Tag Archives: SBibb

February 11, 2026 · 8:42 am

✨ ~ How “The Singing Coil” came to be

“The Singing Coil” was not on my to-write list.

In fact, the idea for the world of Singing Coil sprung into my mind one night as I’d been dwelling on the genre conventions of romantasy and cozy fantasy.

I’d recently read and enjoyed Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz, and for some reason my head went, “What if we mashed up Legends & Lattes (which I happen to love) with Babylon 5… or even Deep Space 9? What if we focused on the characters who aren’t out saving the world, but are just trying to live their lives on the space station while everything else is happening around them?”

And because it was super late at night and I couldn’t pester my creative writing partner, and because I’d been studying what Claude AI could do, I dropped into the chat and started a brainstorming session.

(Note: when it comes to CliftonStrengths, Ideation is among my top five. And I’ve recently realized that brainstorming new story ideas, even using an AI to bounce them off of like a talkative rubber duckie, apparently equals lots of energy pennies for me).

“Okay, bear with me Claude… but I had a story idea that I want to brainstorm with you and consider for market viability.

I was thinking about cozy fantasy and science fantasy romance, and then I had an idea for a cozy science fantasy story…

Think something like a baker or trinket trader or salvage seller sets up shop on a space station and is trying to get their shop up and running while navigating alien culture differences and supply chain issues and building an unexpected found family… all while the “usual” space opera happenings are going on around them. Red alerts…. meteor storms… random weird time travel episode…

Think Legends and Lattes meets Deep Space 9 or Babylon 5. Maybe with a dash of Lower Decks.

What do you think? Think anyone (besides me) would want to read that? 

For better or worse, Claude is an overenthusiastic cheerleader, and this conversation starter shifted into me tossing in world and character ideas, and reining in Claude because I wanted to be the one to make most of the suggestions for the different alien races and worlds.

Ultimately, by the end of all the brainstorming I had formed a rough idea of a six part novella series centering around Harte and Eica navigating their grumpy/sunshine friendship while dimensional wonkiness was happening aboard an ancient space station with secrets of its own.

But I still needed to focus on writing the third Huntress book, so I shelved the cozy sci-fi idea.

For all of two days.

I’d been on a major kick of reading everything I could on entrepreneurship, innovation, and generative AI. In one of those books I found an interesting prompt where you specify the amount of time and money you have during a given week to devote to a small side business, along with your interests or skills, and then you ask your favorite AI to suggest potential business ideas based on those constraints.

Very long story short, I ended up with the concept of micro fiction prompts.

This time I had been testing ChatGPT, and once again I had to curb its enthusiasm. It generated neat ideas, but its idea of how fast micro fiction could scale as a side income seemed… very optimistic… for what I know about the market.

(Important: If you choose to use generative AI, please keep in mind that it is not a professional. It’s generating responses based on probability and what data it trained on, in addition to weighted leaning intended to make you happy... meaning it often tells you what it ‘thinks’ you want to hear.)

And because I was curious as to how well the micro fiction idea would work, I grabbed my series guide I’d had Claude compile for me for the cozy sci-fi idea, tossed in the micro fiction guide ChatGPT made for me, and asked Claude to give me ten story seed ideas.

The ideas surprised me. I was interested in them, and more than a little jealous that I hadn’t come up with these ideas myself.

But, I admit, I sometimes have a hard time finding those emotional connection points that resonate on a personal level. That part usually takes me a while, and go figure, the AI pinpointed it easier than I usually can. (Downside is the lack of satisfaction of the ah-ha! moment of finally figuring out which moment touches the heart strings).

One of those micro seed ideas was for “The Singing Coil.”

This was Claude’s suggestion based on the prompts and information I’d provided:

5. The Singing Coil

While repairing a food synthesizer, Harte discovers it’s been producing an ultra-low frequency hum that perfectly matches a Vyraenar lullaby. They track down why—and find an elderly Vyraenar engineer who installed it decades ago, homesick.

POV: Harte
Setting: Station mess hall/communal dining area

I asked Claude to further develop that story seed using the micro fiction seed template. (As a note… I did not succeed in making “The Singing Coil” a piece of micro fiction. I was lucky to keep it under 5,000 words).

