I'm back! I've updated on Royal Road both the novel ( The Infinite Library ) and I created a new page for short stories set in the same universe ( Tales From the Infinite Library ). As a teaser, here's a video of the short story I just put up on the page: I hope to get back to updating regularly-ish, as the way the world burning and depressive episodes allow. Time to create some art and shine some light in the darkness as I can.

Happy Sunday! (Ignore that I say Saturday in the video - three day weekends throw me off.) I liked this bit of story, though I really need to work on my Southern accent. It probably would have helped if I had figured out exactly where Mariannick was from... As for today's story, let me fill you in on a secret. There have been two days so far that I haven't written a new story, but on both of those days, I've used the device on the schedule and have the prompt I pulled written down. I just didn't have the spoons to write the story that day. Today, I went back to the prompt I pulled on May 22 from the Deck of Worlds, and came up with the beginnings of something. Region - First Port Attribute - rich in folklore Landmark - Sanctuary Without Locks Origin - created or given as a gift Attributes - known for tea, unique system of timekeeping Advent - a huge construction project is on the verge of collapse The clock rang pure blue when the roof collapsed. We’d known it was comin...

Happy Saturday! Today I'm doing some rankings on the two devices from the week, both products of the Story Engine  - the Lore Master's Deck and the Deck of Worlds. Both the Lore Master's Deck and the Deck of Worlds get 5s in both Shiny and Fun, as they are very well-made cards in well-designed card boxes that I can spend hours playing with. Lore Master gets a 4 in Complexity, while Deck of Worlds gets a 3 - the Deck of Worlds is focused on one area of writing, and is designed to create single micro settings, while the Lore Master's Deck is meant to cover a broad variety of topics in writing, and can go from a single cluster into a full web covering multiple aspects of the same story. Speaking of story...today's story comes from the StoryADay website's prompt from May 23 : Prompt: When she picked up the knife, she discovered the blade was still sharp. Kinds of knife: pocket, chef, fish, steak, pen, butterfly, swiss army, combat, throwing, shiv, bread, oyster, car...

Welcome to Friday and CHAOS! The chaos has a bit of structure this time, as the fine people at the Story Engine have created a bridge expansion  that makes it easier to use both the Lore Master's Deck and the Deck of Worlds together. (They have other bridge expansions to bring their core product, the Story Engine, into the mix as well - I hope to do all the chaos and use all of them at once one of these days. I will need a much bigger table.) Faction: Heralds of the Stampede Trait: Known for an attribute (hiding spot for a notable figure (poet)) Trait: Vast stockpiles of a material (river paint) Agenda: Serve or awaken a slumbering entity (the Fool’s attorney) Event: Contest Trait: Nicknamed after a material or object (glass) Catalyst: Greed of a notable figure (outsider) Fallout: Important object going missing (respirator) Fallout: New pantheon or calendar The fifteenth year of the Awakening began, as all new years did, on a hot day with the sun hanging high above us. The newest m...

New day, new product from Story Engine, the Deck of Worlds . This one is aimed specifically at world-building, so less plot creation, but there are some interesting plot hooks that came out of it. Region - Wasteland of Hope Landmark - Vineyard (site of an infamous heist) Attribute of region - haven for artists Advent - There is a rush to discover a mythical burial site “Is the camera rolling? OK, great, make sure I’m in the shot. Dude, I said make sure I’m in the shot!” *static* “All right, try that again. We good? Sweet. My friends, this is it! We’re here in the Wasteland of Hope, looking for the burial mound of the greatest artist who ever lived, Ruy Mendez. What? OK, one of the greatest artists that ever lived. Oh, c’mon, man, you cannot tell me that you don’t think Mendez was-“ *static* “How’s my hair? Man, it’s your fault it’s a mess. All right, how about now? Sweet. Like I was saying! We’re here looking for the burial mound of Ruy Mendez. He was one of the great artists who estab...

Man, I love this device. I decided to start with an item this time, instead of an event for once, to see what I could come up with, and I think I like it! Center object - Jar Background - created as a complement to another object (globe) Trait - elemental properties Background - linked to a mysterious death (believer) Trait - always malfunctioning or falling apart “This is the latest and greatest acquisition to my collection,” Gerard said proudly as he came around to a plinth set into an alcove. I followed along obediently, part of the gaggle of guests at his dinner party, all of us  balancing a small plate of canapés and a glass of champagne. I hadn’t wanted to come to this party, but since I was dating Gerard’s assistant, I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Still, I could do without the condescending colonizer attitude from Ricky’s boss. The plinth contained spaces for four items in miniature, arrayed in a diamond. Two of the four spaces were empty, but two contained be...

