Letter to my Substack Supporters

Dear friends & readers & patrons,

It has been six months, half a year, since I have made the decision to start posting my novel drafts online, and I am so happy and grateful to have over 100 people reading my fiction now ✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ )و✧*｡.

The cliched but honest truth is: being a writer has been my dream since I was a little girl. I had always hoped to eventually be able to hold my books in my hands, and to be able to share them with my family. I wanted to be able to show my future children that I went for my dream(s)–that it was possible—and that they should do the same. As a child, I had been filled with fantasies; my Imagi-Nation has long been rich with characters, scenes, and stories waiting to be shared. Thank you, dear reader, for joining me on this journey.

I do want to emphasize that the excerpts I will share on here will likely not be grammatically correct, punctuated correctly, nor will they always make sense (having plot holes and the like). I am “drafting publicly,” which means I will be writing the stories and posting them here as I go. I am someone who already has high standards for the material I read, but it does take quite a bit of time to edit literature until it’s “up to snuff” and really ready for publication, as I have found out from my book editing background. However, as this year began, I felt that I could not last another moment without sharing the stories circling in my mind. Roz, Imogen, and Vinna (or R. I. V.) had much to show, share, and say.

I wanted to share a bit more about the stories I have begun to draft publicly, as I do have three (soon to be four) started on this Substack. I will endeavor to present an overview of the three stories more thoroughly below. One of the three is a Sci-Fi Saga called Imogen, the titular main character within her expansive universe. There will be at least two books in her series. I started thinking of the plot for this saga over ten years ago. The second (and newest in my mind) series will be a Romance Fantasy/Romantasy one called the Alliance Series; the first of these will be The Book of Ord, which centers on Vinna, a female knight, and her connection with the Mennelra - creatures of the sea. This book will (Hamingja willing ;) be the first of at least three in a series. The third of my “started” stories is my Epic Witch Fantasy, which centers around Roz, a twenty-year-old witch just coming into her strength and reconnecting with her heritage. Roz has, in various forms, been with me for almost twenty years now. I am imagining there will be at least two books in her series.

I do want to take a moment to shine the spotlight on Yvette, my contemporary romance lead. In case there is any confusion, though I have (now removed) previously shared a sanitized version of the first ten chapters of her book, I will not be sharing her full story on this Substack, as I would like to keep this as the hub for my (to use genre categorizations for a moment) speculative fiction (not based in reality) for “young adults” and “new adults”. Her story is mimetic (based in reality) and for “adults.”

Yvette was, late last year, born into my consciousness from unexpected sources, as well as from my own experiences with love and loss. For now, that is all I will say on the matter, but I am very grateful to have her help in processing some parts of my own life through her story. I have found her adventures into philosophy, human connection, and self-knowledge to also be a fun ride whenever I have needed to process what her three sisters (R. I. V.), have had to show or say to me. This helps substantially in progressing their stories further, so I am quite grateful. I do have her story more or less completed in my mind, but it is a bit difficult to arrange it chronologically. I will occasionally be showing some YA-appropriate excerpts from Yvette’s story here, but just know that she will only be visiting .^_^.

As a major motivator for drafting these books publicly here on Substack: I would love to be able to bind all of my books beautifully. I am weak for an aesthetically pleasing hardcover, but all the specifications I have in mind will For Sure add up. I will have non-hardcover versions too, don’t worry. Still, for the final book product, I want to have works of art that are Not AI-Generated to present to readers.

There is also the matter of adaptations. I Do have much I would wish for R.I.V. and their fellows in that domain, is all I’m finna’ say on that at present (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ I will say that any e-books I put out would preferably have special features which will enhance your reading experience. This Substack, with all the excerpts from my stories, will remain a digital archive of my novel drafts, for anyone interested to peruse, particularly to show (in my fantasies) other aspiring authors, how the drafting and editing process may look and to exemplify the “Magick” of editing and other literary tools.

