I’d been sitting on the outline for Starless Night for a while… partially because I was cycling through projects, but also, because the prospect of the third Distant Horizon book was daunting.
I had a partial rough draft and an outline already written. (See the post from two weeks ago). But that outline was written before Isaac and I made major edits to Fractured Skies, thus changing the shape of where the story was headed.
Characters I thought were going to be dead were now still alive, and characters who lived in the role-play campaign ended up dead. (Still can’t quite believe Isaac convinced me to kill off that character… though it really did make sense for the story). And important plot points were revealed way earlier than we expected, rendering certain scenes in the third book no longer necessary.
Between all the character relationships and faction issues, I wasn’t sure where to start. Originally, I hoped to salvage bits and pieces of the previous draft to work into the revised version. But that seemed likely to cause more problems than help.
I stalled, hoping that writing Deceived would get me back in the swing of writing for the Distant Horizon universe. It did (and accidentally spawned a new series). I now wanted to return to Jenna’s story.
But it didn’t solve the wall I had been running into.
Then Isaac brought up the idea of cutting two very major plots that we had planned for the third book, and condensing the last two books back into one.
At first, I was resistant to the whole thing. I loved some of the scenes he was suggesting cutting, scenes we had discussed and honed a while back.
But…
There’s a saying that writers have to “kill their darlings.” (I kind of despise that saying, by the way). It doesn’t always hold true. But sometimes, eliminating a plot or a scene, or merging two characters, end up making for a better story. Or solves your problems.
I started thinking about Isaac’s suggestions. About eliminating those two major plot points and how it would affect the story.
And… um…
It worked a lot better.
Instead of taking a longer route to get to the climax by looking at various outside forces and their impact on Jenna’s brainseed, the focus is much more strongly related to the issues of Legion’s rise and the downfall of the Community.
Suddenly a lot of foreshadowing in Fractured Skies regarding artifacts, alchemist-enchanters, and the Elizabeth pendants had a direct tie back into the story. And the trimmed version made some of the future plans for this universe tie in more clearly, too.
I really liked the beginnings of the new outline and where it was going.
So I presented some of my new notes to Isaac and we began bouncing ideas off each other again, rather than coming to a stalemate about where the story should go.
So I decided to scrap the entirety of the previous rough draft. It exists as writing practice and helped to flesh out the world, but it was going to be simpler to start book three from scratch.
And that’s okay.
My hope was that my writing skills would have improved since I wrote the original draft, and starting from scratch helped reduce the amount of “revision smudge” likely to sneak in if we weren’t careful.
Best of all, we were having fun with the story again, and I looked forward to seeing how the pieces that we decided should stay would weave themselves together.
There were a couple directions we could take the end of Jenna’s arc, so we still had to figure out which one was the most satisfying and would make the most sense, especially since there was still going to be one more book after Starless Night, but it was now planned to be a four-book series instead of a five-book one.
((*Insert defeated laughter/crying here.* A note from present-day me who is in the process of revising this ancient newsletter email into a blog post… “Just four books? Sure… If I can figure out how to condense Changing Tides. Because last I checked, there’s still a whole missing middle section, and it’s already well over full-length. Either something major needs cut, or the book needs to be split into two.”))
So… what was one of those major changes?
Warning! Spoilers for Fractured Skies ahead!
It involved a return to the Community after Legion strikes.
The thing is, Legion isn’t entirely destructive. Though a lot of people end up with their life force drained to feed Legion’s ghostly legionnaires (hence sending teams to evacuate the area when it gets attacked), others choose to join Legion’s call to “control the chaos,” forming a cult that sees Legion as more efficient than the Community under Camaraderie rule.
Originally, we planned a sequence in St. Petersburg involving the destruction of the city, and after that, we didn’t see much of the cult (though Jenna did try to help with evacuations in other parts of the Community).
This time, we decided to explore what happens when Legion gets into the Community. The destruction-versus-life going on sort-of normally… while a certain prior (second-in-commands for Legion) becomes a primary antagonist, rather than being defeated early on. Which means this prior will return in Changing Tides.
And the HUGE thing we considered that we hadn’t before is how Jenna’s brain seed handles dealing with Legion.
After all, the brain seed’s creator also had a hand in creating Legion (well, the Legion Spore… since the creator didn’t expect it to be “killed”), and thus has a particular interest in Legion’s powers…
And acquiring said powers.
Normally, Jenna wants nothing to do with Legion. But while Jenna is under the brain seed’s influence, she has far more interest in Legion’s power than she should…
AND IT DOES NOT END WELL FOR THE RESCUE MISSION.
(Remember how I said there was a character who survived in the campaign but not in Starless Night?)
Anyway, that scene allowed us to really explore Legion’s influence, the Community, and the brain seed, in ways we had never expected…
And even ended up influencing the book cover design for Starless Night, as well.
I’m much happier with that book now. (And ugh… having a tooth pulled was literally easier than writing that particular book). But I really like how Starless Night wraps up. Redoing the outline was the right call.
So yeah. Ever completely scrapped an outline and tried again?
* * *
This series has undergone so many changes since we first started Jenna’s journey with a role-play game…
📋 Now that I’ve posted the ‘end of 2025’ status report, let’s take a look at January through April 2026!
Still quite a bit of life stuff happening during these months, but much of that has now been wrapped up. I somehow still got a lot of stuff done, so let’s see what’s been going on…
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): Last time we were at chapter seventeen in the Distant Horizon Universe newsletter. We’re now up to chapter twenty-six, and my next email will send the epilogue! 😃
So far the manuscript is at 77,000 words, though I expect it to go longer before publication due to several missing scenes.
Isaac and I already knew the detective plotline needed additional scenes written. But I did take the entire manuscript into Claude and asked it to create an interactive timeline that showed where each character group appears on a per-chapter basis, to include a short sentence or two on what’s happening with that group, and to mark incomplete arcs. I now have a better idea of which characters need to be looped in together and where to focus my next set of revisions.
Overall, this should make the revision process go much smoother. Once those scenes are added in, my next step is do a complete read-through to check for revision smudge, and then do a read-aloud with Isaac to make sure the story still fits his vision. (He wrote the original draft, which I then edited). Then it’ll be off to beta-readers!