Claude gave me a heart-tugging outline that I legitimately wanted to write. (I’d share the full response here, but it does have spoilers for the story. Let me know if you are interested in seeing it in a later so you can make comparisons to the final story).

Then I wrote the story based on that outline.

Now, I did make a few changes. I added several details that weren’t in the outline. I was very insistent that I write the lullaby, though I did use its suggested title, “Stars Remember Home” as the inspiration.

Because here’s the thing. While I have been super fascinated by generative AI and what it can do, I also know it has some major downsides and concerns (lack of transparency surrounding environmental impact, as well as copyright issues, being among the main ones I’ve been watching).

And while I have writer friends who are AI-positive, I also have friends who are very much AI-negative and want nothing to do with AI.

So, because I did use generative AI heavily for brainstorming and to give me the basic plot for “The Singing Coil,” I wanted to keep the rest of it as human as possible.

I did all the drafting and revisions myself.

I wrote the lullaby and came up with its melody myself.

And I hit the oh-so-fun wall of realizing cozy fantasy/sci-fi stories tend to have illustrated covers, and since I didn’t want to use AI to generate a cover (I tend to avoid image generation as much as possible since that’s one of the more energy-demanding tasks and its copyright practices can be… really questionable, if I’m being generous), and since I didn’t have the funds to properly pay an illustrator to make the cover I had in mind…

That left me to illustrate the cover.

Oof.

I think creating the cover took me as long as writing the story.

Usually I either use stock photography and do photomanipulation, or use Daz Studio to render a base image that I can then polish, but neither would have given me the desired effect.

So I broke out the pencils and fine-line pens, scanned the resulting foreground and background line art, then brought them into Photoshop CS6 to clean and color digitally.

(You know how long it’s been since I’ve done digital coloring? It’s been a while. A really long while).

But I’m reasonably happy with the final result and I can always change the cover later.

So there you have it.

I never planned to write “The Singing Coil.”

It was a spur of the moment, “Huh, I wonder what would happen if…” idea that I used to incentivize myself to keep revising Huntress #3. (As a daily practice, I wouldn’t allow myself to write anything on “The Singing Coil” until I finished revising at least one chapter of revisions for Huntress #3. It was effective).

But I hope you enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it, creating a new lullaby, and then getting that lullaby stuck in my head.

“Home among the stars, let the stars remember me…”

💫

Pre-Order “The Singing Coil” today and get it as soon as it goes live on February 17th!

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo | Smashwords

Sometimes a broken machine sounds like home…

The Singing Coil Book Cover

💫

Happy reading! 📚

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 7, 2026 · 7:34 am

Creating the Cover Art for The Wind Mage of Maijev

I’ve been rummaging through my older newsletters for blog content (circa 2018/2019), and I came across an email with my behind-the-scenes process of how I put together the cover of The Wind Mage of Maijev.

So, today, I’m revisiting that. 😊

Below you can see the stock images that went into it, and then the final version:

Since the storm plays a major role in the story (including the cause of most of the conflict), it seemed fitting to include that element. Plus, the walls leading to the entrance seemed to work well with the walled city of Maijev. Livena, the main character, isn’t particularly excited about her magic, so I removed the outspread arms, but still, she faces the storm… which she ultimately must face if she is to deal with her magic.

Here’s the final version:

The Wind Mage of Maijev - Book Cover

I used the same photomanipulation technique for the next book in the Legends of Cirena series, The Gryphon and the Mountain Bear, but afterward switched to Daz 3D renders so I would have more flexibility with how I illustrated the covers.

An example of the Daz style covers comes with book #7 in the series, The Wind Mage and the Wolf:

SBibb - The Wind Mage and the Wolf Cover

* * *

As a note… I try to keep The Wind Mage of Maijev ebook available for FREE, so if you’re interested in reading this one, grab it from your favorite retailer!

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo | Smashwords
Our Store

(Just be sure to double-check the price before buying. Amazon especially is notorious for switching the permafree price back to its paid price, since they rely on price-matching rather than allowing authors to set the price to free).

The Wind Mage of Maijev - Book Cover

* * *

Happy reading and writing! 📚

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 6, 2026 · 1:34 pm

💫 ~ New Pre-Order Available ~ The Singing Coil!

