Month: February 2020

Character Tribute: Leo

Yes, I know this is Timothée Chalamet, but this is exactly who I envision playing Leo in a future Chasing Fae movie. So deal with it. xD

Here lies Leo Donovan Richardson, a kind soldier and a loving brother. May the Lady guide his soul.

My brother, Leo, was the kindest, most compassionate man that I have ever met. He never hesitated to do what was right no matter what that meant. Leo taught me absolutely everything I know. We were homeschooled together, and he loved to teach me about the book he was reading or how to navigate with a map. He wasn’t just my brother; he was my best friend. We did everything together growing up.

When Leo decided to become a soldier, my mother and I were both terrified. She tried to respectfully talk him out of it whereas I threw a fit and stormed out. I was just scared. Anything could happen out on the roads in this realm. He could have been sent to a peaceful town, or he could be sent south to the farm country where they’re fighting for whatever scraps they can get and they don’t care who gets killed. But he held out against both of us. Started training the day he turned eighteen and never looked back.

I was sixteen and he, nineteen when he was first hired to run security out in the trading ports of Bay Point. We cried when he left home, promising to be home in the spring. But we rejoiced when he sent home his first paycheck, and we could afford new clothes and fresh fruit from the market. Leo sent home every copper outside of his own expenses home to us. He had always said he wanted to take care of us someday like Mom had for all these years on her own, and finally, he had the chance.

Leo bounced around from job to job until six months ago, when he was summoned to city hall with the other mercenaries in his company. I thought maybe the government wanted to offer him a job, but no. It was the higher higher-ups. The Fae. The Fae have always had a hand in the politics of the Middle Realm; they control the alliances, the trade, the resource distribution. And they all just sit up there in the Upper Realm in their fancy castles and their bountiful homes with their magic and just watch us all run around down here like ants. The Fae needed their worker ants, a group of mortal soldiers, to come run security for a top-secret operation in the House of the Sun. They offered more money than anyone in this realm had ever even heard of, and of course, Leo jumped at the chance.

One more assignment, he said, and then he would be home for the Winter Solstice. Just one more assignment, and he’d bring me back something nice for the celebration. Just one more assignment.

Rest in peace, brother.

Marketing Yourself Online

Hey everybody! Today, I want to share advice about marketing yourself online. I think this topic touches many different disciplines outside of writing, and it is an important subject to discuss. Over the last couple weeks, I have stepped up my social media presence and the construction of my brand. I have been hearing a lot of questions around Twitter and around my own campus about what it takes to build your brand online and market yourself. So let’s talk about that today and shed some light on the subject.

When should I start building my brand?

In my opinion, it’s never too early to start, especially if you’re a writer. You can start by bringing your audience into your writing process. Let them see how your work in progress is faring. Share your successes as well as your failures. What scene is being written really well today? Which chapter is giving your writer’s block? Your book or project does not have to be finished in order to talk about it or start a discussion about the topic.

Where should I start building my brand?

Everywhere!

Well… everywhere with conditions. Everywhere you have time to put time into and everywhere that you can reach people who want to hear what you have to say. Depending on your genre of writing or your area of expertise, different platforms may suit your needs while others don’t.

I think everyone should build a website. With platforms like WordPress and Wix available right now, it is very easy to build something beautiful with minimal technical knowledge. Free plans do offer you a decent amount of customization options, and if you choose to upgrade to a paid plan, your options expand greatly. Take a couple hours and think your website through. Add tabs for your current project or projects as well as any published material you have out already. Consider adding a blog that you can update semi-frequently. And don’t forget an “about me” page! Think about your colors and your layout because believe it or not, every little detail can be a part of building your band.

Special Subsection: Social Media

You must also consider what social media platforms you want to use. Again, you should try to pick places that will reach the audience you want to communicate with. This is going to require a bit of research on your part. Find out where your people are. And don’t be afraid to change it up after a few months if you find one place is working better than another! Or don’t be afraid to wait it out. My Pinterest account that I created to show off inspiration for the world my book is set in wasn’t doing much for the first few months. But within the last two months, I have seen a dramatic increase in traffic from Pinterest to my website as well as an increase in people saving pictures to their board.

How should I market myself?

This part is easy. Way easier than you think.

Be yourself.

Relax and be yourself!

Share pieces of your life. Share your goals and your aspirations. Write posts about your writing, your daily life, and your favorite moments. Ask questions! Starting discussions is one of the best ways to connect with your audience and meet new people.

Post frequently. Doesn’t necessarily have to be every platform every day, but invest actual time and effort into this. You need to in order to see great results.

And have fun with it! Experiment and try new things, but always keep it true to yourself and the way you want people to see you.

Happy marketing!

Worldbuilding: An Interesting Approach

Hey everybody! Welcome back to Fluff About Fantasy on another wonderful Saturday. I signed my publishing contract on Thursday, and I can’t wait to get started this coming week with the publishing process! It’s so exciting. Today, I want to talk about worldbuilding! This is one of my favorite topics to talk about, and I haven’t written about it in a while. At Fluff About Fantasy, I have touched on questions to shape your world, naming places, and drawing out your own maps, to name a few. Today, I want to talk about a technique that spurred my creation of the Twelve Houses in the Upper Realm. I hope it will inspire you too!

The Twelve Houses

Now, just for a brief recap if you haven’t read about my universe yet: the Upper Realm in Chasing Fae is made up of twelve noble houses that have control over different portions of the land. Think of it like twelve separate kingdoms, but lorddoms instead. (That is actually a word! It’s a very old word, but it’s a word.) When I first began conceptualizing these, I wanted them to be distinct lands with their own cultures. There would be similarities between them like the agricultural production of one area in comparison with another and the governmental style. But the intimate details of each House would be unique to that area.

To accomplish this, I chose to pick one element that would be the essence of the House and then build every other detail of the culture around it. I really like using this method because it allows all of the details to fit together cohesively. Let me give you an example.

The House of the Evening

This is my favorite of all the Houses that I’ve created, and it is the one that I personally would want to live in the most. I wanted to make sure that the House of the Moon and the House of the Evening were very different places, so I let the House of the Moon center around the mystical, magical properties of the moon in terms of spell-casting. That created a more intimate, mystical society with priestesses and one of the highest concentrations of magic in the entire Upper Realm. For the House of the Evening, I decided to go with nightlife.

I grew up with my dad taking me to bars and restaurants to listen to live music most weekends. I fell in love with the atmosphere. Even as an introvert, there’s something about blending in with a crowd that’s all tapped in to the same rhythm, the same beat. It was the same thing at school dances; sometimes the animosity between people can disappear for a night when the bass is turned up loud and everyone’s jumping up and down to their favorite song. I wanted to capture that feeling in the House of the Evening.

The House of the Evening has the best nightlife and the best festivals you will find in the entire Upper Realm. Every night, there’s live music pouring out of every tavern. This is the place young musicians come to try their hand at the craft. You can travel all over the land and hear every genre of music you can think of. There are shops for craftsman instruments of all kinds, but particularly violins. (This becomes relevant in the series.) The House of the Evening brews the best beer and grow grapes to create amazing fine wines. People in the House of the Evening go about their own lives during the day, whether that’s in the home or out at their job. But in the evening, everybody comes together to spend time out on the town. Community comes alive in the nighttime. It’s late nights and late mornings in the House of the Evening. Looking over the towns at night lit by candlelight or tiny fairy lights, looking up at the purple hued mountains covered in snow, it’s just beautiful.

Thanks for reading, everybody. If you’re curious about the House of the Evening, you can read a profile here!