Everyone meet two of my beloved characters, Trennly and Kren. They are the only two mini-trolls in The Lockdrest Universe and make their debut in the first book of The Negligent Magick Trilogy: Lockdrest. To say I love these characters is an understatement. They were the ones who let me break out of my shell and get a little more creative in a quirky and fun way. Trennly (the one in the purple) owns a trendy drink shop, and Kren owns a coffee shop, both of which they had to give up. I loved seeing their relationship and appreciated the journey they took me on. If you want to know more about them, like how they became mini-trolls, what room they were placed in when attending Lockdrest, their favorite type of books, and so forth, feel free to click below.
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.
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.
“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!
Regaining Lost Aspects: Mind and Soul 