The question is where to slot working on this story in the grand scheme of things. I don’t want it to get sidelined for as long as last time.
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 (“Ro’nor (“The Restless Sands of Neel”) & Zynia (“The Dragons of the Mist”) cross-over / A Legends of Cirena short novel): I input the notes from the manuscript I printed for editing into my Scrivener file. I ran the updated manuscript through Claude and AutoCrit for developmental feedback, then set the project aside so I could review it later with fresh eyes and decide if I agreed with the suggestions. Ultimately, I disagreed with several of the suggestions, but I did decide I probably need to merge/cut the first couple chapters. I think I ran this through ProWritingAid for copy edits, but this isn’t entirely clear in my planner notes, so I’ll want to double-check edits before finalizing the project.
I also put the manuscript onto my ancient Kindle Paperwhite (from 2013… it’s slow but it does still function, at least for the moment) and read through it like a book. (This was the pass where I decided to merge chapters).
Next step is to input my notes from that round, then see if it’s ready for beta-readers.
Other Goals: Revisit the book cover concept. Create a blurb. Polish the related poem/ballad so it can be included as back matter.
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 Novella (Standalone – Twins in Ferta): Last time I was at chapter fifteen and 34,000 words. At the end of the month I’d reached chapter twenty-three and around 51,500 words. I’ve continued running each chapter through ProWritingAid for copy edit suggestions before sending it out to the Wishing Blade Universe newsletter.
I once again took the most up-to-date version of the manuscript into Claude to look for missing plot threads and to use Claude as a “talking” rubber duck to bounce brainstorming ideas off of. I ended up getting a better idea of what still needs to be added to the story before wrapping it up. (And I’ve also started getting an idea of where the next story might go… and some character motives I hadn’t decided on for one of the antagonists in The Wishing Blade series. Bonus!)
Next step is to continue writing the rough draft.
The Wind Mage and the WolfSpin-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): Revisions complete!
I also did a second round of revisions for the notes I’d left myself, and ran the AutoCrit “beta-reader” analysis on the manuscript to see if there was anything I wanted to adjust before sending it to actual beta-readers. After that, I took it into ProWritingAid for edits, compiled the chapters and asked Claude to format it based on the ebook formatting of one of my previous books. (Score for a very fast formatting round that only needed a few corrections!)
I then read through that version to check for revision smudge, then took that into Atticus so I could prepare the beta-reader edition. Now it’s off to beta-readers!
Next step is to finalize the cover and write the blurb while waiting for feedback.
Horse Shifter Romantasy 🐎: On hold. Next step is to start drafting from the outline.
Dark Romantasy Idea: Toward the beginning of April, I got an idea for a dark romantasy story that wouldn’t leave me alone, so I took the idea into Claude and started brainstorming/plotting. I now have a rough outline in the form of a bunch of scene ideas that I had Claude organize, though its interpretation of my scenes is a little off from my intentions, so I started writing out a synopsis to better match my vision. I have a small chunk of that written but it’s more like the told version of the story and currently sits at 4,000 words.
Writers of Warrensburg Anthology – I decided to participate in the upcoming Writers of Warrensburg (Missouri writers’ group) anthology! My short story outline has been approved, and now needs drafting. I’ve been watching the online recordings of the meetings and sending my feedback of each story via email since I can’t usually attend live.
Other Stories: Got an idea for a fantasy short story where the gods/demons are inspired by various AIs (working title: “The Gods of Aether Ignis”). About 500 words written into it, but I only have notes for it rather than a solid outline, so we’ll see how far I get with this. Mostly I have three scenes in mind, with one of those scenes drafted, but I’m missing a connector piece.
The YA Alien Invastion/Dystopian short story is on hold.
Trinar Seven – Rediscovered this story (first NaNoWriMo project I did) while at my parents’ house. Ran it through Claude to review its strengths and weaknesses in case I’d like to return to revising it.
Little One – Set up in Scrivener because I’m considering editing this one for my next Distant Horizon Universe newsletter story.
Poetry (?!): Well, I wasn’t planning on writing poetry, but I guess that’s what happens when I read Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing. Published both on this blog and on Substack.
Got it back from beta-readers, formatted it, input the final edits, read through it on my ancient Kindle Paperwhite, and then did a read-aloud with Isaac to catch any remaining typos.
I tried two versions of the blurb. The first I wrote entirely myself. The second version, I handed the story to Claude and gave it a series of prompts to consider, then asked it to create a blurb based on those. I then refined that version and asked readers on a feedback group to review which one they liked better. The Claude-based blurb won out, so that’s the one I’m trying first.
While working on the blurb, I illustrated the cover to get it as close to cozy sci-fi cover conventions as I could. Original drawn in pencil, then inked, scanned into the computer, then cleaned and colored in Photoshop CS6. I did this for both the foreground and background. In dealing with the title treatment, I asked Claude to write me a program I could use to locally batch my typeface files into images so I could choose the font I wanted without having to individually wade through thousands of options.
I had ChatGPT review my backmatter to see if I had any obvious issues with tone when it came to pointing to other stories in my catalogue. (As a note, I’ve been leaning away from using ChatGPT).
Separately, I got the Infinitas Publishing book page created for The Singing Coil, and I created a series of blog posts for the launch, though I still have one that dives into the details of the cover design process that I haven’t yet finalized but want to share.
For mini side projects I attempted to add guitar chords to the lullaby and record a version of me singing it. Eh… let’s just say that’s a work in progress.
Game Design: Quite a few things happening here!
Phalanx: We have most of the pieces we need to finalize the mousepad edition of Phalanx, so the next step is to acquire the last couple of components and package it all together. Goal is to have this edition at the Flower Moon Spring Market.
Separately I tested inputting the rules, card art, and game details into Claude, and asked it to create a web-based browser game. It came out surprisingly well on the first try. I made a few iterations to the browser edition, and at this point I just need to test it and make sure there aren’t any bugs before sharing it. (And also trying to adapt it to a mobile-friendly version).
If there’s enough interest in the browser edition, I’d like to hire a developer to create a nicer version of the game, but that depends on if there’s enough interest to fund it.
Anchor: Isaac has been eyeing this fun little dice game again that he made and we’re looking to trying to develop a version we can take to local events.
