Amanda Turek💎HorsebackWriter
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acturek.bsky.social
Amanda Turek💎HorsebackWriter
@acturek.bsky.social
890 followers 860 following 3.1K posts
Writes character driven adult fantasy.
WIP: Brother’s Keeper, epic fantasy sibling story
Lives with bipolar disorder - @siegeofthespirit
Clinical Laboratory Scientist
Mountain backcountry horsewoman
Every trail’s the one true home.
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#WIPSnips #fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky
I don’t have the word, but …

Aaran high on the mountain vibes #zigzag best.
I’ve shared this before. I hope you’ll indulge me and enjoy it again!

- Brother’s Keeper, book one of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power.
Not far below, the trail he had ascended wound across and down and doubled back, across and down, repeating the pattern for thousands of spans. From where he sat near the innermost face of the curving range, he could not even see the tops of the trees growing on the slope beneath him. He loved the solitude and quiet, broken only by the wind soughing in the grass and the cries of the eagles, by whose outstretched wings the mountain dwellers made measure of vertical distance. Even more, he loved the view. About and beneath him, encompassed by the peaks, the land swept away and down like half a bowl in deepening shades of green, with the silver-green Forest puddled at the bottom. Straight ahead, the pale blue-gray shape of a far distant mountain blended into a softening sky near the horizon. Brother's Keeper A.C. Turek
November 28, 2025 at 12:29 PM
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#WIPSnips #fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #disorganize

Aaran is undergoing one of the transformations on his spiritual path.

- Brother’s Keeper, book one of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power.
Alone now, with a door ahead. The mountain weighed heavy over its impassible lintel. He faced the irreversible progression to the hidden realm: the deep. It was no place for a tree. He melted into the peat and diffused himself. He regretted it immediately. Shapeless and DISORGANIZED, he was particles and he was fluid. For long moments he found himself a quivering mass, unable to discern which of them comprised his truth. He oozed in no direction. Particles stymied him,punctured his wholeness. Parts of him surrounded the particles, countless parts and countless particles; and those parts flowed into each other, searching, sifting, slow to become what he was. Time and time again, an unmeasurable count of times, the merging around and between the particles and thrusting them behind. At last he formed a whole. There beneath him, the particles were stone, and he a gobbet of water upon it, a liquid tension of spirit, a draught that must flow. Brother's Keeper A.C. Turek
November 27, 2025 at 12:40 PM
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#WIPSnips #fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #impede -> hinder

Drisal must follow his Imperative. Shalhra, no ordinary horse, feels that urgency too.

- Brother’s Keeper, book one of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power.
Drisal felt his face shriveling. The frigid airstream numbed his head. Night ran past without a stop; dawn was colder. The heat of his life trailed away behind him. But Shalhra, his faithful bolt of argent fire, reckoned neither cold nor miles. Rethen! Drisal cried, over and again. He could slow time. He could! He laughed, feeling Shahra's power flowing up through his thighs, denying his own exhaustion. Not steepness of mountain, sharpness of hail nor thickness of forest would HINDER his frantic chase. His love could not be scorned. Strange cries and drumbeats impinged from all directions. Trees flowed past like skeletal ghosts. He clenched his teeth until his jaw ached. He had ridden straight across the plain through the night, avoiding the Amarnénd, and figured he'd entered the forest near the Kigal foothills. Which meant Kudrum. Brother's Keeper A.C. Turek
November 26, 2025 at 12:28 PM
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#WIPSnips #fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky

Another word I don’t have, but described here in the thoughts of Aaran, an unusually young Druid of Linduen, is a magnificent and awful #system.

- Brother’s Keeper, book one of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power.
East of Sheltria, the same types of boulder fields creased the forested slopes of two other mountains in the range. The first of those peaks, adjacent to Linduen, wore a cloudy, mysterious wreath of infamy, for a labyrinth wandered and spiraled from behind the stronghold down and eastward, issuing to its nameless slope. That labyrinth was greatly dreaded and comprised of much, including many stairs, most of which had in fact been hewn by Novices in training. A person negotiating that way was one who suffered the very worst of the punishments the Druids could allot. It removed any last, lingering vestige of connection to Sheltria from the unfortunate condemned to walk it. It was a one-way journey, and it was whispered that once the door to the labyrinth closed behind the exile, it disappeared to that one forever. The exile, now fireth, vanished into the wilderness, alone.
November 25, 2025 at 12:42 PM
acturek.bsky.social
So this is how town looked on the way toward work this morning. Like a giant lake!
Across a field in the distance, a cloud bank fills in a lower land, almost appearing to be a body of water and the mountain behind it, an island. Looking down the road into the distance, a cloud bank fills in a lowering of the land, almost appearing to be a body of water and the mountains behind it, an island.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 AM
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A cartoon of a bat flying in front of a moon saying I don’t care if my best sucks, I’m doing it anyway.
November 24, 2025 at 7:31 PM
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#WIPSnips #fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #debut
Vibes:

Drisal is nervous suddenly working directly for the king and high council. He presents his debut commissioned gem to its recipient.

