“Veil” was a small passion project that came to life because my mind apparently wanted to try to deconstruct a problem that I see most times in society: which is how once someone or something isn’t a benefit to society anymore, their needs are ignored.
“Veil” takes place in The Lockdrest Universe and actually has an interesting backstory. The ball you see in the picture comes from the Wishing Realm in the Forbidden Tell. It had arrived from the Wishing Realm into the Forbidden Tell in 1013, which was before the Forbidden Tell was blocked off by the Magickal Society. (All these things I can’t wait to dive into later on.)
This amazing piece of artwork was made by Susanne Hundseder, and you can find the short story if you click below.
Okay, let’s talk about how amazing it feels to meet such kind people whose goal and purpose is to help improve society and continue to grow.
Wow.
This was my first time at Booknet Fest, and I was blown away by how different it was from other conferences for a variety of reasons. One, they wanted to ensure everyone knew that everyone was on level playing ground. That we are all people. Two, they focused their panels on how to help the world and help each other. Three, monster romance! Yes!! And four, this was the only conference I felt I belonged so far, even though it was my first time. Maybe it was because we were all similar in age, or we were all young or kindred at heart, you could say. But it was amazing. I was complimented so many times on my outfits (Pokemon and Sailor Moon,) which had never happened before and made me feel so seen. I had such great conversations. I received a little blue therapy duck and attended a prom where we could all dress how we wanted to. It was honestly how I wish prom was when we were in school.
But truly, it was terrific and I would suggest anyone to go to help them grow because their vision is spectacular. Also, even though I was very drained socially and down coming straight into this conference because of a funeral at the beginning of the week, I was lifted back up by the end, which I was not expecting.
Booknet will be in Orlando, Florida, next year, May 23rd and 24th, 2025!
In the story Unredeemed, there are more than a few items mentioned that either help the main character reach her enlightenment or, sadly enough, torture her. I bet you can not guess which items do which of the two things!
But anyway, I had three of the top items made by the Solocs using pieces of their gods. I did this so that empathy, power, and the sadness of the gods could be tangible, even though Airya and those gods were years apart from each other. The last item I created in order to also create a link that needed to be made for various plot reasons.
All of these items were painted by Colin Moore Alvarado and more in-depth information can be found with the links below. Also, if you want to buy the book Unredeemed to see how they fit all together, click on the title in this sentence or here!
This scene is a scene from the book Unredeemed, and honestly, I am blown away by how well Colin Moore Alvarado was able to capture it. This is one of the prints I would love to get printed on a metal slate to hang on a wall one day.
This scene takes place in The Conzeal Stran. To read more about the depth of The Conzeal Stran, click below, but I came up with this place to create a mishap with Airya’s powers and to up the emotional tension that would later weave into the relationship arc between two of the characters.
Because we love the art so much, we created a bookmark for it and a mug! You can click on the pictures to see the full item.
I am serious that this wonderful piece by Colin will be hanging on my wall one day, and I can’t wait.
Fountain Bookstore hosted a historical fiction panel that I was able to listen to with Chanel Cleeton, author of House on Biscayne Bay; Denny S Bryce, author of The Trial of Mrs. Rhinelander; and Eliza Knight, author of Starring Adele Astaire.
This was such a cool panel to listen to, especially when it came to the authors discussing their research. Denny S Bryce said that history guides historical fiction writers into their stories and went onto explain how sometimes they find characters in history that people didn’t even know existed, like a brother or a sister of a famous person. They all also expressed exciting forms of research that one may not think about when it comes to researching the past, like diving into the songs and movies of the historical characters they are working to voice in their books. Bryce talked about how she really enjoyed listening to one of her character’s albums, especially the live versions, to learn the character’s personality by how they interacted with their audience. She also talked about how she and Knight were out one day and came across a few stories about Marilyn Monroe and then found a picture of Monroe with a friend, which made them both want to work together to write a story about the picture they had seen. That story is called Can’t We Be Friends.
On the topic of Marilyn Monroe, Knight watched all of Monroe’s movies for research. She said through doing that, she could see when Monroe’s acting began to change once she got more training and then again when she started getting into drugs. She was also able to see and understand how one of the films she did for her husband hurt her because she had to relive hurtful past events while being a method actress.
Cleeton talked about her upcoming book House on the Biscayne Bay, a dual-timeline book in which the past and present intersect in a gothic house, and how she had to do research for both of the time periods it is set in. She also explained how hard it is for a historical fiction author not to use modern phrases because the brain sometimes automatically inputs them.
A cute and exciting thing that Knight said she learned through research, which she tied into one of her books, was that Queen Elizabeth had a Keeper of the Queen’s Corgis. Because Knight is obsessed with dogs, she dove into writing a story about the queen, the Keeper of the Corgis, and the Corgi herself from the Corgi’s point of view. That book is called The Queen’s Faithful Companion and will be out this year.
It was also very cool to hear how Denny S Bryce had worked toward being a full-time writer, which is her fourth career, and that she loves it. She said that even though it has its bad days sometimes, it is a life she has always wanted. She used to be a professional dancer and through her other careers she wrote fan fiction to relax, now writing her own stories is what she spends most of her time doing.
Thank you, Fountain Books, for organizing this cute and insightful event.
This is another lovely piece of art by Colin Moore Alvarado that shows the Strigiformes who had made their way into Ausrine and laid the eggs that birthed the Solocs. This is a concept that I honestly don’t remember how or why I came up with it. It was one of those ideas that played like a movie in my head, as if the world I was building was telling me what I needed to write down. I am happy I did, though. I have a love for these giant creatures and how the Solocs’ lives were shaped because of them. Their height can be shown by the little bits around the rocks that look like runes.
If you want to read a little more about them or about the Solocs and Ausrine, click on the link below.
Regaining Lost Aspects: Mind and Soul 