The Proof is on the Bookshelf

Little preview of the final book in the Malora Octet. It's just a proof, but I like to have a hard copy in my hands for the last few rounds of edits. I'm waiting on two beta readers to get back to me before I mess with it, but it's definitely one of my prettier babies, both inside and out. It's coming in at about 340 pages in a 6x9" trim, but that may shift a little depending on edits or formatting.

Meanwhile, I'm writing short stories. I've already completed stories told by Mirren Kelta, Delora Narsimor, and Aunfrey Aloret, and Moth. If you only recognize Moth out of those four, don't be alarmed. The other three were only mentioned once or twice in the books. Mirren is the High Commander of the Ganebran military in the years following Sunder's Mage Wars (Mayfly Requiem), Delora is the mother of Lucienus Narsimor, and Aunfrey is the servant woman who helped Rastaban raise Sevilen. I'm in the middle of a story told by Solace Achara, which takes place in the year immediately following The Shattered Veil. These stories are just snapshots into the lives of some of these characters, but I'm finding they reveal an awful lot about the world that didn't make it into the octet.

I've also started meandering about my new project, which has nothing to do with Malora at all. I'm playing around in a new genre, so this story will land somewhere between psychological and supernatural horror. It is told by a teenager who lives in Northeastern Michigan in the late 1990s, so I'm pulling from my own adolescence for this one. I've never played with pop culture references before, but this story definitely needs some. I'll eventually find a name for this new book, but for right now it's just "my Huron project".

Short Stories from Malora

Arrow of Entropy is in the hands of beta readers, so I'm waiting for them to dissect and shred my weird little upside down story. (Update: I published this baby in August, 2015.) I guess my brain isn't ready to completely move on yet. I'm backtracking because I have all these little characters and bits of history that didn't make it into my books because there wasn't an appropriate place for them. They are now becoming short stories, which I will eventually amass into a collection titled Rain Falls on Malora. I have some concrete ideas for these stories, and I expect others to pop out of nowhere and demand to be written, like the one I wrote about Aunfrey.

I'd love to hear reader ideas. Who or what would you like to read more about? I'll list what I already have completed, conceptualized, and requested below, broken down by era (though some of them are between books instead of during). I'll edit the list as I think of or write more.

List updated 9/3/17

Mayfly Reqiuem
Nova - reader suggestion
Mirren Kelta - early High Commander of the Ganebran Army immediately following the Mage Wars.  (story completed)
Delora Faradel Narsimor - Lucienus's mother, just before they met Lani. (story completed)
Ariana Achara - this little vignette is directed toward three-year-old Rassa. (story completed)

The Abyssal Night
Aunfrey Tasarian Aloret - Sevilen's wet nurse and primary caregiver during his first couple years of life. (story completed)
Summer Aulani -Tempo's wife in Cascades. She never made a physical appearance in the books but she was mentioned in Shadows of Absolution (story completed and yikes, this one is devastating)
Rain - The Geophorian weather priest meets with Dawn in a Ganebran border city. (story completed)
Sharo Briarwind - Sharo and young Rhodren are visited by two other members of the Briarwind family (story completed)
Rastaban Eryaucra - three journal entries from when he was 17-19, attempts at getting his thoughts out of his head so he could dispose of them. (story completed)
Mirazen Keltau - Moth was 15 when his father came to see him in Reedwater, Anor. (story completed)

Shards of Chaos
Aurelien Dirus - age 14, hiding from Geophorian hunters in Rimara. (story complete)

The Shattered Veil
Solace Achara - about a year after The Shattered Veil. (story completed)

pre-Shadows of Absolution
Maple Briarwind - Rabbit's wife, one of the founders of Efilon (in progress)
Holly Thula - reader suggestion
Zoli Achara - Zoli and his mother, Thora, search for hope in a wasteland. (Story Completed)

Interlude
Ulali Masiona - halfway between Shadows of Absolution and Sand into Glass, Ulali travels into the wastelands, to Corvus Rift far beyond the northern peaks of Gainai, in search of her father, Bethel. (story completed)
Laira Masiona - Bethel's half-Toli daughter ends up in places she didn't expect while learning to control her magical ability (story completed)

Sand into Glass
Sonara Masiona - this one was a reader request. Out of Arden's three half-Mero siblings, Sonara is the one I revealed the least about even though she ended up having a vital role in his story.
Azfadel Thula - I'm thinking either around the time when he leaves Tiponia to go to Vanora or his early friendship with Arden.

The Crystal Lattice
Bralt Achay
Lorena & Valosa Masiona - Theron's wife and youngest daughter
Exi Achay's emergence - Exi has a connection to Bralt and Terali, but I'll let you guys learn about it in Arrow. Her emergence would have taken place during the Lattice era, so that's why I stuck it here instead of under Arrow. (story completed)

Arrow of Entropy
I won't detail these since not many people have read Arrow yet...
Senna and Varadi
Eliani Gira  -  Vutan's exile from Stixa (story completed)
The Liefen coup
Saskia and Cantha - this one would be post-series and would go into Inga culture in a little more detail.

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any ideas for me.

I also recently wrote a totally-unrelated short story that I submitted for consideration in a Halloween anthology. My beta readers loved it so if it doesn't get picked, I'll post it here on my blog. (Update: "They" was chosen for the anthology, Trick or Treat: A Collection of Spooky Stories, which can be found on Amazon in both e-book and paperback editions)

Wordless Wednesday

#papercraft #paperowl #origamiowl #origami

A photo posted by Courtney M. Privett (@courtneymprivett) on Jun 10, 2015 at 10:59am PDT

Ribbit. #origamifrog #origami #paperfrog #papercraft #frog

A photo posted by Courtney M. Privett (@courtneymprivett) on Jun 9, 2015 at 9:39pm PDT

#origami #origamicrane #crane #papercraft

A photo posted by Courtney M. Privett (@courtneymprivett) on Jun 9, 2015 at 9:05pm PDT

The End

I've done it. I've reached the end of the first draft of the final book in the Malora Octet. Arrow of Entropy is out of my head and translated into words on a screen.

Even though I've had this story in my head for several years, it still managed to surprise me. It goes beyond epic fantasy and reaches into other speculative fiction genres, but ultimately, it is about the characters. I've lost some imaginary friends who have been with me for twelve years, but I've also given two of them the redemptions I always thought they deserved.

Now I put this draft away for a couple weeks and let my mind reset before I head into rewrites. I have a stack of to-read books and a new idea bubbling in my mind. I'm going to slip away from epic fantasy for a while and explore a new genre or two.