Welcome to Monday! I'm starting this week with the Lore Master's Deck from Story Engine. Confession: I have used this device before, so I have a decent idea of how it works and I am a big fan overall. I did a small draw for today, but know that it's possible for the clusters and webs to get quite extensive. It's more of a vignette today, but I think there's some room to play. I may revisit it at some point. Center event - Boom Trait - remembered every year on the anniversary Trait - notably silent or loud Fallout - new word, expression, or idiom Fallout - ban of a type of object (thread) “Watch what you’re doing!” Mariannick shouted at her lab partner, who was letting the beaker start to overheat. “I swear, you’re just the type to fix a hem and blow off a leg.” She shook her head in disgust as she turned down the flame. My partner and I exchanged looks. We were sharing a table with Mariannick and her partner, Ralph, and we were still trying to get to know her. She’...

Happy Sunday! Instead of doing a preview video for next week, I decided to try something a little different today. I've noticed that a lot of people were watching the videos, but not coming to the blog to read the stories, so I figured, why not bring the stories to where the people are? Meanwhile, I used today's prompt from the StoryADay website: Take a story you’ve already written, and write a new version beginning with the ending scene/situation of the first and see where it takes you. I decided to take the story I wrote on May 11  and start from there. “Linda Westman,” she said, still offering her hand to shake. “I’m a reporter, but more importantly, I’m a fixer. I help people in situations that look impossible, and I think this doesn’t even rank in the top ten of impossible situations. For one thing, most everyone already knew you’re the Crimson Wing, so it’s not really news.” I froze as I was shaking her hand, and she pulled her hand away quickly, shaking it as though she ...

Good Saturday morning! I've done my rankings for the Writer's Toolbox , since I finished using the devices in there this week. Overall, it's fair to middling - the Shiny ranking is not great. Part of what knocked down the Shiny ranking is the quality of the pieces. The sticks are an awkward size and shape, and the way they're held in the box makes it difficult to pull them out and put them away after use. I felt like it would be easier to have some kind of work-around, rather than using them as provided, like a cup or a bag to shuffle them up and then another bag or clip to hold them together afterwards. Also, the content of the sticks got a little...strange, at times. Similarly, the dials for the Protagonist Game feel a little flimsy. The part that spins on them is a thick paper, it feels like, and it seems like it would be easy to tear or bend it. As I show in the videos I used it, it's also very easy to end up on the same result multiple times - I don't think...

As I've mentioned, I'm a writer with a day job, and yesterday that day job took all my narrative energy and then some. Thus, I took a break, and came back strong today with all the chaos! Obviously, with the multitude of prompts, there's a lot to work with here. I'm not super happy with the ending, but there might be something here to start with. Protagonist - Laurie the famous actress Goal - True love Obstacle - That idiot from corporate Action - Gets married First sentence - I loved the way she said the word “balloon.” She said it as if she were blowing bubbles. Non sequitur - She was standing behind the counter, giving him this root beer-float kind of smile. Sixth Sense - The sound of Marcie’s feet “I loved the way she said the word ‘balloon.’ She said it as if she were blowing bubbles.” Laurie slapped the script against the desk and glared at Marcie. “And how, exactly, am I supposed to show that in an audiobook? What is that supposed to sound like, pray tell?” Marci...

Welcome to Wednesday! Today I'm starting with the last device from the Writer's Toolbox, the Protagonist Game. This uses a few different palettes to provide random options for protagonist, goal, obstacle, and action. I appreciate having something that actually tries to drive plot for once, because that is one of my weakest points when it comes to writing. Having the "action" palette makes it much easier to get things started. Protagonist - Joy, from the rock band Goal - to get rich Obstacle - fear of heights Action - gets special training “Joy, honey, if we’re going to make this tour a success, then you need to be able to take part in all of the special effects. How are you supposed to be a part of the big show if you can’t even handle the entrance?” Jamie sounded exhausted, even though he should have known that this was going to happen. It wasn’t like I’d ever hidden my fear of heights before. Jamie’d been with us for long enough, he’d seen me through the panic attac...