- Brother’s Keeper, book one of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power.
Lady Jannia was a fierce, dark-haired beauty with a regal carriage she shared with Lord Sarran. It intimidated him until he drew near and found a relaxed earthiness about her that let him breathe easier. With scarce an iota of regret he pressed the FIRST rälm into her palm. Overawed by its beauty, she gave a little gasp. "That was my first reaction, too, my lady," Drisal said. "What do you see?" "My eyes. Your eyes. Reflections of Iryla." She turned to her husband. Drisal handed him the second, and his reaction was similar, though wordless. Their eyes sparkled. Brother's Keeper A.C. Turek
November 24, 2025 at 12:52 PM
acturek.bsky.social
1. Lara as viewed by Rush
2. Lyn as viewed by Drisal
Lara’s HAIR Rush is a goof He blinked and looked at her. Her auburn hair cascaded in waves past her shoulders, framing her face like petals around the center of a rare flower, her white throat the stem. A moonish thought, he thought. "What?" Drisal is not looking at her HAIR! (Which is described here) You know what happens next! not wearing the expected red gown, but a green one, matching her eyes, with a plunging neckline even more alluring with her red hair tumbling 'round her shoulders. A flush enlivened her cheeks, and he did not know or care what she was scowling about. He
November 24, 2025 at 12:27 AM
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#AwesomeCharacters
Oh, how fortunate I’m obsessed enough with their hair to have ready answers! 😂😂😂 1.Cerel viewed by Drisal 2. Drisal viewed by Chalmalch 3. Rushak viewed by Chalmalch. I’ll get the ladies in the thread too. Thank you for this! 😅
Description of CEREL with HAIR He was winsome in all the ways that charmed theladies, with wide cheekbones and a strong jaw thattapered to a well-defined chin. He wore his thick,golden yellow hair short in open defiance of fashion, declaring to the world that he would be a leader, not a follower. Description of DRISAL with HAIR Drisal had no words. He was a near copy of his father, save for his eyes of stunning blue, and his hair, a tumbling cascade about his shoulders of a color that reminded one of the frothing Falls as they met Iryla's Teeth. Both had strong features, cleft chins, piercing eyes, though Drisal's were clouded with reticence. RUSHAK, including HAIR, according to Chalmalch Rushak was striking, unforgettable. His delicate features, perfect and almost too finely drawn for a male, made him appear younger than he was and falsely fragile. His eyes gleamed, a pair of startling emeralds. His pale hair, the fallow shade of winter grass, brushed his shoulders in gentle waves. Matured, he was more beautiful, even, than before.
November 24, 2025 at 12:14 AM
acturek.bsky.social
Brain fog, anxiety, paralysis are so horrific today. Every time I look at my projects my mind is blank; can’t finish my ms until I solve the plot problems & I can’t make progress. As the hours tick by, my writing window shrinks as the work week looms. Sorry needed to vent! #bipolar #anxiety #writing
Sign on tree reads: you are not almost there
November 23, 2025 at 10:32 PM
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#WIPPIT #F #A #FBW
White text on brown background reads: Adult epic fantasy 150,000 - 200,000 words Third-person limited Multi-POV Explores Love and sacrifice: right or wrong reasons? Selfishness vs altruism Guilt vs remorse Free will vs God's purpose Pain and creativity The morality of self-harm Obsession, attachment White text on brown background reads: Featuring Non-hero MC Empathic magic Gems and crystals Sibling story Hurt/comfort Elvish forest culture Bonds with horses Misunderstood prophecy Dysfunctional family Life-altering trauma Defiance of tradition Morally gray Druid
November 23, 2025 at 5:08 PM
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#WIPSnips #fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky
#global vibe & syn. entire world

Introducing Jedhrath, the Shining One’s worshipful herald. Something is wrong in paradise.

