The Write Mage

Oh, Shoot, I Missed July. (Quarterly Goals)

I'll pretend I wrote this on Friday. You do so, too.

The year is already halfway over. They say it's because as you age, there are more days behind you, so it feels like time is moving faster, but what if we're speeding up secretly? Conspiracy theory activated! But for real, let's look at my goals for the quarter haha.

I'm just waiting on one more beta reader to finish up Broken Princess. Aside from some great feedback so far, I also received a "what the hell!?" and a side-eye (not in a bad way, I promise), so I think I'm on the right track haha. If you've been with me for the past decade, you'll know I never intended on making a series. Fractured Princess was supposed to be a standalone fantasy, and once more "what if" ideas for a sequel kept popping into my head, I had to figure out what else could possibly happen, how, and why, so I'm glad it came together. I can't wait to get it all finished. Should I put a counter on the side of my blog that says, "Beat George R.R. Martin to the Finish Line?" I think I should.

Anyways, I have decided to illustrate the cover myself. I bought a digital art pad last year, and once I have a program I really like, I can do it. That means brushing up on my very rusty illustration skills, but if you follow me on Tiktok, you've seen me sketch some BTS members, so there is hope for me yet.

The audiobook review did not happen. I'll just have to table it for now until I really have time. Perhaps if I can squeeze in a vacation week, I'll take a couple of those days to do it. I haven't taken a week's vacation since Juneteenth last year, and I won't again until December as of today. So, we'll see.

On the video game front, I am officially the Lead Writer for Prism! I'm very excited about the project, and I love seeing the excitement of our director seeing everything come together! We're starting to get content up on social media, so you can follow us on any and all of the following:

Instagram

Bluesky

So, what are my actual goals for this quarter (and of course the next 5th Friday is in Quarter 4)?

Complete final edits for Broken Princess after I get my last Beta Reader's comments.
Practice illustrating and work on the cover.
Reach out to my cartographer with map updates.

Sounds good and doable. So, I will see you at the end of August for a monthly post! Thanks for sticking around! <3

The Meaning Behind the Juneteenth Flag

Because we all need a gentle reminder that all Americans were neither independent nor free on July 4, 1776, here is a brief history of the Juneteenth Flag!

On June 19th, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, the Union arrived to notify the last enslaved African Americans that they were freed.

In 1997, Ben Haith designed the flag to tell the story of Juneteenth. The red, white, and blue signifies that the people freed were Americans. The curve of the colors signified new horizon and opportunities for African Americans. The white star represents Texas and the freedom of African Americans in all the states. The starburst represents a nova (new star), which represents a new beginning for African Americans.

To learn more about Ben Haith and the flag, here is an Instagram reel.

The Bated Breath of Having Beta Readers (Quarterly Goals)

I just looked over at the different years and saw I wrote 99 posts in 2016. What the heck was I talking about?!

Anyway, happy June, basically! haha We're at the end of May on a 5th Friday, so that means time to provide an update on my goals, which I should have posted in April, especially because the next one will be in July, but ah well. Gregorian calendar problems.

So, back in January, I had the goal to finish writing Broken Princess, which I had done before my last official Weekly Words post. By end of next quarter (September-ish), I want to reach out to my cartographer to make an updated map, maybe two. I believe just one will suffice for Books 2 and 3, but I'll see. I also need to figure out what I'm doing about the next covers. I haven't been able to get a response back from the original artist, which bums me out, but I also don't have the funds anyway (and didn't the first time; will always thank my Kickstarter backers for that one). If I go the route of finding a new artist, I'll need their style to at least be close to FP's. Either that, or I work on them myself. It's been a while since I've illustrated, though, so I'll keep y'all posted.

I was actually thinking about the audiobook the other day. I don't want to give up on it. Now that Broken Princess is in the beta readers' hands, I should have time to listen to what I recorded and make some adjustments where needed, especially for the boys' chapters. I leaned too heavily into the voices I wanted them to have, and I know for a fact (if I haven't already said this), my voice sounded fried for Cyan and like very bad Kiwi for Andyrsn haha. I also can't wait to see what my beta readers have to say about some of the major things that happen in Broken Princess. I know two are re-reading FP first, so it'll be a couple weeks before I get some yelling in my chats, but I can't wait!