He already has a list of components needed for the prototype test, so we’ll see if we can acquire those when we do our run to pick up the final components for Phalanx. We have a couple beta prototypes already that we’ve used for our own purposes in testing, but they aren’t polished.
Next step is for me to polish the art sketch he designed for the logo of the game.
Fantasy RPG Productivity App: Sometime in early March, Isaac mentioned wanting a productivity app that used role-play game dynamics to incentivize completing various daily tasks and work projects.
So… I’ve been developing that using Claude, and after several iterations, it’s now over to Isaac for testing. I gave Claude instructions on what aspects we wanted in the app. (Quest boards with daily tasks, a marketplace to get equipment for your character, companions, an overly enthusiastic, encouraging fairy to cheer you on…) And I worked with it to adjust the human factors aspect of actually using the app both in a desktop browser and on a phone.
Right now the app uses a placeholder story generated by Claude (with my worldbuilding suggestions) to see if the mechanics work during testing, but if Isaac likes the app and we decide to develop it further, I’ll want to write my own “chapters” into the game.
I also suspect that, of all the apps I’ve been working with Claude on, this one (or the cozy fantasy pet sim, below) would benefit the most from hiring a human developer.
Cozy Fantasy Pet Sim– Toward the end of April I decided to test an idea that had been rolling around in my head for a while. Once again I took to Claude to see what could be created in terms of a browser-based game. My goal? Create a cozy fantasy pet simulator that was entirely self-contained and could run in a browser.
The sim has now been through several iterations. The genetics seems to be working, buying/selling items is functioning properly, going on expeditions and training skills is cohesive, etc.
I’ve also done the first round of inputting my own artwork into the game. Right now there are still several placeholder vector designs for items and backgrounds (I didn’t realize Claude could design vector art and I got quite the surprise when the game first loaded with a fully functional cozy critter design).
Next step is to finish polishing the juvenile creature art I created, then move on to cleaning the adult creature art and adding it into the game. (Right now it’s just “big” juvenile and “little” juvenile).
I’ll also need to write flavor text and create an intentional list of in-game items rather than using the generic generated list. (Anything on the expeditions are already mostly created by me because somewhere along the line I decided this was going to be a Upper Peninsula flavored cozy fantasy and I had way too much fun brainstorming item lists).
This is another project that, if I get the game functional for sharing, I would hope to eventually be able to hire a web developer to make a nicer edition. (Or dream goal… hire a web developer and hire artists to add in new creatures beyond the ones I draw).
AI Usage and Policy: As you can probably tell from this report, I’ve been exploring quite a bit of AI usage. As of the moment, our December 12th AI Use Policy update still holds true, though it doesn’t explicitly reference the use of code generation. I intend to periodically review this policy and update it if needed.
I did go ahead and pick up the $20 Pro plan on Claude to see what it was capable of. Will re-evaluate at the end of the month to determine whether to keep the subscription or cancel it.
Also… I started working on notes for a potential presentation on AI Literacy. Specifically, what AI is, what it can/can’t do, and how to use it safely, or avoid using altogether if preferred. I’ve got a lot of ideas for this, and could really branch off into more detailed presentation ideas, but haven’t yet formed the actual presentation. I’ve been using Claude to dump my ideas into and keep them organized.
Marketing/Admin:
No adjustments to Amazon Ads. Thinking about starting a couple new ones to test, but these aren’t high priority.
Continued participating in BookFunnel group promos and rotating which book I focus on promoting. Also tried to do a store-specific promo (Kobo) but haven’t seen much change in retailer traffic.
I’ve continued sending out story chapters with each newsletter email (The Multiverse Chronicles in the Distant Horizon Universe newsletter and the Ferta story in The Wishing Blade Universe newsletter.) With Multiverse Chronicles about wrapped up, I’m debating which story to tackle next. I’m considering pulling out Little One. But we’ll see.
I had Claude help me design a book progress tracker in Google Sheets. I’ve been using this to quickly overview what steps are still left on any given project.
I’ve been using Claude to check my progress every couple weeks or so to make sure I stay on track and don’t get (too) derailed by shiny side projects. I also created an Infinitas Publishing-focused project within Claude to help keep myself organized and analyze more business data for patterns I might be missing. It seems to be helpful in prompting me to clean up my business sheets, get accounting done faster, and finish these status reports. (Mostly because if I want feedback on them, they actually need to be done. And even artificial feedback is apparently useful in giving me that poke to get a move on it).
I tested ChatGPT for making a rough Google Sheets business model canvas for Infinitas Publishing. I’m not sure that was actually useful. I’ll need to look at this again later.
I used Claude to review the Infinitas Publishing website design and get suggestions for improving readability and placement on a new button feature I’m considering adding. Currently Huntress is the only page that has these.
Tinkered with Claude Design in beta for a slide-show style book trailer. (Note: I had it use my own images). Same with creating A+ content for Amazon pages. I liked the ideas but it’s not quite polished enough to use yet. Might revisit its suggestions later.
Updated Huntress and Changeling metadata! Woot! Finally updated Amazon keywords and categories for these two. (Apparently I hadn’t updated these in several years). I had Claude suggest keywords based on my series briefs, which I then checked in Publisher Rocket. I returned with the keywords I was considering, then had Claude pick from those with an explanation for why. Got these updated. Haven’t yet seen a boost in sales, but hoping it will help long term.
I used Claude to review my manuscripts for suggested content warnings, tropes, and comp titles and started adding the ones I agreed with to the book pages on the Infinitas Publishing website. Currently have them on the Deceived and Distant Horizon series, and part of the Glitch series.
Finally started updating book pages with additional details like ISBN, genre, publication date, word count, etc. Also tested website accessibility for both Alt text and generative engine optimization and started restructuring series pages based on that. This is in progress.
Been listening to more podcasts (especially The Creative Penn podcast and related Patreon) and did a lot more reading, mostly of non-fiction.
Infinitas Publishing accounting is up-to-date through the middle of April. Now I’ve just got to try to keep it up to date. I’ve made a note on my calendar that repeats once a month for getting these details entered.
Finally updated my Amazon Central author bio.