- Brother’s Keeper, book one of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power.
Shaken, Jedhrath turned toward the camp. As his heart began to thaw, he dreaded the prospect of hours alone. After the ecstasy of union with everyone and everything, his actual detachment from others— his discreteness as an entity-depressed him, made him terribly lonely, and filled him with homelonging so overwhelming he felt he might collapse in the snow. To distract himself he looked for familiar faces, but all he could see were Lord Shelwon's receding back and Ra'am Chalmalch's baleful eyes. What was wrong? The Ra'am had kept it out of the prayers and rites, but Jedhrath could tell by his stare and the set of his mountainous shoulders that all was not well, that he was displeased; and that the object of his displeasure was the man on whom the hope of the ENTIRE WORLD of Rhadhallon rested. Brother's Keeper A.C. Turek
November 23, 2025 at 12:52 PM
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Two brothers—one accursed, one gifted—struggle with the Power of an empathic bond unseen for centuries. As Rushak seeks to escape his curse, Drisal must wield it as evil arises to threaten the world. But the prophesied Power can return only once, and the Shining One is … somebody else. #WIPPIT #F #A
Image: Mood board for Brother’s Keeper WIP: A block of seven images around a central one. Central image: white text on brown background that reads: “Born to be sacrificed: Drowned, shed, burnt and buried, a sin offering for his people. Had he been, all would be free. But he had not, and they weren't. He could never forget it. Brother’s Keeper (working title) A.C. Turek Surrounding images clockwise from center left: column of bonfire, running gray horse, green water, a hand holding a quartz crystal, a view looking up immense tree trunks, a waterfall, a view looking down on a vibrant green forest.
November 23, 2025 at 7:02 AM
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#WIPSnips #fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #crystal

Trouble with the Work; the try failed. This crystal is more difficult to awaken than they’d hoped.
POV: Drisal.

- Brother’s Keeper, book one of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power.
"It either works or it doesn't. Let me see." He settled a tremorous hand on Drisal's shoulder, gently as a bird alighting. All that had come before remained, and the cauldron expanded. Drisal reeled in the stew. His heart raced, that heat trickled in. There was no help for his tears, no help for the livid anguish swirling around and filling him. This, this was real. This was right. And much sooner than it seemed, he felt that which gave meaning to it all, which was the meaning of it all. Love, such love amid the grief, entwining with the rest. The light in the room brightened; the CRYSTAL flashed with a promise of golden hues as Rushak finished his assessment. The illusion faded with his words the instant he took his hand away. "Let's get it done. It must be what it must be." Brother's Keeper A.C. Turek
November 22, 2025 at 12:51 PM
acturek.bsky.social
Good Morning #ForestFriday
#Forest #trees
Looking up a hill full of aspen trees on a sunny day. A small rock formation in the center.
November 21, 2025 at 1:46 PM
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#WIPSnips #fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #direction

Virgil makes an unsettling discovery.

TW: dead bird

- Brother’s Keeper, book one of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power.
It was a dead bird, white-breasted and russet, about as long as his foot. He picked it up and rose to his feet to examine it. It was matted, half-hollowed and maggoty, but he knew at once what it was: a Sheltri arrowkite, with a tiny roll of parchment still attached. He looked up, then around, not knowing what he expected to find. Whatever happened had happened two weeks ago. He saw no one and nothing in any DIRECTION but the sheep camp, where a couple of people moved about and the sheepdogs had begun compressing the flock. Carefully he detached the message. It was still legible. The bird dropped to the ground. Brother's Keeper A.C. Turek
November 21, 2025 at 12:55 PM
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#WIPSnips #fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #special

Cerel sits with Drisal and the unconscious Rushak. “ Beyerfind Rose” is wine. First speaker is Drisal.

- Brother’s Keeper, book one of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power.
"How did this happen?" His tone was beseeching. "You've withheld so much." Cerel sat beside them, eyes averted. "I've told you all I understand. Anything more will have to come from him." Drisal nodded, arms folded, clearly unsatisfied with his answer but said nothing more. He shuddered, nearly beyond comfort. Cerel had to give him something. "We celebrated his Naming day," he offered. The day that should have been, but wasn't. Drisal looked up, interested, even smiled a little while Cerel told him the story. "Where did you get Beyerfind Rose?" "From Jer. I was saving it for a SPECIAL occasion. I judged that qualified." "Imaärta," Drisal said. "You carried it all that way! It's more than he would have received at home." Brother's Keeper A.C. Turek
November 20, 2025 at 1:02 PM
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#WIPSnips #third #fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky

The Kudrum have found the hideout.
Cerel has a surprise for them.

- Brother’s Keeper, book one of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power
He wondered what sorcery had prevented him from seeing them before. No matter. He saw them now. Through clamoring nerves he drew, glancing at the others to ensure they wouldn't betray him. The enemy came on with confident caution. Cerel drew breath. Smooth as ice. He let it out, releasing his THIRD arrow before the first of the Kudrum had dropped. The fourth turned in surprise. Before he had time to react further, he too fell dead. The silence vibrated, stunned for a moment by the resonance of the bowstring. Amazed, Virgil and Weatherlin stared into the white-laced darkness. Cerel remained frozen, arm outstretched, bow bent and arrow nocked, looking for more. An ethereal snow-dust settled. His heart eased by degrees as the dance within him subsided. He lowered his bow. Virgil shook his head. "I never saw them." Brother's Keeper A.C. Turek
November 19, 2025 at 12:50 PM
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#Novmemeber
This is Cerel to a tee!
He loves excitement, and he jumps into the fray headfirst! He would love this meme.
Sign that says “Life’s journey is not to arrive safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy shit … what a ride!’”
November 18, 2025 at 11:15 PM
acturek.bsky.social
#WIPSnips vibes: retrograde #fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky

Rushak in Retrograde

Trapped in another plane. Some experimental shit, 😳 but I think it evokes today’s word.

