Erika Chandler
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erikachandler.bsky.social
Erika Chandler
@erikachandler.bsky.social
160 followers 140 following 280 posts
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
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erikachandler.bsky.social
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
The narrow passage ends abruptly where another hall cuts it off at a perpendicular angle. This place is such a maze, I already think I couldn’t get back to the kitchens on my own, let alone the servant hall. Yoshimaru-san turns into the lefthand passage at a punishing clip, then stops so suddenly I nearly bump into him.
December 22, 2025 at 9:22 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
But he already knows that. And he’s toying with me. At that moment, a flash of silver enters my periphery, and the man leaps back, dropping my head with a thud onto the ground. I scramble unsteadily to my knees, but more knives fly through the air before I can gain my feet. “Ryosuke!”
December 21, 2025 at 11:27 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
I suck in my breath sharply and retreat around the corner, suddenly feeling like I’ve walked in on a private moment. My default image of Ai-chan and Ashe-san together is them squabbling. Did something change? Or was all the arguing…flirting?
December 20, 2025 at 9:10 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
“Ryo-san, Taro-san, look out!” Something soars up out of the tall grass with a hiss, towering over us in the turbulent sky. It’s massive, lifting its bulk high with powerful muscles, fangs dripping venom. An uwabami, the great snake yokai. We stagger to a halt, but the girl tumbles into the tall grass.
December 19, 2025 at 8:54 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
I didn’t have many uses of this word, and several of them felt spoilery. #WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #NA #fantasy
The earthy smell of rain-saturated ground permeates the little village. It can’t be composed of more than a few families, and it’s clear they aren’t accustomed to visitors from the samurai Clans. We rarely show ourselves as shinobi in the Reikai, preferring to keep to the shadows or hide in plain sight. I’m used to inspiring fear in this world. But even so, this is unusual. The people practically scurry out of our way in the streets. The innkeeper fumbles at our presence, scrambling at my request for dinner and a room. Something isn’t right here.
December 18, 2025 at 9:27 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
“What’s your point, Taro?” “Don’t be obtuse, Ryosuke.” Taro’s voice, already quiet, pitches even lower. He opens the clay jar and slathers some of the thick brown contents over his wound, grimacing. “She’s one of us. She has to be, at least partly.”
December 17, 2025 at 9:43 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
“Ryo-san…” She turns her head toward me, eyes wide and bright with moisture. “It hurts.” A cold sweat breaks over me, not because I’m worried about a tiny cut, but because I have no idea what to do if this girl starts crying. “Are you hurt anywhere else?” I ask hesitantly, hoping I don’t sound as confused as I feel. My bewilderment only compounds when, instead of crumpling in tears, the girl’s face breaks into a brilliant smile. “It hurts!” She’s laughing now. “Oh, Ryo-san, isn’t it wonderful?” I rock back on my heels, suddenly afraid I may be dealing with something more serious after all. “Um…just how hard did you hit your head?”
December 16, 2025 at 11:13 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
“Ryo-kun, you’re awake!” Squinting against the lamplight, I turn to see Rin kneeling beside me, fists anxiously clutching her skirt. Her skin is flushed, eyes wide. The fabric under my hands is a blanket. I’m sitting on a futon that’s been dragged into the middle of this…living room? Then I realize with a jolt that this place smells unmistakably like Rin. Is this…Am I inside Rin’s house?
December 15, 2025 at 10:43 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
“What’s this about, Taro?” I say to his back. When he turns around, his expression is taut, mouth pressed into a thin, straight line. Then he sucker punches me so hard in the jaw that I fall to my ass in the mud. “What the hell was that for?!” I demand, gripping my chin in my hand and working my jaw back and forth. I taste blood.
December 14, 2025 at 11:02 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Rin’s lessons are not going well.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
Taro’s shikigami flies back toward Rin and me. For a moment, it’s arrested in the air, and I sit up a little, pulse quickening. Did she finally do it? The paper trembles…then zips around uncontrollably before exploding in a shower of white.
December 13, 2025 at 10:38 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
“Tsuchigumo!” A spider yokai. Taka sped across the room to Shima and tackled the leggy monster. It was nearly as big as Taka, but he hit it with such force that both crashed through the shoji screen behind Shima’s bed, rolling violently over the splintered bamboo frame.
December 12, 2025 at 10:37 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
“You can’t shield her from mundane life, you know.” Behind me, Taro shuffles papers that I’m sure are already full of meticulous notes. I don’t turn to look at him. “You’re an impressive shinobi, Ryosuke, but even your faculties are limited.”
December 11, 2025 at 11:22 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
Sorry I have to do this. In a single motion, I’m over the ledge and behind him in the cramped gatehouse, the hard edge of my arm across his windpipe. He struggles for only a moment before he slumps slowly to the ground, unconscious. I set him upright against the side of the bridge mechanism as I pull my tanto from my waistband.
December 10, 2025 at 8:49 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
Between the frames, my father’s family katana rests in a simple stand. My fingers brush across the familiar design of the scabbard. It doesn’t make me feel safe, exactly…I can’t really use it. But it’s soothing to touch something they had touched. It anchors me to reality the same way the crack in the alley does, with almost the same vivid energy. And now, the blade also serves as a grim reminder of the only part of my story police believed, the only part the physical evidence confirmed. The only knowledge that keeps my sanity hanging by a thread: That my brother was killed with a sword.  
December 9, 2025 at 9:13 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
“Shoot…” Aiko mutters, digging through her backpack. Fourth period is about to start, and she’s clearly hunting for a snack to tide her over until lunch. “I must have walked out without my bento this morning.” “You can share mine, Ai-chan,” I offer, pulling an onigiri out of my box. I’m careful to make sure it isn’t one of the Reikai-prepared ones Taro-kun brought me this morning.
December 8, 2025 at 9:11 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
I stand up so quickly I jostle the table, overturning my empty teacup. “Whoa, Rin, what’s up?” I don’t answer. Fumbling for my cell phone, I dial as fast as my fingers will move. “Taro-kun?” I’m already halfway across the café, struggling to get my arms in my coat sleeves without dropping the phone. Jiro follows me, shouldering through customers to keep up.
December 7, 2025 at 10:06 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
I think the õmukade is one of my favorite yokai battles for sheer group effort required. #WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
A long, hooked shape emerges from the widening crack. It clicks onto the tile floor with a sharp snap as one of the squares breaks under the force. Then another emerges, and another…and another. They aren’t hooks, but articulated legs. Hundreds of them. Pincers wet with venom snap high overhead. Sunrays flash off the armored body in piercing shafts of light. Ōmukade. A demon centipede.
December 6, 2025 at 9:06 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Rin is slowly but surely losing the ability to hide her double life.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
I close the door behind me with a soft click, slumping against the frame and clutching my phone to my chest. I check the screen again. “Kimura Jiro, Missed Call” spans across the top. My fingers hover over the notification…but I don’t touch it.
December 5, 2025 at 9:14 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
As soon as my feet hit the ground, a familiar sensation tingles up my spine. Ki, the energy of all living things. But this is different from the life already humming around this city. This kind of raw, potent energy is like Taro’s and my own. The kind only found in the spirit world.
December 4, 2025 at 8:53 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
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
The tall grass of the meadow bends nearly in half with the strengthening winds, but in the corner of my eye I catch an odd shape like a wheel rolling through the blades—tsuchinoko, a kind of thick, venomous snake yokai that rolls by biting its own tail. When the wheel enters my range, I cut it down with a single stroke and keep moving, my katana flashing in the unnatural light. Another tsuchinoko comes up alongside Taro. In this formation, he’s forced to hold his sword in his non-dominant hand, but he bides his time until the rolling ring is nearly upon us, then strikes with lightning speed. The path in front of us is nearly clear. We’re going to make it in time.
December 3, 2025 at 9:18 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
“Fraction” for “percent.”