Next up: Review and update book prices; watch Book Blurb Magic course on books with multiple POVs, continue updating metadata of other books. Continue updating the design of individual Infinitas Publishing book pages. Check for what other retailers need my updated author bio. Continue adding books to the Stripe store for direct sales. Revise Amazon ads, and overhaul book categories, keywords, and blurbs.
Crafting Your Fictional World: On Hold.
Repurposing Old Newsletter Content:
Still doing this! And still enjoying seeing what I wrote previously and updating it as needed. I’ve been trying to schedule a month’s worth of posts at a time, with varying degrees of success.
Events: We’re currently planning on going to the Flower Moon Spring Market in Hancock at the end of May, and plan to apply to the UP Rainbow Pride event in Marquette. Books have been ordered!
I’ve made plans to do a Crafting Your Fictional World presentation later in the year. More on that closer to the event.
SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Finally started formatting an ebook for an indie press. Basic formatting complete, and next step is to incorporate the publisher’s feedback.
I’m debating getting back into photography with a specific focus on casual, fun shots, especially those with costumed or fantasy vibes. Still working out the logistics, but I’m starting to talk to friends about how to go about setting up a test session.
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: I created a dragon illustration for a local zine. Still in progress, but the inked version now exists.
I’m watching for a sale at my sticker printer so I can order more stickers (and get bag hoarding dragon stickers!)
Daz PA: I submitted a few products for Daz site promotions. The Egyptian Ankh Makeup set and Frog Prince poses have been accepted for the month-long Outlet store, so we’ll see how that goes. 🙂
* * *
Happy writing and reading (Or 3D rendering if you’re into Daz)! 🙂
Looking for something fantastical, and/or short? Browse these free ebooks and find one you like!
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(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.)
The process of writing a rough draft can be… well… a bit rocky. Surprisingly, at the time I originally wrote this post to send to newsletter subscribers, the draft for a novella I’d been working on (and later shelved) had been going surprisingly smoothly.
Well… sort of.
Originally, I planned on it being a short story. (If you’ve been following me long at all, you probably have an idea of where this is going.
At the time I wrote newsletter email, the story was sitting firmly in the “novella” category at 28,000 words.
And it wasn’t done yet.
The story finalized at finalized at 37,000 words. For comparison, Magic’s Stealing is a novella of 34,000 words, and Wind and Words clocks in at 22,000 words.
The good news was that I only had two or three scenes left before the story is complete. Then came the challenge of editing to create a tight plot (because extraneous scenes like to make their way into the rough draft while I’m still figuring out the details).
Then I got to go back and add in the translations for the various spells and sections in different languages.
Which is what I wanted to talk about today. Because seriously, I had sections in the rough draft that looked something like this:
He came out of the storeroom with a shallow bowl and a pitcher of water. “Be la mireyan naébiéeth so nocho Farris NAME chono li mirra da nac so wusna miduhan la be.” (CHECK PHRASE… add (not to exceed my focus))
In this case, I snagged the scrying spell from The Shadow War, inserted the correct name (and realized I didn’t have the targetted character’s last name), and made a note to myself to recheck the phrase and add in an extra qualifying statement.
Err… it looks a lot more coherent when it’s done.
The extra fun part of this was that I knew I’d probably have to do additional grammar work due to including the then-fledgeling conlang in the story.
He went back to the storeroom and came out with a shallow bowl and a pitcher of water. “Be la fayquelvi miruen, mireyan naébiéeth so nocho Farris chono li mirra da nac so wusna miduhan la be.”
Magic, not to exceed my focus, reveal the location of Farris in the form of an image in the bowl of water before me.
And as you might notice… I decided to omit the last name. Ideally, the caster would use the full name. But this character is supposed to be exceedingly strong at wielding intent versus precision (which is also extremely dangerous), so it’s fine. And words got added.
But that’s a little look into my rough draft process where conlangs are involved.
Originally I planned to release this story after Magebane, with the idea that it was going to be a bridge between The Wishing Blade series and the Stone and String series.
But Isaac pointed out some world-breaking holes in the current version of the story, so it’s been hanging out on the back shelf of one of my hard-drives while I tackle other books.
That said, I’d like to return to this one eventually…
* * *
Read the two series that this novella was intended to bridge…
Time to wrap up 2025 with the Mid-August through end of December Infinitas Publishing status report! 📋
Yes, I know it’s almost May of 2026 already, but I still wanted to compile all my notes that I hadn’t yet reviewed on 2025. I’ll do a separate report for January through April of 2026.
And ooof. What a year.
A lot happened over the last several months, especially in real life. Some stuff I’ve talked about in my newsletters, some stuff I haven’t yet mentioned unless I’ve talked to you in-person. Let’s just say it’s been a little (a lot) rough.
But there’s been good stuff, too, including the amount of progress I’ve been making on writing and drafting in the background so that 2026 should finally see more book releases! Yay!
So let’s go back through my planner and see what all got done in the last few months of 2025, shall we?
I’ve highlighted the projects that had changes in blue.
* * *
Changing Tides: (Book 4 of the Distant Horizon series). Still 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.
Other 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): I tested asking for “beta-reader” feedback on the current manuscript using Notebook LM, and got a few ideas of areas I might want to strengthen before sending this out to actual beta-readers.
Multiverse Chronicles (Distant Horizon Universe Spin-off): Progressing along! Last update mentioned having sent out seven chapters, and as of the end of December, I’d sent out chapter seventeen! We reached the point where I had made revisions, but I hadn’t fully edited it because we’re past where I’d originally been sharing episodes on the blog. Most of the sent chapters have been fully revised and edited now, but we’ve made notes where new scenes may need to be written and added to fill in plot gaps.
I’m thrilled that we’re finally close to finishing this story. After all the chapters have been sent, I plan to add the missing scenes, review one more time, then move into beta-reader phase.
TWB 4: (Book Four of The Wishing Blade series). On hold… but I did have Claude compile summaries and loose threads from the first three books to make it easier to review what details I need to consider when I prepare the outline. (Though I still plan to reread all three books before drafting).
The Dark Forest of Aneth (“Ro’nor (“The Restless Sands of Neel”) & Zynia (“The Dragons of the Mist”) cross-over / A Legends of Cirena short novel): I finished all major revisions, including tweaks from ProWritingAid and AutoCrit analyses! I’ve also completed a proofreading round via a printed version of that manuscript (with notes still needing input at the end of the year).