The pre-order links for “The Singing Coil” have arrived! 😁

This is full-on cozy sci-fi. Think Legends and Lattes, but on an ancient, retrofitted space station where the coffee is almost always burnt but no one cares because it’s coffee.

Here’s what’s coming:

  • 💖 Found family vibes
  • 🛠️ A secretary willing to conspire with the MC if it’ll fix the maintenance issue
  • 🍪 A too-cheerful baker next door who has opinions
  • 🎵 A broken machine singing an old, forgotten melody 
  • 😊 Guaranteed happy ending!

All that and more…

Now with links where you can pre-order your copy of this warm, cozy short story and get it as soon as it goes live!

Pre-order the ebook at your favorite retailer:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo | Smashwords

The Singing Coil Book Cover

💫

Here’s the blurb!

Sometimes a broken machine sounds like home…

Harte runs a salvage shop on Crossroads Station, a bustling hub where dozens of alien species live, work, and bicker over burnt coffee. But when their section of the station mysteriously empties, Harte discovers the culprit: a food synthesizer emitting a bone-rattling hum that’s driving customers away.

The synthesizer is singing. And Harte recognizes the melody: a lullaby from their Vyraenar homeworld, one they haven’t heard since childhood.

Now Harte must trace the distorted melody’s origins through decades of maintenance records in order to restore the commercial ring’s harmony and, in doing so, forge a friendship they didn’t know they’d been missing.

💫

Investigate a singing food synthesizer with Harte… pre-order “The Singing Coil” today!

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo | Smashwords

💫

Happy reading! 📚

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 4, 2026 · 7:50 am

💫 ~ Cover Reveal – The Singing Coil!

Ahhh! I’m super excited to announce a surprise project I’ve been working on for the past couple months, a short story called “The Singing Coil!”

I’ll go into more detail in the coming weeks, and I’ll announce the pre-order date with links soon, but here’s a little peek at what’s coming. 😉

The Singing Coil Book Cover

“The Singing Coil” is cozy sci-fi short story about a grumpy space-orc salvage seller who unexpectedly reconnects with his past when he investigates a strange, bone-rattling hum coming from a broken food-synthesizer.

More info coming soon!

Happy reading! 📚

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

January 24, 2026 · 8:27 am

Converting a fantasy story to a (very cheesy) stage play

A few years ago, while visiting my parents’ house, I found a stage play I attempted to write during college based on my original version of The Wishing Blade series.

It was cheesy.

Really cheesy.

But it was cool seeing which plot points changed and which ones had remained surprisingly similar to the final, published version of Magic’s Stealing and The Shadow War (originally part one and two of the same book).

When I first started writing the story that would eventually become The Wishing Blade series, it was in 2003. (I did a lot of plotting in eighth grade choir).

Eventually, the story got shelved during the later part of high school and college–except for a playwriting class where I decided to try reworking my story idea into a screenplay. While I think I got a decent grade on it, looking back now…

There was way too much going on for a stage play.

However, it was one of my first successful attempts to fully rewrite the original draft and re-envision the story as a whole.

As such, it was fun to read through sections of the play’s draft and see which aspects stayed the same from the original story, and which aspects changed. (Even though several things had already changed from the rough draft to the stage play version).

Here’s a look at what the stage play looked like. As a warning, there are spoilers for the current version of the story. It would be best if you’ve already read Magic’s Stealing and The Shadow War before reading this. However, I’ve tried to make annotations that relate to the series as a whole.

I’ve added my comments in red.


SHEVANLAGIY

(Aside.)

So easy to fool him (Isahna) with half-truths. He doesn’t know why Aifa attacked me, and he does not know who the traitor’s son is. Poor Nihestan got into so much trouble, yet still he lives. Better yet, only a few know how I came to be here. Isahna has an idea, yes, but there’s still so much he doesn’t know… unless he does know and he’s pulling the trick over me…

(Aside from Shevanlagiy monologuing, which happens a lot in the stage play version… Nihestan was Shalant’s original name, and he had connections to Lord Cafrash Menchtoteale. Though hinted at in The Shadow War, the “traitor” aspect has not yet been addressed in the current version of the series… though I think there’s a couple hints of this in Magebane).

(AIFA comes on stage.)

