Jon Sparks
LightNews LightNews
banner
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
Jon Sparks
@jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
1.7K followers 1.8K following 2K posts
After more than 30 years, and 60 books, as an outdoor writer and photographer, I’m now fully focused on fiction with the Shattered Moon series. AI-free (and I mean free).
Posts Replies Media Videos
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 26/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'impede', nor ‘obstruct’. Just one of ‘obstacle’.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
He showed further delicacy in suggesting he site his tent well away from theirs, beyond the stream. The narrow stream was no real obstacle, but the separation would give the women a measure of privacy. By the time the ground was cleared, tents pitched, and everything stowed within—and Jerya fully dressed again—the afternoon was well advanced. Time for some rest, to catch up on drinks, and to begin a strange, episodic meal like an amalgam of lunch and supper. They had discussed possibilities extensively on the ship, of course, but in the certain knowledge that everything was conjecture until they actually had their feet on the ground. Now, having climbed the first step, and seeing promise that it would be possible to climb further, they could plan in earnest.
November 26, 2025 at 7:34 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 25/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has four instances of 'system'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
She didn't, as she often did, say, 'Please, call me Jerya'; but she did smile and say, "It is we who are honoured by your hospitality." With gentle emphasis she added, "And may I present Master-Emeritus Evisyn of the Guild of Dawnsingers?" Meridès offered dutiful words of welcome, but it was clear 'Master-Emeritus' meant less to her than 'Countess', and she quickly returned her attention to Jerya. Doubtless she would have proceeded to gush some more, but she had to breathe, at which point Jerya briskly enquired, "Have you received any messages for us?" "Indeed, yes, your Grace." Jerya lifted a brow, but said nothing. Evisyn had never heard anyone address her that way before. Was it, she wondered, strictly correct? She knew—Jerya had complained of it more than once—that there were endless protocols and etiquettes around the Denvirran peerage; and to complicate matters, each of the Five Principalities had its own distinctive system. Troquharran, for instance, had not Dukes and Earls but Margraves and Burgraves and who knew what else. She knew that Sessapont had a Prince but nothing beyond that. Perhaps 'your Grace' was correct for the local equivalent of a Countess.
November 25, 2025 at 7:46 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 23/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'global' or 'globe'. Going with 'world' (20 instances).
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Ysutèni smiled. It wasn't much, but it was a smile. "I cannot think so—but I never thought of it." "I understand; and as Master Evisyn here will tell you, the Guild of Dawnsingers has only ever admitted girls from the Sung Lands anyway." "That’s correct," said Evisyn. "And not likely to change in the near future." Ysutèni’s look at her seemed puzzled. Evisyn had been introduced, but… well, it was likely the girl’s first sight of a Dawnsinger; and therefore of a bald person who wasn’t a slave. How often did a young Princess see the world beyond the Palatine anyway?
November 23, 2025 at 10:56 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 22/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has just one instance of 'crystal(line)'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
She stopped, kneeling to examine the floor more closely. "There’s only a thin film of dust, a millimetre or two. That seems remarkable after so long." "Seems to have been a very clean environment in here?" said Evisyn behind her, voice reverberating off the walls. "Possibly… I’m just brushing the dust away here. The surface looks just like the rock outside, but we’d have to look with a lens to be sure. But the rock’s grainy, crystalline; there’s no natural smooth cleavage, like slate. I can’t conceive this being natural—but how did they do it?” "You must have known, Jerya, that every 'answer' we find is only going to spawn a dozen new questions."
November 22, 2025 at 7:37 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 21/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has eight instances of 'direction'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Sails slackened; only a small jib remained fat with wind, and in the weak breeze the ship was barely moving, not stirring enough bow-wave to disrupt her own reflection. "Ahoy, the shore!" Bensik’s voice carried easily over thirty metres of grass-green water. "Captain!" she called back, not in a full shout but the elevated voice she used to address larger gatherings like Ordinations. "Is there news? We hadn’t expected to see you so soon." "Aye, madame, there’s news: storm coming. It’s black as pitch to the south." He waved a hand in a sternward direction and indeed Evisyn saw that the sliver of sky between two of the spires was dark as a bruise. "Looks like to be a bad 'un. We need to stand well clear of land afore it hits—and either we take you off right away or… well, if you’ve found any better shelter than the tents, I’d waste no time getting to it."