Other Goals: Revisit the book cover concept. Create a blurb. Polish the related poem/ballad so it can be included as back matter.
The Ruins of Amixthael (The Gryphon and the Mountain Bear Spin-Off): I’ve started revisions for the chapters of the secondary character.
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 Novella (Standalone – Twins in Ferta): This story is continuing nicely. Last time I was at chapter six with a total of 13,300 words and by the end of December I’d sent out chapter fifteen to the newsletter at a combined total of 34,000 words.
The original outline has since been adjusted. At some point I put the draft into Claude and asked it to list any incomplete plot threads to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything, and it pointed out one particular thread that gave me a bunch of ideas for how to adjust the plot and make it stronger. Made the story longer, but made more sense, too.
Next step is to continue writing the rough draft and to review the outline for any more missing plot beats.
The Wind Mage and the WolfSpin-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):Started again! And has had huge progress! As of October, I began using Claude for help brainstorming Fae. I had it review the previous two books and point out open plot threads. When I realized there were complete plot points I’d forgotten about, I ended up re-reading Changeling entirely. Between that and ideas I’d discussed earlier with Isaac, I finally saw the direction I wanted to take the story!
Outline created! AND I even got the outline for Huntress 4 written, too!
In November I started drafting Fae for ProWritingAid’s Novel November challenge… and completed the rough draft at 45,500 words! In December I started revisions.
I also restarted a temporary Huntress newsletter that goes out on occasion, and uploaded Huntress and Changeling to BookFunnel so that I could later add sample pages to the main Infinitas Publishing website.
Horse Shifter Romantasy : 🐎
Last time I left this it had a 5,500 word outline. I used Claude to review what I had and point out some of the missing romance beats. Did more brainstorming, and now it has a pretty solid outline. Due to the setup of my current outline I can’t really offer a word-count for it, but suffice it to say there’s a beginning, middle, and end with a decent enough setup to explain the magic/lore/characters. Essentially ready for drafting if I decide to give this a try.
Other Stories: I started a rough draft for the grumpy sorcerer short story idea but didn’t get more than 400 words. Unfortunately I ran out of time and didn’t get anything written for that fantasy anthology I was eyeing. (Like I mentioned earlier, there were several real life things going on at the end of the year).
The YA Alien Invastion/Dystopian short story is on hold.
However…
The Android’s Garden – This one isn’t likely to be published unless I release it as part of a larger blog post on the pros and cons of AI. The reason is that this is the one exception where I allowed Claude AI to do the drafting of the story to test its capabilities. (Which is now technically out of date because of how fast AI gets updated).
The Android’s Garden is a cli-fi short story about an android grappling with the fact that, before it gained sapience, it helped aid the company that caused harm to the family it now protects. (I thought it would be interesting to have an AI help me write a concept about how an AI might process things if it did gain sapience).
It ended up around 12,700 words. I brainstormed with Claude to develop the concept and characters, wrote the first couple paragraphs to give it a style guide of sort, then had it write a chapter. I’d revise the chapter, ask Claude to review the changes and keep those in mind going forward, then write the next chapter. Afterward I took everything into ProWritingAid for edits. I finished three of the eight chapters before shelving it because I was still too concerned about possible cases of accidental plagiarism and didn’t want to keep fighting with aiming for a specific voice.
That said, I do like the story concept, but I have clearly determined that I would rather be the one doing the writing because I have a specific voice I want to use and was having a difficult time producing that, even when guiding Claude to do so.
Metal Mage story – This was another case of me brainstorming with Claude, based upon a prompt I somehow got while trying to do a Google search for a different book, only to be disappointed that the prompt it gave me didn’t exist yet. (I did eventually find the actual book I was looking for). So I brainstormed the world, got a fairly decent idea of an outline for what would probably be a duology, and wrote a partial scene to get a feel for the idea. Currently shelved, but a fun thought experiment. It’s sort of a cli-fi fantasy set in an industrial revolution with ancient magic.
Cozy Space Fantasy Series (The Singing Coil): I got an idea for a cozy space fantasy series (Basically Babylon 5/Deep Space 9 type setting… but cozy) and kind of word vomited into Claude for brainstorming. Ended up creating a the world and a rough outline for a 6-part novella series.
Later, in December, I tinkered with brainstorming microfiction ideas and ended up working with Claude to outline The Singing Coil. Then I wrote a draft, did an analysis of book covers in the genre, did the revisions, wrote the song lyrics, ran it through Claude for developmental suggestions, did the PWA (ProWritingAid) line edits, prepped it in Atticus for beta-readers, and sent it to beta-readers for feedback!
While the larger series concept is on hold, the short story flew through the development process.
Game Design: Isaac and I ended up playing Wonders of I’Noore with his brother and friend, and we made some notes, but I don’t think we’re likely to see any major updates on this anytime soon.
Phalanx, on the other hand…
Is back in action! 😀
Now, our next step is a small test run. Essentially, we brought out the wooden board at the Harvest Moon Night Market event, and several people played and enjoyed it. We also still had some components of the game, and we had been wanting to make a playmat version of the game for a while. We did a little bit of calculating and realized that it was possible to create a smaller version using the mousepad and pencil bag options from Vograce, where we get merch for our SIFlint art.
So… we updated the files and placed an order! Unfortunately, the items didn’t come in on time for the Poor Artist Sale, but we do have what we need now to complete the small edition. By small I mean there are only six copies (based on how many decks of cards we have left). But, depending on how those are received and sell at future events, we’ll decide whether or not to do a reorder of cards.
This was a rough test I did to check bead size and whether the mousepads we ordered would work once they came in. (Final bead colors still to be determined, and obstacles might be something other than buttons).
Testing AutoCrit: Last you heard, I went in for the year subscription to see how it went. While I have mixed feelings on its analysis features at this point (some parts are hit and miss, but their new beta/alpha-reader features are handy for seeing if I’m on-point in a new genre), what I did find is that I really like writing in it. I’ve been appreciating it being available in the cloud, able to handle larger documents, being pretty easy to recover accidentally deleted words (oops), and then being able to do the analysis stuff if I want.