AIFA

You like to make things hard on us, don’t you? Here string magic binds you, and maybe string magic will hold you, unlike the ribbon magic of mortals.

(I was actually surprised that I had string magic referenced this early in the story’s development. The idea that something is wrong with Shevanlagiy’s string magic remains in the current version.)

SHEVANLAGIY

If I’m not mistaken, ribbon magic is the magic of the gods, too. Isn’t it?

AIFA

That… that is true.

SHEVANLAGIY

Sure, string magic can hold me for a time being. But how long before my look-alike pulls a trick that unravels this prison?

AIFA

She doesn’t have that kind of power. And she really doesn’t look that much like you.

SHEVANLAGIY

Close enough. Genetic code is amazing, yes?

AIFA

Genetic what?

SHEVANLAGIY

Heritage. I wouldn’t expect you to know. Though, being a matchmaker goddess, I would think you would be more inclined to know than some of the others. Then again, it isn’t like the gods to try multiverse travel.

(Though I’ve downplayed it in the current version of the story, Shevanlagiy’s travel to other worlds was more prominent in the earlier drafts, as was her tendency to befuddle those around her with her other-worldly knowledge. That being said, the concept of Shevanlagiy visiting other worlds starts playing a much larger role in Magebane.)

AIFA

That doesn’t change the fact that you’re stuck here.

SHEVANLAGIY

Actually, it does. But what’s a minor goddess like you doing with the Time Stone? How are you controlling it? Surely it’s beyond your powers.

(Originally, the shodo’charl was called the “Time Stone.” However, with the introduction of “time stones” in the Distant Horizon universe that Isaac and I write, I decided to change the name to the “stone of passage,” or “shodo’charl.”)

AIFA

It… is trying.

(As seen in the end of The Shadow War, the newer version of the story has it that Aifa’s not having nearly the same amount of luck controlling the stone as we see here. It’s a factor that I intend to play a larger role in the fourth book of the series.)

Some hints have already been snuck into the books, and more hints are working their ways into the upcoming stories as well…

Anyway, that’s a look at one re-imagining of the Wishing Blade series, even though that particular version has been permanently shelved.

(That said, I haven’t gotten rid of my idea that ribbon dancing should be used to portray ribbon magic in a theatrical version).

* * *

Read the published version of the series…

Book Cover for Magic's Stealing
Book Cover for The Shadow War
Book Cover for Magebane

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

January 10, 2026 · 9:09 am

A Misinterpreted Prophecy

One trope I really enjoy in fantasy is that of the misinterpreted prophecy.

Where characters are acting on a belief that a prophecy is going to go a particular way, but there’s a crucial misunderstanding somewhere in the usually archaic-sounding and ominous poem or lyrics. *Squee!*

Whether the misunderstanding is because a word or phrase gets passed along incorrectly or something gets lost in translation, it’s a twist and a trope that makes me happy.

(Not to be confused with misunderstandings between characters as the driving force of drama, which drives me nuts.)

My first encounter with the misinterpreted prophecy that I can remember comes from the book, The Sight, by David Clement-Davies. I adored both that book and its sequel, Fell, when I was in high school. (Or was it junior high? Might have been junior high for The Sight and Fell in high school, come to think of it). I enjoyed the books enough to create a dramatic interpretation from Fell for my speech and debate class.

The one time I ever took home a second place trophy at tournament was after winter break when I, having read Fell during break, loved it, and decided to cut a piece with reference to the prophecy in the intro, plunged into memorizing it and preparing it over the two weeks and took it fresh to the next tournament.

I also might have made at least one person do a double-take while walking by because I was out practicing in the hall and was having a lot of fun with accents.

*Ahem*

Anyhow, point is… there’s a prophecy in the series and there is a single word change that completely shifts how the prophecy might play out. And almost twenty years later (wait… it’s been that long?) I can still recite the first few lines of that prophecy based on what I memorized for the interpretation.

So… what does all this have to do with anything?

Well, you don’t think I’d pass up the opportunity to slip a misinterpreted prophecy into one of my stories, do you? 😁

(Okay, okay. Technically it’s two stories but the second one doesn’t have anything published from that series yet).

So, which universe are we talking?

The Wishing Blade Universe!