Job-wise, I'm still at my office job. I am peeking around still, but I think I'm on the waiting game. I hate playing it. But at least I had the playtesting job at the end/beginning of the year...You know, I haven't looked into that avenue yet...Let me do that. The video game project is going well! We've been meeting regularly, and we're now part of Ukie (UK Interactive Entertainment), a trade body for the video game industry in the UK! It's so cool to see everything coming together as a gamer myself. I can't wait for everyone to see this game!

That reminds me, by the end of this quarter, I might want to finish my video game writing courses! They have been so helpful, and I love putting the certificates in my LinkedIn. I can't believe I have certificates in video game writing! Ah! I actually started and read 7 books this year, and I didn't realize that! I'm proud of myself. I'm going to keep on with the reading. I developed a good pace, especially at bedtime.

Another of my goals for the next quarter: I have GOT to play some of these other games I've bought and never started or started and never finished. It's getting as bad as my books. The game team also keeps referencing games I haven't played, so I've added them to my collection, one of which is Kingdom Hearts, which I have avoided my entire life (I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE DISNEY CHARACTERS IN MY FINAL FANTASY), so pray for me.

That's all I have. I will see you all next month!

Oh, shoot, there is no other Friday in April - Monthly Musings

This month whizzed by, so I really don't have a lot to say. I'm still editing, but I'm also at the third part of the book, so that's good. I just had to write away some plot holes and inconsistencies I accidentally wrote into the story, which takes a lot of looking back at earlier chapters and even at FP (I almost renamed a whole character) for reference. I have a plan to do some co-writing sessions live on Tiktok. I don't have much of a following, but I know writers are leaning more toward using Tiktok than they do Twitch. I think that's a good idea, because I would like to keep my Twitch exclusive to gaming.

I spoke with my therapist about switching my career completely. I have been jumping departments but remaining in the same position for 13 years now. I'm tired of the position. I said the last job would be my last secretarial job, and then I took another one. On the other hand, I'm also looking at an opening for a secretary position in my city. Whether or not it's hybrid is a question, but again, if I'm just down the street from my house, how much do I care? I've leaned on the flexibility I have in my current job (e.g., writing out blog posts), and my boss and I have been trying to rework my job a little, so I'm stuck between "be patient" and "it's not enough." I still have a few days to decide before the position closes, so we'll see what happens.

That's really all I have for y'all. I will see you for the quarterly goals post in May!

See you at CityLit!

Hey there!

If you're in the DMV or Baltimore area, come see me and the author MultiMind at the CityLit Festival next Saturday! More details in the sidebar.

Monthly Musings

I'm writing a little bit of this in the past, realizing Weekly Words is now extinct. I haven't written weekly in, what, years? Looking at some of my other blog images, there was a time I was posting weekly on different days years ago. I had Tuesday Tales, Wednesday Words, Friday Freeday. I was doing so much. I'm not even sure people read blogs like this anymore, but this is connected to my Goodreads...I'd be ridiculous to say I can't commit to a monthly post, though, so Monthly Musings sounds good.

I'm currently editing Broken Princess and plan to send to beta readers in the next month or so. There are some other logistics I need to work out, so I'm closer to sure that I won't have a table at my regular cons this year. Dover Comic-Con is less than 3 months away now. Bento Con might be an option, but I'll have to see. I would like the book to be out by the end of the year for sure, though, if not earlier. I wanted it to be out by July, but that can't happen at this point.

I have been doing better at reading, and I'm 100% it's because of the book I was reading, which was Girl of Flesh and Metal by Alicia Ellis, and it was so good, I wrote the review and immediately bought Clash of Flesh and Metal afterwards.

Girl of Flesh and Metal is the first self-published novel to make the American Library Association's LITA Excellence in Children and Young-Adult Science Fiction Notable Lists. #GOALS. The book is phenomenal, and I can't wait to see what happens in the sequel. I haven't been this excited about a series since N.K. Jemisin's The Great Cities series, so that speaks volumes. I wish publishers understood how much Black readers need to see Black main characters in Sci-fi and Fantasy, but they also don't think we read, so there's that.