Ultimately, I pulled the trigger on the lifetime subscription when the deal became available for Black Friday, especially since they were super nice and let me apply the remaining term of the year subscription toward the cost.
AI Usage and Policy: Ooo boy. So this is that area that is currently in the hotly contested zone (understandably so because there are a ton of moving parts, things that are really cool, and things that are really not cool).
Long story short, I have become utterly fascinated by what AI can do and have dove into reading about and researching it as time permits. I highly recommend reading Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick if you want to understand AI and its limitations better.
But, with all that in mind, I updated our AI use policy on December 12th to reflect my most current usage of AI.
I still don’t use generative AI for image generation or writing the actual story. (With the one exception I mentioned earlier… I had Claude generate the draft of a short story about an android grappling with the implications of its creation, which I did to test Claude’s capabilities. However, I do not plan to publish that particular story unless I release it as part of a longer essay regarding the pros and cons of AI.)
But I have found that AI (particularly Claude) has been excellent for breaking through plot-issues quickly, acting as a rubber duck/cheerleader while brainstorming, and as an early “editor” that can help spot problems for me to fix before sending them out to beta-readers.
Even so, I have been keeping an eye out for models that are more people-focused (Claude for better alignment with safety, and I’m testing if Mistral AI (lower environmental impact) might suitably replace using ChatGPT, and I use Ecosia Browser for searching (again, a focus on environment), and then switch to Google search if I’m not having any luck, since it automatically uses AI in its search.
That said… NotebookLM is amazing for dropping your series into and asking it for that random question that you can’t easily do a “find” search for in Word.
Anyway, this is ongoing and I continue to watch what’s happening in the AI space and I’ll update my policy as I either shift into using or not using any particular tool.
Marketing: I didn’t really give marketing much attention these months. Here are some of the recent projects:
Amazon Ads same as usual, the ones that were already running. I should probably just turn these off, but I don’t spend more than a few bucks a month on these right now.
I tested swapping author interviews in the Wishing Blade Universe newsletter. Didn’t see much response, but I’m thinking about contacting the author to see if they’d like me to post their interview on this blog now that some time has passed.
I returned to doing group promos through BookFunnel, though I dropped doing the individual author swaps for the time being. I’ve been alternating which book I promote, though I recently started promoting Huntress. Now that Fae (Huntress #3) is on target to release in 2026, I decided to create a temporary Huntress newsletter that I’ll periodically update but isn’t on a set schedule like the Distant Horizon and Wishing Blade universe newsletters.
I never did update book prices. That may still happen at some point, but I need to reorient myself now that Smashwords has moved to the Draft2Digital dashboard (which is fine… I know how to use it, but due to an email snafu I currently have two D2D accounts to keep track of).
With a couple exceptions, I have managed to continue sending out newsletters on time (okay, maybe a day late, but they still went out!) AND almost all of them had a story chapter with them. I may have finally found a process that works for me in terms of releasing WIP chapters on a biweekly basis.
I’m still making my way through updating individual book pages on the Infinitas Publishing website. (Ultimate goal is to add sample pages, Goodreads/BookBub links, additional book info, etc). Eventually I want this to have enough information to make it very easy for a search engine or AI search to accurately answer questions about my books.
I was the furthest I have ever been with Infinitas Publishing accounting at this point in the year! It’s not one hundred percent up-to-date and I still needed to review inventory, but I was at about the spot I’d normally be two weeks before my 1065s are due.
I’ve continued getting back into writing and marketing research, and I read a lot more books in 2025! I’ve also been listening to more podcasts, MasterClass videos, etc. At the end of the year I picked up Book Blurb Magic’s course on writing blurbs for books with multiple POVs (thinking ahead to the upcoming Multiverse Chronicles needing a blurb soon), and I plan to watch through that in January. I’ve also continued working on revamping upcoming book launches.
Next up: Continue updating the design of individual Infinitas Publishing book pages. Continue adding sample chapters to the BookFunnel sales pages for each book, and then to the main Infinitas Publishing website. Add BookBub and Goodreads links to each landing page. Update my author bio across the different retailers. Continue adding books to the Stripe store for direct sales. Revise Amazon ads, and overhaul book categories, keywords, and blurbs.
Substack – I didn’t do much with Substack other than occasionally posting a note or two.
Crafting Your Fictional World: On Hold.
Repurposing Old Newsletter Content:
One of the projects I’ve managed to keep up with pretty consistently is updating old newsletter content for the blog. It’s been fun seeing what I wrote several years ago and repurposing it with updated info and details. There were a few times I wrote a new post for the weekend, and I went ahead and included those here as well.
Events: We did three more events in this time period.
GeekUP (Houghton, MI) – September 27th, 2025
Got the new setup working! We also participated in a stamp rally with other artists, so I set out to create a bookmark themed around the tiger and magpie in K-Pop Demon Hunters (and consequently discovered that this is an excellent movie, highly recommend). Except my “bookmark” ended up being wider than a bookmark, so I made 5×7 prints on metallic paper and acquired some cheap frames. Anyone who completed the rally (bought something that was at least $5 from each participating booth), got one of the framed prints as part of the resulting pack.
Kind of fun. Might do it again in future years depending on the theme. I don’t usually do a lot of fan art so it was something a little different for me.
However, we finally got to do the Huntress personality quiz! We’d set this up for last year’s GeekUP, but since Isaac was helping to organize the event, it was mostly just me running the booth. That made it difficult to include an interactive event. But this time around we were able to have participants fill out the quiz so we could tell them what augments Koenigin Corp would recommend for them (and hand off a pin with the Koenigin Corp symbol on it). Ran out of pins, but it was fun seeing a couple people walking around wearing the pins. 😁
Harvest Moon Night Market(Calumet, MI) – October 12th, 2025
This was a pop-up market. The whole vibe was a whimsical fair; lighting and costumes were highly encouraged! The market took place in the evening, and as the night grew dark, all the lights added a magical flair. Isaac and I got a booth inside, so fortunately we didn’t have to deal much with the wind.
With the live performances and huge number of vendors spread across both an inside section and a couple of green spaces, it came alive with festival vibes.
