… I didn’t think it should?

Given that it’s a mixed genre story, I’d been having a hard time placing exactly what I should be marketing it as.

So I took a look to see if I could add something with a little more sci-fi or dystopian flair. (Either a more modern ballroom that better represented where the scene takes place, or maybe a destroyed city street that could represent a couple different scenes aside from the masquerade?) Either way, I figured the tree would likely stick around, and I was still hoping to hit a surreal look more representative of the brain seed’s attacks.

And so… I might have thrown in the kitchen sink…

Oiy.

Someone pointed out the background had been signaling “Fae court” vibes ((to be entirely fair here, that isn’t precisely wrong. I got a lot of influence from fae court intrigue vibes, thank you) and that it was hitting either urban fantasy or contemporary fantasy.

Not so much sci-fi (with a lot of fantasy elements).

So I updated the background to something more accurate to the scene…

Which turned into an outright mess. *Face-palm*

I mean, it definitely shows the ensuing destruction.

But it still didn’t feel like it matched the goal.

(Or made for a good cover).

So I abandoned the masquerade scene altogether. I decided to really lean into the sci-fi side, and I jumped to a scene early in the book, one where Jenna returns home once more and has to deal with legionaries:

Book cover for Starless Night. A young woman in a black combat suit with thorny vines around her arms faces ghostly spirits in a wintery city street at night.

And you know what?

I was happy with this. Even beyond the rose-colored glasses period of having just made this.

This is the version that made it onto the book.

Now… ultimately, I should probably change the title font on all of them to better meet genre expectations. Having a more dynamic image might also be a good idea. And technically, the legionnaires should probably be more dark/wispy… but I’ll take this as a workable answer, at least until I level up my Daz and Photoshop skills.

On the bright side, it still comes from a scene in the story. 😀

* * *

Read the genre mash-up of a fantasy story dressed in sci-fi aesthetic…

Book Cover for Distant Horizon, with a gold title. A young woman faces a sterile white hallway with faces in the doors. She has vines around her arms.

Book cover for Fractured Skies with gold text. A young woman in a coat faces a wintery, pink-tinted forest. She has vines around her arms.

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

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Tagged as book cover design, designing a book cover, Distant Horizon series, Distant Horizon Universe, fantasy, Infinitas Publishing, Isaac Flint, publishing, science fantasy, science fiction, self-publishing, Stephanie Flint, writing

September 19, 2026 · 9:44 am

Complex Villains – “Evil” isn’t their one defining trait

(Did I just make a The Lego Movie 2 reference? Yes. Do I now have a song stuck in my head? Also yes).

Most of the antagonists I write, or at least, that I enjoy writing, have distinct goals driven by personal motivations that don’t start as outright evil.

In my latest Huntress book, Fae, even the extremists who are about to hurt a lot of innocent people if their attack succeeds aren’t doing so because they want to cause harm. They’re scared. They feel like they’re backed into a corner (even if they aren’t). And someone else is nudging them into a terrible direction.

In this case, that’s Dr. Johnson (main antagonist in Changeling and the primary antagonist for the rest of this series). Which leads me to consider, is Dr. Johnson, secret mastermind, truly evil?

I don’t think I’d say evil. A bad guy? Oh yeah. Her actions cause major harm. But even she is being driven by a misguided sense of wanting to make the world a beautiful place.

What about Lord Cafrash Menchtoteale, antagonist in Magic’s Stealing? He forges a sword that allows him to steal the magic from the kingdom for the Trickster god (which causes a lot of mages to fall ill and/or die), and then goes on to lead an army of shadows impervious to regular weapons as he invades Cirena.

The catch?

He’s not doing this willingly.

He got tricked into serving the Trickster by trying to protect someone he cared about, and breaking that bond isn’t something he can do without either a really powerful string mage or divine intervention. And the Trickster, who can possess him as part of the bond, isn’t going to let that intervention happen.

So now Cafrash is doing his best to follow the Trickster’s orders, all while trying to mitigate the harm.

For a much more villainous antagonist, let’s look at Lord Black from my Distant Horizon universe. He’s one of the utopian Community’s founders. He got his start in an alternate universe as a supersoldier who gets betrayed by the authority that created him, and so he goes on a rampage uprooting that corruption before getting locked away… only to find himself in an entirely different universe that was wholly unprepared for what he could do.

(Note: Most of those backstory details haven’t been detailed in the published yet, just speculated on by characters, but that’s the gist of it).

Given the opportunity, Lord Black upends the corruption in his new universe (the one we see in Distant Horizon) to create a peaceful, secure community that cares for its citizens’ needs (mostly), and is pretty decent at protecting them.

But that protection and care came at the cost of turning people with powers into mindless beasts, hiding the existence of powers and those beasts, committing genocide against those of pretty much any religion in order to lower the chances of religious-based uprising, as well as a myriad of other war crimes, all while blaming it on a non-existent plague.

Not a good guy.

Eventually, once all that gets revealed by a monster of his organization’s making, the Community he worked so hard to build crumbles.

(There’s more I’d like to say about him as a character and his potential redemption points, but that would also give major spoilers for the series, so… I’ll just leave it at that for now).

So, where was I going with this? I guess it’s to say I generally like writing complex villains.