The video game is coming along nicely. We meet on Fridays, so we'll be meeting in an hour. I hope the momentum keeps going, especially as we get a couple more writers on the team. We'll see how it goes!

I'm still debating on migrating the blog, but I'm also very partial to Blogger, because I've used it for over a decade now. It probably won't happen. I've got so much else to worry about.

Anyway, see you in April! I think I said I was going to do the Quarterly on the 5th Thursday? I'll do it the 5th Friday in May. I can't mess up my labels more than necessary.

Weekly Words - SoulAce Day and Writing Update

HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH!

A post on a Monday? Why yes, because I forgot to post Friday, which actually turned out well for today.

Today is SoulAce Day: a day created by Black asexuals to acknowledge and celebrate the creativity of the ignored A in LGBTQIA (because it does NOT stand for ally).

A few of us contributed to an e-zine about Black Asexual Culture, which you can support by downloading and/or donating to those who contributed at the link below.

https://blackaceculture.itch.io/black-ace-culture-a-digital-zine

And now for a quick writing update: I was finally able to write, "To be continued..." in the sequel to Fractured Princess, officially titled Broken Princess! I'm so relieved that I made it. In about a week, I'll start editing and once I'm done, I'll send it to my beta readers. More news to come in the next few months!

Quarterly Goals

Good evening! *in my Dracula voice*

As I'm reading my August Quarterly Goals post, I realize I was supposed to write one on Black Friday! Welp.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! These past few months have been a hellscape, but as the country burns to the ground, let's take some time to breathe, think of some good you can do in your community, and just be good and decent human beings.

My goal for the end of the year was to finish Divided Princess. Bad news, good news time. Bad news: I did not finish the book by the end of the year. The good news is I have ONE CHAPTER LEFT! I absolutely plan on being at least halfway tonight and fully done tomorrow. And honestly, I don't even expect the chapter to be very long, so I might actually be done tonight. I just have to finish this blog post and unpause my Book 2 soundtrack and Mini Cozy Lo-fi Timer.

My other two goals for...I guess the last two quarters was to start editing the audiobook and catching up on my annual reading goal. HA. I'm done setting goals for those right now. I'm lying. I do have an annual goal of reading 18 books this year. Currently reading three, but actively reading one, so as long as I get back into the other two, I can have 3 done by the end of February. The audiobook is on hold for now, especially, because...

So, about that major project I mentioned in October?

I am officially a narrative writer for an upcoming indie game named Prism from the new studio Creative AF Games! I'm SO EXCITED! Writing for a video game has been one of my dreams, and I did not expect it to come true! In fact, I had just donated the book I had on video game writing before I moved, so I had to go buy another copy. lol Please go to my Linktree over in the banner or just from clicking these words and scroll down for all the social links for the game studio! More information to come the closer we are to releasing the demo.

All right, the next 5th Friday isn't until May, so I will most likely do a 5th Thursday post in April to see if I'm track with my reading goal. Oh! Pending cover art and my beta readers, I might also have a release date available then, so fingers crossed, and see you next month! :)

Early Morning Musings

It is 3:45am, and I just realized that I may only have two or three chapters left before I can stamp a "To Be Continued..." on the end of the second book in my Shattered Chronicles series! This is super exciting for me for a few reasons.

1. When I first concepted Fractured Princess, f.k.a The Crystal Bearer, f.k.a Save the Queen, I had planned on it being a standalone book. I did not expect more ideas to flow after that first version of the "All Will Be Well" chapter.

2. Now, after a self-publish, a failed stint with a vanity publisher, and an updated self-publish, I am seeing the end of this journey that started from a weird dream I had over 21 years ago.

3. I already know what each part of the third book entails, almost from A to Z, so it will be a much quicker turnaround after Book 2 is published!

4. I'm pretty sure I'm going to beat George R.R. Martin in finishing a fantasy series, and A Game of Thrones was published in 1996. It's not a race, but I'm thrilled for myself.