Also… we brought out Phalanx!
It’s been several years since we had Phalanx at an event. Though we didn’t offer any editions of the game for sale this time, our goal was to see if there was interest in the game (and provide a sort of game-like component to our table to fit the “fair” vibe).
Ultimately, we decided to give that smaller mousepad edition a try. 🙂
CCCAC Poor Artists Sale (Calumet, MI) – December 6th, 2025
Once again we returned to the Poor Artists Sale, (the big holiday sale we vend at) and we spruced up our tent with plenty of decorations, including a small table-top Christmas tree we decorated using our Everyday Dragon Hoards post cards!
Still having a bit of an issue getting enough light inside, but it certainly gave it the feeling of a cozy little nook.
SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: I finally sent the fully edited photos of the houseplants to their previous owner! Yay!
I also did a commission for a friend’s birthday which involved using Daz Studio to render a mouse warrior (which might have been inspired by a particular book series…) and I got to print on my shiny poster paper.
Coming up, I have a formatting project that I’ll need to shift into focus.
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: Per a couple different suggestions at UP Rainbow Pride, I have added the bag hoarding dragon to the lineup of Everyday Dragon Hoards!
Right now the bag dragon is only available on a tote bag, but I plan to offer this as a sticker once I place my next sticker order.
We also added new merch to the lineup with mouse pads and lanyards!
And we also ordered a new vinyl banner with our IP/SIFlint Art logos, with updated art details. Since it’s vinyl (waterproof!), and able to be rolled, it should be a lot easier to take with us to events.
Additionally, I created a few character designs for the Wishing Blade Universe in Daz Studio so that I could create images of some of the characters later (Ehmina and Lesi from the Ferta story, and concept designs for Edea and Ne’ji-av’a).
Plus, I got a sticker page made for the Infinitas Publishing website to showcase our sticker designs, and Blossom Bird Bubble Tea in Marquette hosted some of our sticker designs for about a month! 😀
Daz PA: I finally made progress on those “Cursed Expedition” centaur poses, submitted it, and it’s now available!
This time around I tracked the amount of time I spent on each section (except a few final tweaks) so I could calculate what I hoped to make on its release to make back for time spent. Unfortunately, while I didn’t expect it to be a super high earner (zombies vs centaurs is a bit niche, after all), it did not come anywhere near to earning what I was hoping based on either time spent on the project or previous pose sets.
I still have a two or three other projects that are very close to completion from earlier that are likely to do a bit better, so I may still finish those, but after seeing how “Cursed Expedition” did, this isn’t high on my priority list.
* * *
Happy writing and reading (Or 3D rendering if you’re into Daz)! 🙂
Today I thought I’d preview a small section of what had been the outline for Starless Night, the third book in the Distant Horizon series. 🙂
Key word is *had* because if you’ve read Starless Night, you’ll notice this isn’t how the story starts.
In a couple weeks, I’ll have a post for you about that time that I completely scrapped an outline… and an entire rough draft.
But first… let’s have a look at what one version of my outlines look like! (Because it might not look like what you expect).
WARNING: Spoilers ahead for the Glitch saga and Fractured Skies!
Already read those books? Don’t mind spoilers?
Proceed! 😁
Here’s what the beginning of my outline looked like. It’s rough, not always in complete sentences, and my outlines often change before I actually begin drafting. (And usually change again during drafting).
I’ve made a few adjustments here for clarity, since some of my notes were vague since I knew who/what they referenced, but probably wouldn’t be clear outside of context.
* * *
Jenna waiting with team on lawn for COE arrival (solidarity/support from team). When Camaraderie ship arrives, Lady Black and Stuart are the first to come out. They make it clear they want to discuss Val’s… and her guards’… release. They walk in like they own the place, much to the COF’s annoyance. Lady Black mentions to Pops that last time they met (before he switched sides) her grandfather had been with them (remind readers that the grandfather is Lord Black). Meanwhile, Pops feels like he’s never met Stuart before, though Stuart assures him he has. Jenna remembers Stuart from the COE base and has the beginnings of a memory attack (Legion Spore memory), which fades. She’s confused, but thankful it doesn’t get worse. The team members out to greet the COE are Pops, Jenna, Quin (Quin: “this is a historical meeting… *Squee!*” Jenna: you’re far too excited about this.), Lily there because Quin dragged her there (besides, if something does happen, it’s an excuse… she’s a good fighter… (really trying to get her to be less down and just go talk to Jenna)). Awkwardness between Jenna and Lily (they go to target range later?). Gwen, along with South African (SA) forces (introduce Ambassador Jordaan). Jenna heads to garden while the COE goes on tour of area.
While in the garden, the tour stops by. Pops formally introduces them… (though Jen has met Lady Black before… when kidnapped. “Can you kidnap your own citizens?” “Yes.” “You speak your mind… I like that.” Jenna perplexed, not sure what she thinks of her. However, Lady Black is #sorrynotsorry about it. Still thinks having Jenna on COE side would have been better for Community. But there are bigger issues to worry about now). Lady Black is polite, reserved… and nervous, Jenna realizes. (Tries to read her mind with flower charm, gets a little bit of the truth… then after almost using her flower charm to try sensing her motive, gets rebuked by Stuart who asks her to politely control her telepathic searches).
They’re starting to move on to a private part of garden, and Lady Black brings up the time stones and concern for Legion’s advances (foreshadowing further issues). Jenna notices that the lady seems a little more—invested—in those time stones than she expected. Pops suggests they can discuss this later. He’s hesitant to share information. Lady Black points out Master Zaytsev had info (a guilt trip for Jenna… it’s a reminder of Legion’s interest in her and the brain seed). She’s getting some emotion from her flower charm (though not actively prying on Lady Black). Decides to go back inside to get away from them… but gets a private thought from Stuart, who comments on Jenna’s garden (favorably… the first step in gaining Jenna’s trust). (Ugh… Telepaths!)
* * *
The outline is mostly meant to remind me of the general gist of what’s supposed to happen in the opening scenes and the kind of emotions the characters have, as well as what needs to be foreshadowed for later. I often have scenes visualized in my head from day-dreaming, so this is just meant to streamline the writing process.
