Mountain Vigil

She hadn’t wanted to guard the tower.

It was a beautiful enough forest. The surrounding hills and valleys were generous and verdant, albeit thorny. The amount of fresh game in the meadows and shimmering fish in the rivers was more than she would ever need, even if she grew to be as large as her great grandfather.

There were boulders to scratch her claws on, and plentiful dwarves and wolves passing through to trade riddles with. She visited the two canyons close enough for steep dives and stunts, sang to the moon on frost-sparked nights and golden-breeze evenings, and many years passed.

During that time, she thoroughly concluded that her peaceful guardianship lacked only two things. She missed a hoard of her own and the company of others like her. Their absence was by design.

Unnatural though it was, the company was what she missed most. For despite the visiting bears and eagles, she was entirely alone in her vigil. Her one constant companion was fast asleep and could not be woken.

Welcome to the Catalyst Hijinks in Progress Newsletter (Chip’n).

I have a new pitch for HOOD! I’d describe HOOD as Red Riding Hood meets the high-fantasy humor of The Unspoken Name in a crossover gothic whose heroine battles everything from monster-slaying bounty hunters to imposter syndrome. Whatcha think?? Anyone intrigued?

That’s my pretentious new tagline, which I’m modifying every day in one way or another. After all, I only have about 20 chapters worth of editing lying between me and beta readers and query letters and pitching to agents! March was productive for editing, I’ve written way more this month than in January or February. March gave me more hikes and a few lovely trips to Estes Park and NYC.

The Catalyst above is brought to you by Florence and the Machine, Margaret Atwood, a long plane ride from NYC to Denver, and meditating on de Sitter horizons.

I’ve made it to Chapter 11 with this round of edits for HOOD! I only have another 20 chapters worth of editing time for noodling my query letter and pitch LOL.

I’m LOLing because editing the first 11 chapters to my satisfaction for this round took months.

But, the first 11 chapters were also the ones that I expected to take the longest as they needed the most work. That’s what my brain said months ago when she made the editing plan for this round of edits, anyway.

• Reading 📚

  • Completed:

    • House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas - Fantasy

    • Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros - Fantasy

  • In-progress reads:

    • The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff – Perfection

    • Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson - Fantasy

    • Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them by Antonio Padilla – Science Nonfiction

    • Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs – Fantasy

    • Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett – Fantasy

• Watching 🎆 Shogun and Dune 2!

• Listening 🎶 Thank you John for introducing me to the fantastic Spotify 90s Coffeehouse Playlist that generates different 90s coffeehouses for each person! For me, the playlist is almost entirely classical.

  • I am still on the hunt for new playlist recommendations. If you have an album or playlist that you love and play on repeat, please send it my way!

Have a wonderful Easter weekend if you celebrate!

Rhiannon

She/Her

Fantasy Writer | Cybersecurity Consultant | Provider of Cat Treats | Blount Scholar

https://mrrdixon.com/