Anyway, I will have an official update during the January Quarterly Goals post. I hope everyone is enjoying any and all holidays you celebrate. I just realized our menorah is in storage, so I'm sad about that. Maybe I can find it Monday after work (the storage place is closer to my job than my house by like 30 miles) and celebrate the last day of Chanukah.

See you in 2026!

Monthly Review

HAPPY OCTOBER! Time for a monthly review.

This is actually going to be short.

The past three months have been a whirlwind. I have a lot going on even in just this last month. Also, I realized sometime this past week that I had written a big continuity error into the story and had to go back and fix it before I could go forward. Splendid. On the bright side, I thought I needed to finish the book by today, but then I read my last Quarterly Goals post and realized I said "end of the year for sure," so, yay, no pressure.

I started a major project this month. I'm so excited about it! More information to come soon! I also start playtesting today. That should be something fun for me to focus on.

I also started working on managing some of my personal issues this past week. We'll see how everything turns out. I just know going forward, I'm choosing my peace!

Reading wise, I'm almost finished the audiobook Firefly: Big Damn Hero, and I love that world so much. Just wish Joss Whedon hadn't turned out to be awful. But anyway, I'm also reading The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Mel Robbin's The Let Them Theory. I'm not going to catch up on my goal, but at least, I'm getting back into reading.

I hope you've had a good month. Happy Halloween!

New Story Added!

Hi there!

Just a quick and random post to let you all know that there is a new story on my Short Stories & Poems page! It's an audio script called "The Hunter," and in the spirit of Halloween, I hope you enjoy (muahaha).

Also, here's a direct link to it. :) "The Hunter"

New Website Design!

October is here already, my God.

This is just a quick update, as I have finally made a website that looks like more than a few words on a banner background, so hit the Home button above to check it out!

Monthly Review + Writing Update + Quarterly Goals

I was actually working today, so I forgot to post around Noon. Back-timing this.

I had a great time at Bento Con last Saturday. I had a really cool conversation about thermodynamics, which I'm really going to look into when I finally get to the sci-fi anthology I've wanted to write. The one thing I love about a local convention like this is the diversity of the people that come to my table. I had older men stop by, one of whom said, "Let me go get my wife, she'd love this," other writers, and teens and 20-somethings, who are the target audience for my book. I took 24 books with me and not only sold 12, but I had my first sale of my illustration cards! That alone excited me, because some man told me to have illustrations on sale when he stopped by at Blue Hen Comic Con the year before last, and when I had them last year, no one was interested. Perhaps by next year, when I have two books to sell, some fans of Book 1 will want the illustrations!

That said: I made it to Part 3 in the sequel! I was so excited to finally get these pivotal scenes I've had in my head for the past few years in the order that they belong. I feel like this part is going to be a little shorter. The first book had 46 chapters. As I'm typing this, I realize I haven't been updating the chapter list to the second book, so...

*Five minutes later*

...I have 30 chapters at the moment, and I'm into the third chapter now. I don't want to drag it out if I don't have to. Maybe ten chapters? We'll see.

On that note, my goal from last quarter was to edit the audiobook and finish this book. I haven't even touched the audiobook. I keep thinking about it, though. I imagined I would have more time while I was on my medical leave of absence, but for the first three of my six weeks, I slept, so as evident in the last section of this post, I didn't write enough to finish the book. I'm getting there, though, and I'll take it. End of the year for sure. I just realized the quarters are off, too. There are five Fridays in October and November, so I'll be posting a goals update on Black Friday. I hope to hear from the cover artist by then, because I would like to have both of the second and third book covers completed before I publish Book 2.

I also stopped reading the short story compilation I was reading. I don't know who taught them how to make an anthology, but they didn't tell them not to include half of a novel. I'm not even joking. It was one half of a novel! That held up my reading goals for sure. So, I jumped into a new book that I actually might do a Weekly Words for next week. It's been a long time since I've done one. We'll see.

So anyway, goals for the next quarter are:

finish Book 2.
At least START editing the audiobook.
Catch up on my annual reading goal.

Wish me luck!