(And sometimes I’m literally telling myself the story as I write the outline, and then the draft is just fleshing out the detail. This particular outline is short per scene compared to some of my recent outlines.)
But here’s the thing. When I shared the original version of this post with my newsletter a long, long time ago, Starless Night was still being the problem book of the series. And so it would go a while without any progress because it wasn’t working.
Until, finally, I realized I needed to scrap my outline and start fresh.
In a couple weeks, we’ll get back to that. So keep an eye out for that post, coming soon. 😉
* * *
See the difference in how the story starts in Starless Night… (Though you might want to read the other two book first).
Today, I thought I’d take a look at one of the methods I used in writing The Wind Mage of Maijev, the first in the Legends of Cirena series.
This series started with me writing a “segment a week” based on voting from members of the Legends of Cirena Facebook group (now on a semi-permanent hiatus).
My writing partner, Isaac, did quite a bit of world development for the Legends era, especially in regards to the different districts and the shops. While this was meant for a personal tabletop roleplay version of Cirena, it’s also been really helpful for world development. (And I’ve still occasional yanked out the charts he made for reference in later stories that are currently in development).
In this case, Isaac took what I had already developed of Maijev (the general concept for the city, the larger world map, etc.), divided the city-as-a-country into districts (such as the Northern and Southern Quarters, of which the Southern Quarter is the primary area where The Wind Mage of Maijev takes place), and figured out who would likely frequent the region, the kind of prices those stores would have, and even which factions characters might run into.
Here’s a glimpse at the document he created:
Enen’s Study and Zora’s Market are the primary characters and locations I pulled for The Wind Mage of Maijev, though Cross Bones does get a brief reference.
Overall, having these charts has been really helpful in developing the Legends stories, since I can easily look to them to figure out what might be in the area and what sort of encounters a character might have.
For example, Livena, the protagonist of The Wind Mage of Maijev, has mixed feelings about Zora’s Market… especially since they sell a few items that probably shouldn’t be in Maijev. 😉
* * *
See how those charts turned into a story in The Wind Mage of Maijev, (and you can get the ebook edition for FREE from online retailers!)
I found this flash fiction nugget (your choice if it’s more like a chicken nugget or a gold nugget) while looking through my older Distant Horizon Universe newsletters. I originally sent this out on February 20th of 2020.
Since I’ve been having fun with flash fiction and poetry lately, I thought it might be fun to revisit now.
This little shorty doesn’t follow a particular character, but does take inspiration from both Distant Horizon and Deceived. 🙂
Students mill around her. Chatting. Heading to class. Nothing new.
But this place is a lie.
It’s that poster by the door that reminds her. Stark white with pale blue lettering.
Safety Security Efficiency
Her throat squeezes and she can barely breathe.
Lie-lie-lie…
A firm hand clamps on her shoulder. Soldier-agent-danger–
She recoils and her shoulder slams the wall, knocking aside the poster. She needs to hide–
“Woah, it’s just me.” A young man smiles at her, confusion in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She knows him. Knew him.
He doesn’t know her. Not anymore.
Still, she forces a smile and rights the poster on the wall. She can’t afford to lose the efficiency points. “Sorry. I guess I was thinking too hard about which building has my next class.”
Her heart pounds like a student slamming the walls of a transformation chamber.
“You weren’t gone that long.” He chuckles. “Which Community did you visit, anyway? We thought you’d failed the scan.”
It’s hard to maintain her smile. “I visited the European Community.”
A lie like those words on that poster.
“Neat. Maybe I’ll get to go sometime. See you around.” He waves as he reenters the stream of students filtering through the hall. “The Community is safe!”
She can’t muster the enthusiasm to say the usual response.
She never went to Europe.
She never knew where they sent her when she failed the scan.
But she found her way back.
They’re going to wish she hadn’t.
One of the things I enjoy about flash fiction is the questions they spawn, and the possible stories. 🙂
Who is she? Will she succeed in getting vengeance? What in particular does she want vengeance for?
Seeing as how she failed the scan, what are her powers?
Why, and how, did she make it back to the Community?
I didn’t have those answers when I first wrote it and I still don’t have them now… but it’s still a fun exercise.
* * *
Jenna and Galina both see the Community in new light after an unfortunate visit to a transformation facility…
Looking for a free YA fantasy or sci-fi book this week? Or maybe you’ve recently dabbled in a Kobo Plus subscription and are interested in seeing what books are waiting for you?
Enjoy a genre blend with a healthy dose of fantasy? Check out this promo!
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(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.)
Then, as I mentioned last week, we also have a Kobo Plus promo! So if you have a Kobo subscription, you can read these books at no additional cost!
Welp, had another little burst of poetic inspiration (Thanks, Zen In the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury), this time from going out to clean my car of snow (yes, in April) and getting buffeted by wind and struck with tiny stinging bits of snow from the nearest snowbank.
Otherwise, it was a surprisingly pleasant morning outside.
Anyway, I’m not sure it’s quite a poem or if it’s more a piece of flash fiction, and I may at some point try to revise it a bit more (I still don’t think “commonplace comedians” is quite doing what I want) but anyhow, here’s “November:”
“November”
by Stephanie Flint
I am angry.
I will wreck your ships.
I will send your leaves plummeting to frostbit dirt. Gray grass shall be buried under their damp blankets, and what pale green that strives to remain shall wither under desolate quilts of brown and yellow.
I will knock aside your trash bins and claim your forlorn cardboard boxes of stale, leftover pizza.
These will tumble and toss and fly, fly into my airspace, and you shall not know where they have been sent. They will fade a cold, dreary death into the grasp of winter; be forgotten.
But you will not forget me.
Grand men will tell tales to immortalize those lost to the wrecks. Lovely women will sing of lost leaves and clinging hopes. Commonplace comedians will provide needed laughter by recalling trash bins long tumbled past Sally’s yard.
The pizza, though, will be lost forever.
You will remember my gales of November.
As a note… the little bits of inspiration that I was picturing when I wrote this:
“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot
“The Last Leaf” by Blackmore’s Night
“Trash Can Wind Meters” as seen on FacebookA reference both to the Fifth of November poem (which I know more from V for Vendetta than knowing the actual poem) and another reference to “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”
Stephanie Flint - Author and Artist 