They might not appear complex initially, but given time and a chance for their backstory to emerge, eventually that complication—the part that makes us question how we should feel about them and whether or not they’re redeemable—shows up.

Most of the time.

In my “Twins in Ferta” story—working title, I’ll figure out something better later—which I’m currently drafting and releasing to the Wishing Blade Universe newsletter chapter-by-chapter, there is a particular character who I’d give the “evil” designation to.

He acts only for himself, hurts others for his gain and pleasure, and isn’t making any attempt to do better. I don’t spend a whole lot of time with him on-screen, and I don’t plan to redeem him. (Let’s just say he’s not getting a happy ending.)

Long story short, I prefer to write antagonists who aren’t evil for evil’s sake. They might not always get a redemption arc, but generally they’re going to have a logical reason for doing the things they do.

* * *

Want to see these antagonists in action?

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

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Tagged as Distant Horizon Universe, how to write better characters, Huntress universe, Infinitas Publishing, intricate world building, legends of cirena, Stephanie Flint, The Wishing Blade Universe, villains in fantasy, world-building, writing, writing a villain, writing craft, writing fantasy

September 12, 2026 · 9:47 am

Two Versions of Telepathy – Magic versus Superpower in the Wishing Blade and Distant Horizon Universes

I recently did a presentation on world-building, so I’ve been thinking a lot about world details, and today I thought I’d talk about how I use telepathy in both the Distant Horizon Universe and Wishing Blade Universe. 🙂

Real quick, in case you’re new to my worlds:

The Distant Horizon Universe includes the Distant Horizon, Deceived, and Glitch series. Science fantasy/dystopia.

The Wishing Blade Universe includes the Wishing Blade, Legends of Cirena, and Stone and String series. Secondary fantasy.

Now, I’ve already done one in-depth focus on telepathy in the Distant Horizon series. You can find that post here. But there are some key differences between the two story universes.

Telepathy in Distant Horizon

In the Distant Horizon Universe, someone with the telepathy power can send thoughts and images, read minds, plant ideas and influence emotions, and possess their target. An extremely skilled telepath can plant “memory seeds” which unfold over time (More on that in this post).

Telepathy has a pretty wide spread of uses, though its capabilities depend on how strong of a telepath the user is and how trained. Someone with telepathy as a secondary or tertiary power isn’t likely to be able to possess their target or plant a memory seed, but they might be able to subtly affect the emotions of those around them.

Artifacts exist that can hold that power if someone doesn’t naturally come by it (they’ll need enchanted apatite), and artifacts exist that can help enhance that power (enchanted emerald).

Alternatively, shields exist that can block the power—whether by shutting down the powers of the telepath entirely, or by blocking a telepath from targeting someone who is shielded. And if the telepath has taken adominogen (an in-universe drug that blocks superpowers), they won’t be able to access their innate telepathy. But once the shield is removed or the adominogen has left their system, they’ll have access to their powers again.

Telepathy in the Wishing Blade

Now, in the Wishing Blade Universe, telepathy comes from pink ribbons of telepathy, a specialized kind of ribbon magic. Mostly, it’s used for communication, sent from the person who has the ribbons to a target, but the target’s mind can’t be read. It’s possible to intercept a ribbon to effectively eavesdrop, but that takes considerable skill. Communication is primarily verbal, though images and senses might also be passed along via ribbon. The thoughts may still convey feeling: amusement, annoyance, anger, the like.

Unlike in the Distant Horizon Universe, telepathy can’t be used as mind control. Even magic’s lure, which is a kind of compulsion magic, doesn’t affect the mind, it only controls the physical body and forces action. Telepathy ribbons might be used to convey a command, but on it’s own, can’t be used to control.

Word magic can affect a person’s mind (for example, wiping memories), but usually isn’t used as an outright mind control mechanism. There are other ways to adjust a person’s mind, but those tend to be much rarer powers that certain deities have, rather than easily accessed by mortals. (We get a really strong example of this at the end of Magebane, when a certain god of merriment manages to take over a town by using his boon, rather than through magic’s lure or word magic).

Crystals (usually quartz, though not always) can be enchanted to hold telepathy ribbons, and anyone can use them to send messages. However, there’s no direct way to block a telepathy ribbon. Magebane could potential destroy or repel the ribbon, while silk might slow it down or prevent it from going through, but can still be bypassed. Glass-stone would likely stop magic from passing through, but there’s no feasible way to use it except as, perhaps, a prison wall. Even then ribbons could find their way through a vent. Ribbons can be removed, however, or destroyed, which would permanently remove a mage’s ability to use telepathy without an enchanted telepathy crystal.

In both universes, using your own telepathy powers or magic can be physically taxing, especially if you’re pushing it beyond what you’ve practiced or are normally capable of doing. And, in both universes, some people are born with telepathy magic or powers, while others aren’t. The exception comes from spirits (Distant Horizon Universe), who automatically gain telepathy, a low-level form of insight, and life-spirit powers when becoming a spirit, and immortals (Wishing Blade Universe) whose immortal magic is a stronger form of ribbon magic, and usually gives them some version of telepathy and healing, and other types of magic depending on what kind of immortal they are.

* * *

Want to see the telepathy in action? Start with Distant Horizon or Magic’s Stealing…

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

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