Saturday, April 20, 2024
Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Highly Intelligent Llama Farm
Gretchen Hollander’s life is not going the way she planned. She’s a year out of college, has no friends, and can’t pass the test to get into veterinary school. It seems that everyone else is miles ahead of her, and she’s stuck being just Gretchen.
However, when her mysterious Great Aunt Elsie passes away, she suddenly finds herself the owner of a small llama farm. Hildegard Farm is everything one would expect of a farm… Except the llamas… They talk.
They warn Gretchen of an imminent alien invasion that will devastate the countryside. As secrets about her Great Aunt’s past begin to unravel, the invasion approaches. Gretchen must decide whether to retreat to the safety of her old life, or to step forward into the unknown.
Does she have what it takes to fight back against an enemy from beyond the stars?
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Monday, December 12, 2022
And my next OC-T enrollee is...!
Larry Westley!!!
Larry wasn't really supposed to be a character— he was Cop #2 in my friend's and my story, Goatsville Gothic. But then he started developing a personality and taking on larger scenes as we kept writing. Hopefully I can illustrate the more interesting parts of his arc in the coming months.
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Review of Hunt for the Dragon Egg Thief
Hello! For the past few months, I've been tossing around the idea of doing book reviews or author interviews on here occasionally, and TODAY IS THE DAY. I read a short story and now I'm going to review it!
First of all. Look at this cover:
Hunt for the Dragon Egg Thief is a newly released short story by fantasy writer, R. Joy. It is fast-paced (I would have read it in one sitting if I hadn't been interrupted) and has loveable characters and cool worldbuilding.
It is written from the point of view of Asa, a Soulreader dragon who lived through the terrible Shadow Wars and is now investigating the disappearance of several clutches of Frostcreeper dragon eggs. The dragon taxonomist in me is insanely happy. She is joined by a woman named Caelan, a.k.a. the Fair Wolf. Throughout the story, we get familiar with the dynamics of this duo and are able to see how they support each other and work together to accomplish their goal of taking down the dragon-nappers!
Though this is a very short, very character-oriented story, we do get glimpses of what promises to be a vast and colorful world. It takes place in a snowy land that makes me think of the Northern Water Tribes from Avatar the Last Airbender, and Joy does an amazing job of invoking icy imagery. It is also filled with dragons. Several species of dragons are mentioned, but their physiologies and behaviors are only touched on (furry dragons with four wings!!!!). I want to know more.
While I wish some scenes went into more depth, this is categorized as a short story, and it's very evident that there will be a follow-up novel. In fact, it looks like there will be a follow-up series! I am very much looking forward to reading book 1.
Thank you for letting me nerd out, and have a good week.
(Also, I'm twenty-nine, as of yesterday. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.)
Monday, November 21, 2022
Jade OC-Training Tasks
Hi, I'm back. I debated what to post for a few days and finally settled on this. A couple of years ago, I joined this group on deviantArt called OC-Training. For those of you who aren't in the loop, OC stands for original character. The group is dedicated to helping OC artists develop their characters, stories, and drawing skills by going through a set of ten character-focused art prompts. It's pretty effective. I've been through four rounds now-- I jumped in on Round 12-- and have created about a hundred illustrations pertaining to Ravenheart as a result. The community is super friendly and creative. I help admin the group now (though I got pretty sucky at it after starting a new job, then after witnessing a murder, but I'm hoping to be better for Round 16!).
Anyways, I've shared all my illustrations on deviantArt, and a few of them on Instagram, but I figured I could share a few here too.
The first character I entered was Bradley Link, the super lovable and very unlucky uncle of Seth and Annabelle who just wants to piece his family back together. He was promptly followed by Jade Tyran during the Unofficial Villain Round, where everyone dared each other to enter the worst of the worst.
This is Jade:
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Renaissance Nonsense