To start us off, Imogen, our youngest protagonist, has been through a lot already when we join her at the Facility where she is being “manufactured”. She is what I am calling a “meta” which is a bio-based branch of beings in this Sci-Fi saga’s universe. She is quite fast, strong, and capable of healing quickly. She does not strictly feel pain, but “she” remembers what it is. Naturally, due to her physical makeup, Imogen will experience things that would ordinarily kill any living being, and yet our main character’s story will continue as long as Imogen is conscious. The changes in font throughout her story are intentional: will you be able to guess what I am trying to do ;) ? There are mysteries cloaking our main character, metas, and this universe’s conflicts, which I will continue to unveil as we move forward throughout the story. Whether these mysteries are separate or interconnected remains to be seen ;).

The first book of her saga will be Imogen: Mitosis. Sci-fi related themes and genres explored in this book will be: Space Opera/Epic, Dystopia, Alien Invasions, Artificial Intelligence, Colonization, Cyberpunk, Biopunk, Science Fiction Horror, Galactic Empire, Human Development, Nanotechnology, etc. I can’t absolutely say whether it is Hard S/F, Soft S/F, or Science Fantasy. Her story leans more towards some blend of the three categories, if anything. I will elaborate further on her world in future articles ;)

Roz, our second oldest character– at twenty years– and the protagonist of my Epic Witch Fantasy (title pending (╥﹏╥), starts her adventure after growing up isolated in a remote town in the frigid north of this realm’s main continent (name pending). Though Roz’s mother practiced Magick, she fell ill before passing her practice onto Roz. Roz, along with her father, became her mother’s caregiver; their house also became a haven for lost children affected by strange Magick. A stranger, a vision, and an opportunity has entered Roz’s world, and by her tenth chapter, we are about to enter the Capitol, the central city to this continent’s largest country, a hub for Magickal education, and home to The Crown and its Branches. Roz’s journey is only beginning, but it will take her far, in distance, but also deep within herself.

Roz’s adventure does not have a title yet (working on it (ง’̀-’́)ง). The themes and genres explored in this book will be: Coming-of-Age, Epic Fantasy (in scope-sorry to disappoint-there will be no werewolves or vampires–at least in the typical sense), Urban Fantasy (in terms of vibe–to an extent—you’ll see (,,>﹏<,,), Crossover Fantasy (not set in our world at all though), Mystery, Gaslamp/Steampunk, Adventure Fantasy, Political Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Mythic Fantasy, Academy Fantasy (a little in this first book), and Noblebright heroism (a totally new phrase to me, I must admit).

Vinna, a female knight, is our main lead in the first novel of the Romance Fantasy series–Alliance–which will have at least three books. Vinna and her “man”’s story will play out in The Book of Ord. Vinna is a warrior woman in her thirties, very experienced in combat and a leader in her company of fighters. She has defended her fortress, one of many in this world, for many years, from the natural human enemy, the Mennelra, creatures of the sea. After their latest altercation, Vinna finds herself in possession of a secret– one that threatens everything she thought she knew of the world and her moral code. Flashes of this story have been coming to me for over five years, but the full plot really only landed in my mind last year.

The themes and genres explored in this first Alliance book will be: High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Political Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Mythic Fantasy, Fairytale Fantasy, Nautical Fantasy, Medieval (vibes not actually Earth-based), Occult Horror, and Mystery. The Book of Ord will be a Slow-Burn/Moderate Spice/Fade-to-Black Paranormal Romance.

I will admit I was unfamiliar with a lot of these categories before writing this article, but I hoped this was helpful in figuring out what to look forward to here (੭˃ᴗ˂)੭. Also, I will be reposting slightly improved versions of the first ten chapters of each of the three book drafts described above soon (this weekend hopefully). FYI: The genres associated with each book were not listed in any particular order.

The fourth book on this Substack will be another Epic Fantasy; I will be co-writing it with a very dear friend of mine. More details to come (get excited!! ᕦ(ಥ_ಥ)ᕤ) in future posts.

That’s all for now. To all of you who have decided to join me on this journey - thank you so so SO MUCH. To all of you who have started to fund this journey—I truly have no better words coming to mind aside from—-Thank You— from the depths of my being to yours. (つ╥﹏╥)つ