Now, to be fair, nothing has been full revealed. Technically I planned to reveal parts of this in the next Stone and String novella or its spin-off that ties into the backstory of one of the characters from Magebane, but those have been on hold for so long that it seems more likely you’re going to get bigger hints about it from the upcoming Legends of Cirena story, The Dark Forest of Aneth.

Now…

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

If you don’t wish for any details regarding the misinterpretation, stop reading this post!
Seriously.
I’m going to be saying what got misinterpreted, but not why or how this affects the story going forward.
Okay with that?
Cool. Proceed with reading!

.

..

…

What’s the culprit for misinterpretation?

One word: Ralendacin.

If you’ve read the Stone and String series or The Shadow War, you already know that Ralendacin means “the destroyer of worlds.”

(Ralen: world)

(Dacin: to destroy)

However, it comes to the attention of a couple of characters in the eventually-going-to-be-written third Stone and String story that the name is, technically, incorrect. Cantingen, as it stands now, tends to be a very exact language.

But everyone agrees that “Ralendacin” means “Destroyer of Worlds” even though a more accurate translation would be “Ralenme’Dacinllah,” or, alternatively, “Dacinllah so Ralenme.”

(Ralenme: worlds)

(Dacinllah: one who destroys)

Therefore, perhaps, the prophecy foretelling of the coming of Ralendacin might not be entirely accurate. And if that name was translated incorrectly, what else might the translators of the prophecy have gotten wrong? And why have so many people mistaken the meaning behind the prophecy?

Some hints have already been snuck into the books, and more hints are working their ways into the upcoming stories as well…

* * *

Ralendacin is the mastermind behind the inciting incident of both these stories… but her lore goes far deeper than any of these characters yet know…

Book Cover for Magic's Stealing
Book cover for Stone and String

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 27, 2025 · 8:34 am

The Sinister Ribbons of Magic’s Lure

The primary magic we see in The Wishing Blade series is ribbon magic. Today I thought I’d showcase the sinister maroon ribbons of magic’s lure.

Magic’s lure is a rare form of ribbon magic with the power to command people to do a mage’s bidding. Unlike the telepathy powers in the Distant Horizon universe, it doesn’t actually change the target’s mindset… it’s physical.

But some people are more aware than others that they’re being affected. It depends largely on how closely the command matches with what they already want, and what other external factors might distract them from recognizing what’s happening.

Few mortals have access to magic’s lure, and Daernan (one of the main characters in the Wishing Blade series) is one such mage. He keeps his power hidden, knowing most people equate magic’s lure to being a power of the Trickster, Isahna, a nefarious, ill-favored god. Worse, since Daernan has royal blue shapeshifting ribbons, which are also a favored magic of the Trickster, he’s occasionally accused of being one of the god’s pawns… though that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Daernan would prefer to avoid using magic’s lure when he can. Still, it has its uses, and when time is of the essence, he’ll sometimes bend that rule.

Here’s a scene from The Shadow War in which Daernan and his friend, Siklana, are trying to get past a stubborn secretary to deliver an important message, but Siklana’s diplomatic attempts are failing miserably.

Siklana raised an eyebrow. “I am not going anywhere if this buffoon will not permit me speak with Marquis Eornayan. I’ve tried reasoning with him. I’ve tried listing my family credentials. I even tried giving him an exact time schedule of when the shadows are likely to arrive, and he still won’t listen. I don’t suppose you want to try your charms?”

“Not really,” Daernan admitted. But considering the glare the secretary gave Siklana, and the quill the secretary had snapped a moment ago in frustration, Siklana wasn’t getting in on her own.

He sighed. Siklana knew far more about court manners than he did, but he knew enough that he could manage an upper class attitude when he needed to, and he did have magic that might get them inside. He hated using it, but they only had a short amount of time remaining before the shadows got here…

An uncomfortable lump formed in his throat, but he returned to Siklana’s side, put on a proper pose, and added just a bit to his height via his shapeshifting ribbons. He offered the secretary his hand. “I apologize for the behavior of my assistant, good sir. I am still familiarizing her in the way of the court.”

Siklana’s jaw dropped and her cheeks blushed a furious red.

Play along, he sent, and I should be able to get us in.

She shut her mouth, though her eyes remained as wide as horseshoes. He didn’t usually communicate telepathically with anyone other than Toranih.