Of course it will not be that simple, Ryo, because ~plot~

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity
“Ryo excels in all the disciplines of ninjutsu,” Kin says after an awkward pause. It should be Yoshimaru’s place to answer as head of our order, but I know he’s reluctant to give an accurate assessment of my abilities. “His skill with the blade is unmatched, as is his resolve.” “Very good.” Hiroshi’s steps begin to retreat. Is that it? There’s no way. I risk raising my head a fraction of an inch to assess my surroundings more clearly.
December 2, 2025 at 10:06 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Rin disguising herself as a servant—it’s about the most shinobi thing she’s ever done.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity
I nod succinctly and inhale slowly through my nose, trying to bring my body under control. My ki is dim for the moment, but my limbs are trembling. “Hey.” Ryo-kun lays a palm on top of my head, and I flinch. His energy is still taut, still hyperaware, but for just a moment, the edge softens. “Remember, we’re not hiding now—you work here, so act like you belong. You’re going to be fine.”
December 1, 2025 at 10:15 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Ryo treads a fine line.

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“…A number of yokai have attempted attacks on the girl.” I stop myself from using Rin’s name, remembering Kin’s warning this morning. The more distance, the better. “They’ve all been dispatched. We’ve warded her house and her workplace. She’s under continual surveillance.”
November 30, 2025 at 8:59 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Poor little naive Rin-chan. She doesn’t know what she’s gotten into yet. This was oddly my only use of dedicate in a story that deals with duty a lot. 🤷🏻‍♀️

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“Tetsuya-san,” I say slowly, “why are you so concerned about the Kawa Clan? Hiroshi-san sounds…difficult…but Ryo-kun has dedicated his life to this Clan.” I picture Ryo and Taro-kun, both members of the Kawa Clan, swords drawn to protect me in the chaos of the Breach. “Can it really be that bad?”
November 29, 2025 at 10:44 AM
erikachandler.bsky.social
Lots of synonyms for me this week. “Wind” for “zigzag.” I think I posted earlier this week Ryo saying he needed a cell phone. This is later the same day, when some backup would have been helpful 😅

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #writingcommunity #YA #fantasy
“See, a sword or a cell phone would be really useful about now,” he mutters. The child rokurokubi flies by in a tangle of dark hair, its long tongue flicking in and out. Reaching around Ryo-kun, I pull one of the small knives from his belt and stand with my back to his. He blinks, but doesn’t object. The three rokurokubi wind toward us, pressing in on all sides. Our knives aren’t strong enough to sever their powerful necks, but I’m silently hoping Ryo-kun has more tricks up his sleeve.
November 28, 2025 at 11:36 AM