I am very excited to present to you the first episode of a brand new season of Blood Magic, the short story series that I've been publishing for over a year now on IGC Publishing to minimal fanfare. If you're not already familiar with it, I encourage you to go over to the main Blood Magic page or any of my myriad posts on the subject to learn more. Better yet, I encourage you to start at the beginning, and read the first episode. We even have a newly revised edition here on the site, newly re-released for 2021.
The Grounds Warden Re-release
I've determined to re-release The Grounds Warden in the new format. No longer do you have to go to the page, pay, and download the PDF. Instead, you can just click here, and you will be taken directly to the page with the whole story. So if you haven't read The Grounds Warden before, I encourage you to head over and give it a read. You can find a lot more details on it in some of my older posts. This is actually one of the first stories that I wrote on which I received more than just "that's nice" kind of feedback, and I was able to turn it into something that I think is quite interesting.
Blood Magic Preview
Below, you'll find a preview for Blood Magic. Remember, the first episode is set to be released in January or February of 2020. If you're exciting about the series, leave a comment on the series or about the preview in the comments below, or on the Blood Magic Forum page.
Blood Magic Series Update
There's still a lot of work that needs to be done. I've made two drafts of the world map, but it still needs refinement: mountain ranges, river systems, political boundaries...you know, the little things. I also have a preliminary symbol for the series, which you can see on the main Blood Magic page. Expect me to start releasing previews for the series in the coming weeks...hopefully they'll drum up some reader excitement.
Happy Halloween?
Halloween is perhaps one of the best holidays for creative writing. Something about the holiday makes it more acceptable than usual to write about ghouls, ghosts, zombies, vampires, spirits, and various otherwise overused specimens of the paracosmic domains. Now, I'm definitely not a horror writer - my demons tend to be too misunderstood, my vampires too noble, my ghosts too sarcastic, and my ghouls too diligent - but I do enjoy occasionally dabbling with these subjects.
Cartography
One of the distinguishing features of the speculative fiction genre in its published form is the maps. Avid readers of fantasy and science fiction are known to pour over the maps included in the books they read, maps describing fantastical worlds and universes in vivid detail. It was perhaps inevitable, therefore, that I would at some point be obliged to create maps to go along with the stories I've written or am in the process of writing.
Updates
There are really some interesting considerations going into this Blood Magic project. Since it has this episodic nature, the project as a whole requires a great deal more pre-planning than I tend to do. Not that I don't plan out my writing; I just tend to do it in my head, and then revise my plan as I write. Fo'Fonas, for instance, began as a single chapter exploring an idea for a magic system I liked, which blossomed into my first, complete novel (it's now in the review process).
Outlining
With most of my writing, I tend to be a post-outliner. I'll discovery write my way through a piece, and then go back and outline it in detail before embarking on the revision process. Ever since I did a massive outline for a world and then had no story to tell in it, I've found … Continue reading Outlining
What’s Next?
With any luck, you enjoyed my debut short story. I'm working hard to get more stories revised, formatted, published, and released for you, but since this isn't my actual job just yet, that process can sometimes be a bit slow. However, I have a couple of good prospects for our next publication.
The Grounds Warden Release!
It is now available for purchase, exclusively at igcpublishing.com, as a digital download. For only $1.99, you too can own a PDF copy of The Grounds Warden, readable from your phone, your tablet, your computer, your Amazon Kindle, or any other devices that support PDFs.