- Brother’s Keeper, book one of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power.
Bared to a wind so cold his father's crying still colder and they are real, his fate and his soul-name laid on him in that wind, shrieking over the bottomless drop: the abyss of his father's despair so cold that it burns; and now he burns red, his body a furnace of agony with no hope. The heat of compression, of being squeezed from the womb; the heat of blood and the sting of a hand larger than hiswhole back. White flame scours his lungs—the air— Doom! A cold nipple he does not want. Born again, young again, all meaning in Drie, the voice that sings with love, the hands that feed himcomfort. Drie's arms encircle him; his calming heartbeat cools his fears and then she comes with her apricot smell and her fire-colored hair. And now he burns. Like the red flicker feathers he stole from Cerel to hide in Drie's bed, he burns, in horrible flashes like late summer lightning. When it eases, if it eases, he will die, if it will stop. Let it stop. Brother's Keeper A.C. Turek
November 18, 2025 at 12:58 PM
acturek.bsky.social
Happy Mare-y Monday!
#MareMonday #Monday #HorseSky #arabianhorse #mare
Zil is less than thrilled. A grumpy bay Arab mare with her face in the camera and her ears laid back. She has a snip and a big star.
November 17, 2025 at 3:21 PM
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#WIPSnips #fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #spend

Rushak meets the monks of Del Irnyn … and finds out they bicker as much as the scholars at home.

- Brother’s Keeper, book one of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power.
He could not believe his good fortune. Here, at last, his answers might lie. Why hadn't the Taranors or Tesyruks heard of Ensor's doctrine? Then again, maybe they had. Sobered, he bit his lower lip. "So it must have been a choice. It has to have been Nam-tar's choice, that sent the children into the Shammeth that bound the dark one. Not a mistake." "Ho! Credit is given to Shel'eles for the binding!" Nathaniel interrupted. "Nam-Tar's choice, mistake, whatever you want to call it, was but a nudge to aid him." Alewine rolled his eyes. "I would love to see some of the writings," Rushak said. "Might I SPEND some time in your library?" "Certainly. Our covenant preserves the teachings of Ensor and keeps fresh his faith. We're glad to spread our knowledge. Ensor sleeps, along with Shel'eles, within the Sacred Tor. It's our blessing to watch over them." Brother's Keeper A.C. Turek
November 17, 2025 at 1:23 PM
acturek.bsky.social
Another clip along on yesterday’s scenic #trailride! Hope you enjoy the view! Zil is very sure-footed, conditioned, and experienced on these mountain trails. You can see her ear cock toward the edge and minding her surroundings.
#trailhorse #arabianhorse #trail #forest #nationalforest #HorseSky
November 16, 2025 at 5:53 PM
acturek.bsky.social
A #trailsign, one of many on yesterday’s ride. Zil was so amazing!
#trailhorse #trailride #arabianhorse #trail #nationalforest #Colorado #HorseSky
Between the ears view of riding Zil, a bay Arabian mare, on a trail up a hill on a mountainside, terrain dry and brown in foreground and approaching leafless trees and conifers trailsign to the right says: Box Canyon TR 617 Horse’s ear is cocked toward sign
November 16, 2025 at 1:23 PM
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#WIPSnips #fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #run

Cerel, Rushak and Virgil have come upon the unexpected. Cerel is not their leader, but he can’t help himself!

- Brother’s Keeper, book one of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power.
"Ready your bow, Rush, and follow me," Cerel said, his voice edged with excitement. "What's your plan?" Virgil's voice was nearly lost among the battle sounds from below. Cerel joined him in the pines and Rushak waited behind a boulder at the edge of the cliff. “We'll split and RUN to either end of this ledge. It'll be steep, but not sheer as it is here. As long as there are trees, we'll be able to get down. We'll circle 'round to the slope where the Kudrum were hiding—you listening, Rush? We'll be hidden but close enough to shoot. What do you think?" Virgil nodded. "It could work. But be cautious. More could be waiting. If you even so much as think you sense any, get out of there. I'll go all the way to the bottom and join your people. Though you gracefully name me Arrowsmith, I do take more comfort in my swords." Brother's Keeper A.C. Turek
November 16, 2025 at 1:05 PM