Everyone meet Molly, the main character in The Negligent Magick Trilogy, whose artwork was done by Julija Gumbryte. In the series, Molly remains the main point of view, although within the three books, the other points of view change. For example, in Lockdrest, the two main points of view are Molly and Namu, but in the second publication of the series, it’s Molly and someone else.
I made Molly when I was taking a writing course and I wanted to make a fun scene that let my imagination explore. Molly was created because I needed someone who was young and trying to figure out her life. She is someone who has been traumatized her entire life because of ghosts trying to take over her body. She is also stuck in this weird time period when society is trying to figure itself out since it was just realized by the nation as a whole that magick is real and exists.
Molly has a special place in my heart because she and Namu started The Lockdrest Universe. She allowed me to explore the fun side of myself while also allowing my typical dark side to leak in.
If you want to know more about Molly, like the color of her spirit and the key to her room in Lockdrest, click below.
“Villa But Goes By Vil” is another passion project of mine that honestly came about out of anger. It’s about the unfairness of the world and how one sibling could have the world after them while the other is able to go through life unscathed.
This story takes place in The Lockdrest Universe in the Wandering Realm’s Quaint Side, which is another place that I can’t wait to show my readers and the world.
I honestly had a lot of fun writing this story. When I started, I did not have that much of a plan for it, it just came out of me while my emotions were trying to work themselves out.
This artwork was done by Alana Tedmon, whom I am so happy I trusted with this personal piece. If you want to read the short story, click below!
“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.
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!
I just realized I never introduced the main character of our standalone Unredeemed. Everyone meet Airya! Colin Moore Alvarado made Airya’s art, which we love. We decided for this picture to put her in the attire she acquired from the King and Queen of Nokia. She is a Yellow Eye and is the only one left of her kind. From Ausrine she obtains powers that let her travel to other worlds. Traveling to those other worlds with her owl companion, she learns about colonization and opens her eyes to what happened in her own kingdom.
I have received great comments from readers about how much they enjoyed Airya and her character growth in Unredeemed. If you want to read more about her background and everything attached to her history, please click the link below. It will take you to a page full of information about her!
Hethei is the sidekick to the main character Airya in our book Unredeemed. He is a cute little owl with special powers that match the main character’s. He is adorable, lovely, and is very opinionated.
The whole reason that Hethei exists is because of my youngest daughter, Dawn. She would not speak or make a noise when she was a baby. It was then that my crazy imagination went, “Hmmm, what if she can only speak to owls?” One night after this thought, I came up with a princess who had an owl companion. The story didn’t end up being a type of story where the princess can only speak to owls, instead we went with a deeper narrative on colonization. But Hethei wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that spark of thought, thanks to my youngest.
Colin Moore Alvarado made this beautiful piece of art for us that we greatly adore.
If you want to dive into Hethei’s tragic backstory, feel free to click on the link below.
Hethei is also on our Unredeemed bookmark that you get for free if you order a paperback directly from us. We also have a cute pin of him, which I listed!
Let’s start this off by saying that this beautiful piece of art is by Colin Moore Alvarado. Creating this piece of art was a challenge for both of us, but Colin never gave up, and this is what became of many weeks of hard work. The biggest challenge had been trying to capture this magnificent viewpoint.
This is Nokia. A kingdom where a brother and a sister rule as the Brillia King and Queen. If you want more information on the kingdom, the link is below to take you to a page all about it.
I would love to say that Nokia came from a particular idea, but it came from many random ideas I had that I put together. Then, while in the kingdom, I let my mind roam. It was fun creating this. What brought about this kingdom, in general, was needing a place linked to a particular item that the main character needed to find that also brought her to a place that was a little different from her world and challenged her heart along with her beliefs.
If you want to dive into the fantasy aspects of this kingdom where a brother and sister rule as the Brillia King and Queen, click about Nokia below. If you want to be taken to the book where this place is adventured, we attached the link to Unredeemed. Also, there is a link for a mug we made of Nokia with Colin’s signature and also a tumbler with the same concept. 🙂
“Father’s Odd Requests” started as a writing prompt that wanted the beginning of a story to start with a father’s two requests. When working with this prompt, I let my mind run wild, which was fun. I thought to myself, what are two very odd requests that a dead father could have (because I like things a little dark), and then built my story around that. I love how it opened a whole creepy, whimsical world filled with mystery and how that world helps begin the journey for a son who was never close to his father.