“I am Mage Daernan Nivasha. Please let Marquis Eornayan know that I have urgent news regarding a threat to the sovereignty of this excellent city. While I am willing to wait until his earliest convenience, I should note that an attack by the same cursed trickster who stole the magic of Cirena may be imminent. It is of the utmost importance that we speak with him.”

The secretary parted his mouth in a soft “O” and a tiny, fluttering maroon ribbon finished working its charm. The secretary smiled apologetically. “Just a moment. I shall alert him.” He shuffled from his desk, discarded his broken quill into a wicker basket on the way out, and then slipped between the giant doors behind him.

“How… how…” Siklana stared at Daernan. The redness in her cheeks had been replaced with a white that resembled that patch in Daernan’s hair.

He lowered his eyes and scuffed his boot on the marble floor. “We’ve got a way in now.”

“When I said to work your charm, I didn’t mean… There is no way you did that with good looks alone,” she hissed. She lowered her voice. “You have magic’s lure?”

He cringed. “Let’s not go announcing that to everyone, shall we?”

“Certainly not,” she murmured. “Everyone else can figure that out for themselves.”

Daernan let out a breath. If anyone else found out, they’d say he really was a pawn of the Trickster. It had taken a long time for him to accept he had those ribbons. He kept them on a short leash. A cage, really. If people hated string mages, they hated magic’s lure equally. “Go on in if they ask for us. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Daernan’s usually a lot more down-to-earth (Down-to-Cirena? Down-to-the-mortal-realm? I should probably decide what their equivalent phrase would be) than the other nobles, but when it comes down to it, he knows how to play the part.

The question, of course, is whether or not that’s going to work in his favor in the long run. Daernan might prefer not to use magic’s lure more than necessary, but the gods have other plans in mind (as we see in Magebane).

Other instances where we see magic’s lure is The Wind Mage and Wolf, involving one of the city guards that the main character, Livena, does not see eye-to-eye with, and as the magic of one of the main characters in the novella I’m currently writing and releasing through the Wishing Blade Universe Newsletter. Both of those stories are set in the Legends of Cirena era, two hundred years prior to the Wishing Blade series, though the latter novella leans heavily into setting up the events that eventually lead to the Wishing Blade era.

Of course, the fun thing about the in-progress novella (currently just titled “the Ferta story” is that it’s also set at a time when Isahna, the Trickster in the Wishing Blade series, is still only a god’s champion. And yes… he still gets to play a role. 😉

* * *

Beware of magic’s lure…

Book Cover for Magic's Stealing
Book Cover for The Shadow War
Book Cover for Magebane

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 13, 2025 · 8:27 am

The Immortals’ Languages

If you’ve read any of the Stone and String stories or later Wishing Blade books, you know I very much enjoy creating fictional languages. The Cantingen language for word magic is fairly fleshed out with grammatical rules and a good-sized list of words, though it still has a ways to go before being fully functional.

That being said, it isn’t the only language present in the world of The Wishing Blade.

We also hear reference of the the Cirenan language, Ancient Cirenan (mentioned in Magic’s Stealing), the Maijevan language, and the immortals’ languages.

The fun part is that Cirenan is supposed to be kind of like English… a mixture of several different languages. The problem?

I needed to figure out at least a portion of Ancient Cirenan for use in one of the later Stone and String stories.

Since Ancient Cirenan is supposed to be a mix of Cantingen, the immortals’ language, and an as-of-yet-undetermined language (Anethian?), I realized I needed to start delving into creating the other languages of influence… at least the basics.

So, I made notes on the immortals’ languages. So far I’ve got a basic idea of sentence structure, interrogatives, how verbs work, and the phonetics.

There would be too much to cover in one post (though if you want to see my notes on creating the sounds of the language, click here to check out my blog post from 2018), so I wanted to focus on one specific aspect… what the immortals call themselves.

The thing is, the Immortal Realm is fluid… a misty, fog-filled place with different regions inside it that don’t have any concrete position on a map. You could leave the edge of one region, travel through the mist, and arrive at a different region each time, despite traveling the same “direction.”

As a result, there are several different tribes and clans of immortals… beings which often resemble humanoid wolves, giant bears, equines, and other animals, although you also get the occasional griffin, dragon, minotaur… etc. Each group has their own dialect and variant of religion and culture, which results in occasional clashes.

