I figured I might as well introduce everyone to the creature species called Vigilplunks! I love these things and Julia Gumbryte perfectly captured the essence! Vigilplunks are creatures that stay in the bathrooms of the magickal schools to make sure that no one is bullied. I created these so that the schools could have gender neutral bathrooms without any problems and so that people could use the correct bathrooms according to their gender. They come in various shades of pink.
Below, you can click to learn more about them. We have also made a book sleeve and a bookmark that go with the first book in The Negligent Magick Trilogy.
Tonight, I listened in on an event with Meet Cute Bookshop, which featured Natalie Naudus, the author of Gay the Pray Away and an audiobook narrator. The conversation between Natalie Naudus and Travis Baldree was very natural and flowing because they were both on the same page regarding what they found important in writing and reading.
One thing the conversation led to was talking about why Natalie wrote Gay the Pray Away. She said that when she became a parent, she had to dig in deep about stuff left over from her childhood that she didn’t realize was an issue or was there. So, the tipping point of her story being put on the page was her needing to get an issue she had out of herself and process it. When she was writing, she told herself she didn’t have to publish it, but after writing it, she realized that it might help other people, so she decided to put it out there.
When she published this story, she received what she called validation. She received so many messages from others saying they now felt seen, which made her feel not alone and like she had done the right thing.
Natalie explained that to write the book, she had to write around her work and kids’ schedules. She started the book as a raggy memoir but then wrote it as fiction, which gave her the freedom to write her feelings and made writing what she needed to write easier.
She said that she may not write another book soon because narrating pays more, and she has kids in hockey, so she has to make money. But she may jump into it when her kids are older. She does know, for sure, that she wants to write a poly relationship because she has a lot to say on how love should grow and not be limited and finite.
A few other things that were discussed were how writing creates empathy and connection to someone’s life. Also, how found family now-a-days is becoming so big for so many people because people are realizing that finding the people who love you the way you always wanted to be loved is such a fulfilling experience in life.
From this event, I learned that Natalie is such an inspiring writer and person. She said how she knows she won’t be able to write as beautiful of prose that she reads from some authors, but all she can do is put out something that is her. She also mentioned that as she is getting older, she is becoming more attracted to the truth because she reads such a large volume. So, for her, she needs something real to consume or something that hits hard because then it feels true and sticks.
Thank you so much Meet Cute. I feel so lucky that I was able to listen into this conversation.
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.
 Colin Moore Alvarado created the concept art for this creature belonging to the Kasverse, called a Yelluk. It is a giant worm on the planet Delloc and appears in our book Unredeemed, where our main character, Airya, deals with it. I made this creature because I wanted something to up the tension and pacing for Airya while she was in Nokia, on top of wanting her to do something to gain respect from the king and queen there. Â
Regaining Lost Aspects: Mind and Soul 