“Father’s Odd Requests” is about a son and a daughter who set out to fulfill their father’s odd requests, which are finding a certain “Ice Blue” cotton candy to put at his grave along with a coin that he always carried in his ankle. After that, they are supposed to videotape what happens to show their mother.
This truly amazing artwork with so much detail was done by Eli Cuaycong. I really can’t believe how he was able to bring this story to life with just one scene. It’s one of my favorite art pieces, and I am so excited to have it up on our wall when we move in the near future.
My plan and hope is to expand on this story that takes place in The Kasverse. I truly cannot wait to watch James grow and uncover his father’s secrets.
If you want to read this story about a son’s connection with a father who has passed, feel free to click below.
I attended a book event with Brookline Booksmith discussing The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson, who was very nice. I loved hearing about her ideology and passion. The interviewer, Lindsey Kelk, was also very passionate and described her love for Juno Dawson’s books as borderline unhealthy. Haha.
Apparently, Juno, who is from the UK, was in New York last week and, at the moment of this interview, was in Illinois networking and promoting her books. She is from the UK. The interviewer was also from the UK before she moved to the states and asked Juno what the most incredible thing she has eaten while in the States was. Juno said that she had Red Lobster for the first time and assumed there would be more lobster, but she had a great salmon salad. For the most terrifying eating experience in the States, she had hot Korean food in New York when she isn’t a girl that loves spicy food.
Then they started talking about the books. The series, which I haven’t read, is about five high school friends who are all powerful witches. The story then jumps to years later when they are in their 30s, all living very different lives and running different covens. There is also a trans witch. The first book deals with the division of the friendship group and then in book two they have to pick up the pieces.
I bought it right as they were discussing it. I was personally sold on witches in their 30s.
Juno explained how she has been in the industry for ten years and has realized she has had a lot of impact on LGBTQ+ people’s lives but didn’t have much commercial success. Now that she is having commercial success, it is interesting to her. Success came to her when she wrote all her favorite things in one novel because she wasn’t very optimistic about her success. But then, when she talked to booksellers, they were enthusiastic about her witch book, which is everything she wanted to say about the trans debate. She wanted to explore if covens are just a woman’s space and what happens if a trans witch is introduced into that world. She decided to explore this topic in fantasy, which she loves because fantasy helps take the edge off real issues. For her, she comes for the fantasy and witches and stays for the emotions.
Lindsey, who has been in the industry for twenty years and was an editor previously, complimented Juno and how her characters were done so well. She wanted to know how Juno started to make her characters. Juno said she tries to find a thing to love in each of them and that all the women in the books are the different sides of her personality.
I loved how nerdy Juno was. She LOVES Buffy, which I can highly relate to, and Doctor Who and more relatable shows I grew up with. She said she always has a rough guide when she plots, while her best scenes creep up on her. BUT the big twists were planned right from the beginning.
She is so excited to be able to go home after her tour, and it just be her and Her Majesty’s Royal Coven 3 for her to focus on. She didn’t want to start the conclusion of her series until she could sit down and focus solely on it.
There is a very good chance Her Majesty’s Royal Coven will be appearing on TV! It got picked up by Left Blank Pictures. So there are many exciting things in the work for Juno Dawson. I was very happy to have heard what this author had to say. Thank you, Brookline Booksmith.
This is the concept art by Susanne Hundseder for my short story “Grieving Sands,” which is an uplifting grief fantasy. For those who do not know, an uplifting grief fantasy is a story with fantasy elements to help those grieving. For anyone needing such a story, click on the picture above to take you to a site set up nicely for this story. Also, feel free to share if you know anyone who is struggling. We have decided to start sharing short stories without putting them up behind a paywall, so it will be free for anyone to read.
This story started as a writing prompt with the word sandbox. If you read the story, you will understand how amazing the artist did in capturing the women and their mothers. Her skill and the passion she showed with this project blew me away.
I plan to start posting collaborated artwork and projects along with other surprises as time passes. We have a lot planned that I am excited to share! But if you want the precise timelines and management of those projects, inside scoops, book recommendations, bookstore shout-outs, author shout-outs, a free fun fantasy quiz, and more, sign up for my newsletter.
The link is below, along with another link to the short story.
Regaining Lost Aspects: Mind and Soul 