Erika Chandler
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erikachandler.bsky.social
Erika Chandler
@erikachandler.bsky.social
Writer. Reader. Illustrator. Classical educator. Appalachian. Wife and mother of two. Goldendoodle mom. Anglican.

📖 Tolkien 🎌 Nihon 🥤Coke Zero

Current project:
Japan-based portal fantasy WIP
Pinned
Working on a literary leaning, Japan-based YA portal fantasy. This is from the prologue...the rest is first person modern POV with a healthy dose of Japanese folklore. #WIPsnips #amwriting #YA
I only had this word twice and I believe I used the other one as a different #WIPSnips …I kinda like when I only have a few choices lol

#amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #NA #fantasy
December 22, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Ryo is an exceptional shinobi, so to be at this kind of disadvantage is unheard of. This is no ordinary enemy.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #NA #fantasy
December 21, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Everyone is romantically clueless. But as my college roommate used to say, I try to avoid having characters “lose track of the plot in each others’ eyes” haha

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #NA #fantasy
December 20, 2025 at 9:10 AM
One of those words with so many uses I didn’t even attempt to read all of my options 😂

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #NA #fantasy
December 19, 2025 at 8:54 AM
I didn’t have many uses of this word, and several of them felt spoilery. #WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #NA #fantasy
December 18, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Taro suspects Rin must have some connection to the Reikai if she’s able to pass through the portal at all.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity
December 17, 2025 at 9:43 AM
She’s delighted because if she’s in pain it must mean that she wasn’t dreaming all of this, but they just met and poor Ryo is just confused lol

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #NA #fantasy
December 16, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Does anyone else feel like #NaNoWriMo happens at literally the worst time of year for #writing? Maybe it’s because I’m a teacher with small kids, but fall is when I most have to manage my writing expectations. I do my own version in the summer when I have more time. #writesky #writingcommunity
December 15, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Ryo passed out and Rin had to drag him inside. None of the boys have been in the house before because Rin has a nosy elderly neighbor who will get the wrong idea. #WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #fantasy
December 15, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Y'all, act 3 got me killing my darlings cause we have no space left in here. This is why I will never be a short story author. #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #NA #crossover #fantasy
December 15, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Brother, sometimes a friend just has to knock some sense into you.

I like this because it shows something about their friendship—if Taro hits him, his first instinct isn’t to hit back, it’s to ask why he did it, cause he probably has a good reason. #WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity
December 14, 2025 at 11:02 AM
#literaryagents out there, what are your thoughts on marketing #newadult / #crossover titles? I’ve leaned toward #YA #fantasy because of shelving categories and my characters are teenagers, but I think the complexity of themes and #writing style lean toward adult fantasy. #writesky #writingcommunity
December 13, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Rin’s lessons are not going well.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
December 13, 2025 at 10:38 AM
I feel like “smash” is not a word I use very much (and did not use in this WIP). From the prologue, set in the past of my otherwise modern portal fantasy WIP.

#amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
December 12, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Taro is always the voice of reason. But to Ryo’s credit, if mundane life makes Rin have a ki outburst, it’s not a mundane problem anymore.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #YA #fantasy
December 11, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Ryo sabotages a drawbridge to buy time. This guard is basically an innocent bystander (who will also be in trouble for letting this happen), so he feels a little bad about that.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
December 10, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Rin’s grief is also tied up with the isolation of not being believed…but her story is so wild she’s not sure she believes it herself.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
December 9, 2025 at 9:13 AM
I wasn’t actually sure I’d have this word, but lo and behold!

I never make it to lunch without a snack, Ai-chan. But this snack is a plot device lol #WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
December 8, 2025 at 9:11 AM
The word “empty” is actually in the title of this chapter as well. Do you title your chapters? I do in some projects and not others.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
December 7, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Reposted by Erika Chandler
Now is a good time for individuals and institutions to know what you believe, why you believe it, and to stand for it regardless of what the influencers or your donors say. Because there is no winning that game.

Integrity is priceless and eternal.
December 6, 2025 at 9:17 PM
I think the õmukade is one of my favorite yokai battles for sheer group effort required. #WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
December 6, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Rin is slowly but surely losing the ability to hide her double life.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
December 5, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Ki ended up being a HUGE part of this version of the story. My earliest versions didn’t include anything supernatural or spiritual.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
December 4, 2025 at 8:53 AM
I’ve been trying to decide on a pen name, and I mentioned it in passing to my husband who landed on the right one immediately ❤️ Handle officially changed 😎 #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity
December 3, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Ryo, the fact that you actively thought, “We’re going to make it,” is a guarantee that you are not going to make it.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
December 3, 2025 at 9:18 AM