November 21, 2025 at 8:23 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 20/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has eight instances of 'special'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Torvyn had witnessed Dawnsong before. Growing up at Skilthorn, with Dawnsingers visiting every summer, she must have heard it dozens of times, starting before she could even remember. She had, she thought, been six or seven the first time she had been allowed to rise at a painfully early hour and climb the narrow stair to the roof of the main house, where only a few of the tallest trees broke the Eastern horizon. On the recent journey she had been present for Dawnsong at Under-Keldash, had heard it drowsily through an open window in Blawith, and made a special effort to be up and present at Kendrigg, where Jossena was the sole Dawnsinger. The Song itself, she might have heard a hundred times, but never from more than half a dozen voices at once. This morning would be different.
November 20, 2025 at 7:29 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
A reviewer’s verdict on The Sundering Wall, Book 2 of The Shattered Moon:
"Sparks builds this world with his trademark finesse, immersing the reader in its paradox of familiarity and strangeness."
'Paradox of familiarity and strangeness' is exactly what I’ve aimed for.
Here’s a brief excerpt:
Soon enough she began to feel more hopeful, to get a sense that the peaks were not one continuous chain. Another hundred metres, and she was nearly sure of it. She felt so much lighter without the mass of the pack that she even ran a short way. There it was: a gap; a curiously rectangular notch, deeper than it was wide, parting great blades of rock. Running up to it, only a simple slope of scree splashed with snow. There was an apron of rock at the breach itself, but she could see it'd be easy. If the other side's the same, it's a pass. At once she set out up the scree, picking a winding line where it was mostly smaller stones, avoiding any larger blocks. These, she knew, could too easily be precariously balanced, ready to shift at the merest touch of a boot. Unladen, she still felt light, almost as if instead of the great lump of the rucksack she had wings on her back. She couldn't fly, but she climbed fast, her breath coming in gasps, her heart hammering. What she saw at the top might decide everything. I'll rest when I can see. It was perfectly clear now. Ever since she had seen that notch in the ridge, the first pass, or false pass, she had not merely wanted to see what lay beyond; she had needed to see. This was far beyond curiosity. Now, she needed to see if there was a way into the land beyond. And if there was? No matter what the others did, she thought, barely noticing how she lumped Rodal and Railu together; no matter what they did, she herself would go on now, until she knew. Until she knew.
November 19, 2025 at 9:10 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 19/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 19 instances of 'third'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
They went on, working through the list. First Crossing, West—East: Jerya, Railu, Rodal. Second Crossing, East—West: Rodal. “Making him the first to make a return Crossing, and also the first to do a Crossing alone. Is he still the only one to do that?” “There’s one other I know of,” said Keriset. “Former enslaved, so I won’t mention his name… But that was a few years later.” Hedric only nodded and moved on. “Third Crossing?” Several of the girls thought this was the Selton party. Torvyn, who naturally knew the answer, kept silent, let Hedric put them right. "I’ll try not to feel too much forgotten," he said, pulling a mournful face. Third Crossing, ten years later, East—West: Jerya, Hedric, Lallon. Jerya becomes the second person to make a return Crossing.
November 19, 2025 at 9:01 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
Just bring me a good chair and keep the grockles away…
Is that really too much to ask?
Looking through pillars into a shaded courtyard in the Alhambra. In the centre is a fountain supported by stone beasts (possibly lions). Around the sides is a colonnade of double pillars supporting ornate arches. Tall trees appear over rooftops at the far end.