I chose to focus on the primary language of the wolves, the one which has the most influence on Cirena. (Though, admittedly, I’ll sometimes use the same version of the language for the bears, and go with the idea of borrowed phrases or similar development of words).

One of the first things I wanted to figure out is what the immortals call themselves. While a lot of this is still in flux and may change, here’s what I’m currently looking at:

Since the immortals believe themselves to have come from the mist/fog of their realm (the word for “Mist” being “nirrin,” I decided that they would call themselves Mist Children. They live long lives (they don’t typically die unless they are outright killed or if disease takes them), and they have immortal ribbon magic, which is considerably stronger than regular ribbon magic.

The word for child is “cira’ma.” Plural, it becomes “gercira’ma.”

When creating names or special places that have a possessive tendency or description, the two words simply go together, primary noun first, and then the descriptor.

Thus, “Children of Mist” / “Mist Children” becomes:

gercira’ma’nirrin

(I’ll note that the apostrophes simply mean that the vowel sound before it does not merge with the next consonant. Thus, this words sounds something like “gair-cir-ah-ma-near-in.”)

I’ve got a lot more planned for this language, including what they call “created” beings who are still “immortal” but aren’t Children of Mist… but I’ll save that for another day.

* * *

Explore the my different conlangs…

Book cover for Stone and String
The Gryphon and the Mountain Bear - Cover
Book Cover for Magebane

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 29, 2025 · 7:23 am

Types of Magic

There are several types of magic in The Wishing Blade universe (because I like making magic systems). Some are closely related, and others aren’t. Here’s a look at the different types:

Ribbon Magic: One of the most common forms of magic in Cirena (until the Stealing) is ribbon magic. These invisible ribbons float through a person and can be commanded to do various tasks, depending on the type of ribbon. Some mages can see ribbons (Magic’s Sight), and those who can note that different ribbons have different colors.

A non-exhaustive list of some of the known colors of ribbons and what they do:

  • Pink – Telepathy
  • Gold – Healing
  • Yellow – Fire
  • Lime Green – Telekinesis
  • Royal Blue – Shapeshifting
  • Navy – Teleportation
  • Violet – Portals
  • Turquoise – Light

Ribbon magic can also be tied to various objects to enchant the object and allow non-mages to use their magic. The most common usage is the light crystal, in which light ribbons are attached to a piece of quartz, or a similar material.

Note: Ribbon magic is mostly seen in the Wishing Blade series and Legends of Cirena series.

Immortal Magic: Closely related to ribbon magic, immortal magic appears as ribbons except that it is much, much stronger. These ribbons tend to be black and silver, though the hue of their primary ability may still show through. Those with immortal magic tend to age slower, if at all, but are still susceptible to being killed by weapon or disease (though they tend to heal faster and be more resilient to diseases).

Note: Immortal magic is mostly seen in the Wishing Blade series and certain Legends of Cirena stories.

String Magic: Everything is made of tiny, invisible strings, which few mages can manipulate. It is possible to indirectly manipulate strings by using word magic, but the ability to see and touch strings directly is limited. Often, even these abilities are restricted, with string mages able to feel/sense strings or see strings, but not both. They might not be able to manipulate them, even with these abilities.

Even the gods and goddesses are limited in terms of how well they can manipulate string magic, so mortals born with this ability tend to be closely watched, feared, or respected.

Note: String magic is primarily seen in the Wishing Blade series, but also in a couple Legends of Cirena stories.

Shadow Magic: A consuming, unstable magic. Shadow magic tends to infect the mortal world, rendering objects and people invisible to those who aren’t shadow. If wounded by a shadow weapon, a mortal will become shadow. Shadows do not like fire or glass-stone (both can kill them), and shadow weapons can also wound them. A non-shadow weapon, while it might hurt temporarily, will quickly heal. Most unstable shadows can’t see color, and feel cold.

That said… what we see of shadow magic in the Wishing Blade universe is primarily unstable… but stable shadow magic acts a bit differently. While still cold when in the mortal realm, stable shadows don’t infect, and being touched by magical ribbons will cause them to temporarily become visible before vanishing again.

