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Brief insights into my writing world. |
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I started my blog in June 2016, intending to have a place to get my stories in the hands of readers. I started with one follower -- my wife. I post a daily quote, as well as short stories and vignettes. Alas, current events pull my attention and I've added current events to the mix. You can find my Tavern Tales at: https://jjshaun.com/ Enjoy! |
| Last week, I wrote a story to a prompt on my favorite writing site. The challenge was to write a story in which a couple meets for an “accidental“ first date, and are still going strong after forty years. ~~~ Read Blind Date . |
| The mountain had been moving for three days. Lorielei Alterian knew because the bowls in the abbey kitchen trembled at dawn and dust sifted from the rafters, coating everything. The great black wall beyond her cell gave a low, patient groan beneath the stone. ~~~ Read The Murmuring Desert . |
| This week, I thought about a story one of my writing group companions wrote about data centers. That rolled around in my head for a while after drawing a new prompt in which a woman, considered a conspiracy theorist, wants to defeat a trap that will destroy a glacial dam. A local scientist thinks he can use pieces of the glacier to help solve the region’s water crisis, which was caused by climate change and the resource needs of massive data centers. The conspiracy theorist sees the move as reckless because of ancient prophecies she’s uncovered in her extensive research. ~~~ Read The Meltwater Trap . |
| I spent last weekend learning how to write a better story. The second annual Grand Mesa Writer’s Symposium was again held at the foot of Colorado’s Grand Mesa in beautiful downtown Cedaredge, Colorado. I was eager to immerse myself in the writing community for the weekend and reconnect with the friends I made at the last symposium. ~~~ Read about my weekend at Grand Mesa Writer's Symposium . |
| When twins Elayna and Eliam Alterian land in Adaran after stumbling into a cave of crystal portals, a young halfling named Benji Orly helps them escape the troops that come to investigate the magical disturbance. As they move through the landscape, they stumble into a haunted swamp that leads into a dying glade of what looks to the twins like cypress trees. ~~~ The Dying Glade |
| In her younger years, Lorielei Alterian was a defiant young elf, determined to follow the shining path of her goddess. She learns of a cursed workshop and vows to eradicate it, and though she doesn’t know it when she begins her quest, she’ll do things that will put her life on a different path, squandering her opportunity to wear the shining armor. Loriel’s research has led her to an ancient workshop, buried beneath a ruin destroyed by an explosion. According to legend, the ruin is on a bleak, windswept grassland surrounded by carnivorous plants. Rumors of a ritual to restore the workshop have reached Rithraunen, and Loriel is determined to make a name for herself by destroying it. The closer she gets to her destination, the more chatter in the surrounding towns, hamlets, and villages confirms her suspicions. ~~~ Read Echoes of the Past . |
| This week, I read the cards and created a ‘scoundrel’ (a musically inclined rogue named Evyn Nightsong demanded my attention when I pulled that prompt) who wants to escape a broken hideout (destroyed by a rival gang while he was out delivering messages), but he must repair the damage he’s done. Although I drew a setting, as I began thinking about Evyn and his talents, I realized that he’s more than a rogue. He’s a minstrel. After the local band of ne’er-do-wells that ‘adopted’ him falls, he realizes he is the reason the gang fell, and why he was away from their hideout when it happened. To redeem himself, he must prove he isn’t a snitch. ~~~ Read A Song of Resurgence . |
| I recently received the Deck of Worlds (a Story Engine expansion) as a gift. So, I thought I’d combine a draw from my original cards (I received those a few years ago at a Free Comic Book Day) with a location from the new cards. Instead of having to figure out where my character has to look, I can have her already know and face the challenges of retrieval. ~~~ Read the story at Finding Twilight . |
| This week, I drew up a new fantasy story about a tyrant who wants a powerful quill, but to get it, they will owe something to someone they despise. This prompt brought two antagonists from my novel, Galimeel Redoak and Robin Tremain, into conflict—though not for the first time. ~~~ Read the story at The Quill of Cleft Words . |
| This week, I once again used the Story Engine deck to build a story prompt. I drew a set that had me wondering how and why my shapeshifter, Bix, chose Noxport as their base of operations. Until I began thinking about their origins, I didn’t know Bix’s true identity. Early in their life, they leave their clan and begin a search for a forgotten artifact, but will have to leave their comfort zone to achieve their goal. ~~~ Read the story at Harbor of New Beginnings . |
un: 
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, but my laptop's running 10. I suppose I should do something about it... but I didn't earn those Procrastination MBs by taking the bull by the horns (which, to be honest, sounds more than a little dangerous). 