November 19, 2025 at 8:51 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
A brief excerpt from Three Kinds of North, Book One of The Shattered Moon.
www.jonsparksauthor.com/chapter-one
She stepped on again. The great trees withdrew behind. A band of lighter wood, rowan and larch and sunny tangles of man-high undergrowth, screened the deep forest. Then they came into full sun, day-bleached colours and sudden heat. A butterfly tumbled away, bright as a candle-flame. They crossed flower-deep meadow, passed a row of beehives, skirted threadbare ground where goats were tethered. A stone path, a dodge under the leaning thorn-tree at the gate-like nick in the rocks beneath the tor, and she looked down into the stonecourt of Delven. The whole village seemed to be gathered, men as well as women. All eyes seemed to follow her as she started down the steps, but it was the silence that made her shiver, in spite of the heat. Now she grasped Rodal's fear. She halted at the foot of the steps. Rodal darted a look over his shoulder, then stepped aside. Holdren faced her, tall and thin, space around him though the throng pressed behind. "Come," he said, no more, but Jerya trembled. Behind his headman's gravity she sensed unease. She followed him, back up the steps she had just descended. At the top, just as Jerya was wondering where Holdren could possibly be leading her, he turned sharply to the right, onto the other steps, the one flight in all of Delven she had never climbed. The breath fled Jerya's body. Holdren was halfway up before she could gather her wits and her skirt-hem and scramble after him.
November 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 18/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'retrograde', nor any of ‘reverse’ or ‘backward’. ‘Step back’ (2) is as close as it gets.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
"And you don't need to call me Master. It's only a courtesy title now, anyway. Master-Emeritus for formal occasions." Jerya stepped back, face registering concern. "Has something happened?" Evisyn hastened to reassure her. "When I was Master Prime, as you know, Analind became Master of Peripatetics. When I stepped back from the Primacy—I'm sure you remember—I said I'd serve five years. So eighteen was plenty long enough." "Time gets away from me sometimes." Jerya shook her head, the magpie braid swishing across her blouse. "I know; are we really that old? But, you see, Analind offered to step back and let me take up my old position again. And I won't say I wasn't tempted, to get back to the travelling life, but I couldn't let her do that. It wouldn't have been fair anyway, but I was thinking about the next step, because we all knew Brinbeth wasn't going to be there too long."
November 18, 2025 at 8:28 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 17/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 23 instances of 'spend'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
The routine was clear: as each person stepped away from the Royal presence, the major-domo’s ringing tones announced the name and titles of the next in line. As he finished, the person named would step forward, bow or curtsey, and spend an average of perhaps thirty seconds in converse with—or sometimes merely listening to—the Prince. Some walked away looking mildly crestfallen, one or two appeared disgruntled, but to Jerya’s eyes most appeared delighted. A few even bore exultant expressions. She knew that some people could be awed at the prospect of meeting her, a mere Countess. She always tried to set them at ease, and never surrounded herself with even a tithe of the pomp and ceremonial that infested the Sessapontine court. The Prince, she supposed, had no such reservations. She could hardly doubt that His Highness’s dark eyes had spotted them. She herself, arrayed as she was, might not stand out, but Evisyn’s height, combined with her bald head and white robe—with a Master’s gold trimmings at neck, wrists and hem—would make her stand out in almost any company.
November 17, 2025 at 7:46 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 16/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 33 instances of 'run'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
"Am I right in thinking Lord Selton would be willing to vouch that your liquidity would run to a hundred and sixty?" It seemed like a considered slight, implying that her word alone was not good enough, but she had more than thirty years practice in deflecting the indignities the Five Principalities inflicted on the female moiety of its populace. "I have no doubt that he would. And speaking of his Lordship, I’m sure he would prefer to continue using your ship and your crew for future voyages. So let’s end this dance and settle on a hundred and fifty." He sighed theatrically, as if he were being fleeced, but held out his hand. Then he hesitated. "Perhaps, as a lady, you would prefer to seal the deal in another way?" "Why, Master Felgin, do you think I might catch something merely by shaking your hand?" She said it lightly, to make it a joke, though really she wasn’t sure quite how clean his hands were.