Note: Unstable shadow magic plays a huge role in the Wishing Blade series. We’ll get to see stable shadow magic in Legends of Cirena #9: The Dark Forest of Aneth!

Word Magic: Technically, the Cantingen language doubles as word magic. While it’s used for everyday purposes, spells are activated by phrasing things between “Be la” and “la be.” This works independently of other magic types, though it can be used to control and manipulate string magic.

An example of word magic: Be la russéan micasi la be. (“Release my spell.” — This phrase is used to cancel a previously cast spell).

This magic is relatively straightforward, but dangerous because of the necessity of using an exact phrase. Intention plays a role, but only those with extremely strong willpower are able to speak a vague spell and have it do what they intend versus an exact rendering of what they say.

Note: Word magic doesn’t yet exist in the Legends of Cirena era, but we do see it in the Wishing Blade series and in the Stone and String series.

Charlago / Magebane: This isn’t technically magic, but its anti-magic properties mean that it interacts with magic and thus is included as part of the magic systems I try to keep track of. Magebane is a material (technically uranium, radium, or pitchblende, with special properties in the Wishing Blade Universe) which explodes when brought in in direct contact with immortal magic, and may explode depending on the concentration of ribbon magic. Ribbon magic may fray rather than explode, causing it to behave erratically, and sometimes with more… personality… than normal. When brought in contact with shadow magic, magebane loses its destructive tendencies and stabilizes the shadow.

Note: Magebane plays a huge role in later books of the Wishing Blade series, and in certain Legends of Cirena stories.

* * *

Explore the different magic systems in these three series starters…

The Wind Mage of Maijev - Book Cover
Book Cover for Magic's Stealing
Book cover for Stone and String

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 15, 2025 · 8:43 pm

Strings of Life and Death

In the world of The Wishing Blade universe, everyone has two strings of magic. One strand is life. The other strand is death.

Actually, their entire world is made of strings, which is why string mages are particularly powerful, but those two strings are extra important for magic.

Why?

Life magic is the key to a person’s free will and awareness. Without it, they go into “zombie mode” and act solely on instinct. They’re quieter, and don’t tend to resist magical commands well.

This is also the string used to created “inhabited” or cursed objects (and if that object is glass-stone, it changes from clear to a smoky, glossy black, reminiscent of obsidian. This is a huge point in my upcoming Legends of Cirena novel, The Dark Forest of Aneth. People, and especially priests and priestesses, typically try to avoid inhabited objects.)

But why tie life magic into an object?

Well, it allows the wielder, or a specific user, to power enchantments without expending their own willpower. (The catch here is that if you tie someone’s life magic to an item and that person has a strong will, you might be fighting their will instead of simply powering an enchantment).

Life magic is the string provided to mortals by Listhant-Nsasrar (Lishivant), Cirena’s high god.

On the other hand, death magic is the key to a person being able to die, to sleep, and to dream.

Without their string of death magic, they will eventually go mad unless they have a way to magically induce sleep or go into a meditative trance. (And getting mortally wounded without death magic unpleasant, to say the least. But very effective at keeping them technically alive).

This is the string provided by Madiya (Madia), the goddess of the dead.

If you’ve read “Stone and String,” you know that Edyli lost her death magic after infuriating Madia.

But she’s not the only one who has made Madiya furious.

Ralendacin (Shevanlagiy in The Wishing Blade series) lost access to her death magic, but due to a magic-meets-magebane accident that she might have overpowered with some artifacts she shouldn’t have used, when she “dies” she instead wakes up in another world. (Is this at all tied to something to do with her life magic? Read the Wishing Blade series to make some theories of your own on that…)

Unfortunately for those worlds, Shevanlagiy has a tendency to destroy any world that fails to give her what she’s after, and thus she gained the nickname, “The Destroyer of Worlds.”

Her method of destroying worlds tends to unravel the strings that hold them together, or outright obliterate the strings, giving the gods in the Wishing Blade series a very strong incentive to keep her from destroying this one, too.

* * *

A spell to infuriate the goddess of the dead (Stone and String)… or an opponent who has already made that goddess furious (Magic’s Stealing)…

Book cover for Stone and String
Book Cover for Magic's Stealing

Quick reminder… you can read Stone and String for free by signing up to my newsletter!

* * *

Happy reading and writing!

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,