November 16, 2025 at 8:41 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 13/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 6 instances of 'progress': four in this short excerpt.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
He wasn’t smiling now. Perhaps the idea of trying his luck beyond the mountains had only come to him in the last few minutes, but he was used to weighing things up rapidly. "Miss Torvyn—Sojourner Torvyn, I oughter say… you, and your friends… I reckon you ain’t from families without two coins to rub together. Might it be one or two among you has a notion or two about people I could speak to over there? Decent people, you know; ones who believe in progress, not just makin’ themselves richer." Progress… she thought. Now there’s a word I’ve heard many times. And what Mamma sees as progress isn’t what Master Perriad would, not by a long way; and what the Prince of Sessapont or the Council of the University of Denvirran would call progress would be different again, both times.
November 15, 2025 at 7:36 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 13/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 68 instances of 'week'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Three weeks turned to two, and then one, and then they were counting down the days, time seeming to speed up and slow down almost together; it could feel like half a day had just vanished, and then you could be sitting in a classroom and suddenly you'd be thinking, this is the last time I'll ever sit here, with these classmates, listening to this Docent, and the moment would seem frozen in time, captured like a fly in amber. Somehow, between quick time and slow time, it came to the last day, and now they were the ones sitting on the stage during the speeches; they were the ones named in the roll of honour, their now-unofficially-official matriculation grades read out. They were the ones lining up to receive certificates from the Preceptor, and applause from the whole school and all the assembled parents and families. They had finished school, and graduated, and there were still fewer than two hundred women in the Five Principalities who could say that.
November 14, 2025 at 8:17 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 13/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 20 instances of 'build'/'building'. This is from the final page
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
She went out, past the kitchen; she could hear movement, muffled voices, but saw no one. Into the garden. There was a spot where, looking between trees, over the lawn in front of the hospital, down between the backs of houses, carriage-houses, whatever else was there, you had a relatively clear view of the sky, in a roughly Easterly direction. You wouldn’t see the sun clear the horizon, but you could see the sky, already a soft pearly rose-gold against the dull slate hue overhead. A fine day in prospect, she noted as she checked her watch; good for travelling. And for parting? she wondered. Evisyn readied herself, the usual calming breaths, rehearsing the first notes in her mind. It was time. She began softly, only just voicing the notes, building slowly. Even at the climax she didn’t Sing full out, as she would on any songstead, but nor did she mute herself. She Sang in the voice you might use in performance in a small room, for a few friends.
November 13, 2025 at 9:55 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 12/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has five instances of 'shirt.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
There was nothing else to delay them on the way up the strath. One step into the entrance of the Defile, a moment in its chill exhalation, and they unanimously agreed, though it was still early, to take lunch a short way back, in the sun. They found the pool significantly lower than before, barely reaching mid-thigh on the taller ones, so they dared to retain their shirts and carry their rucksacks normally. Only Peri was at real risk of soaking her load, and when Tor looked back after following Aliénor through, she found Zenzeya and Alessu bearing it between them, while Peri was ahead, not wading but swimming. It made for a faster passage, but she paid for it when the water got too shallow and bare feet met the rough stones.
November 12, 2025 at 9:15 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 11/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has zero instances of ‘burger’; I didn’t even have to look. But that’s OK, I’d rather have a decent sausage any day of the week.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Evisyn shrugged, swallowed a mouthful. "This is delicious,… I can do campfire cookery, every Peripatetic needs that. But it's making porridge or frying sausages, nothing complicated." "I wouldn't call this complicated," said Jerya. "It's the cheese that makes it so tasty, I reckon. The milk's from sheep reared up on the back-slope of the Wold. Puts me in mind of my childhood, when the only milk we had was from goats." She poured more cider, and Evisyn took a sip of the pale, fragrant, almost floral-scented drink before asking after Jerya's husband and daughter. "They've gone to Skilton. Well—" She glanced at her watch (Dawnsinger-made, as Evisyn knew well). "—They should be back by now. But they could still be at the stables, talking with Mav and Vireddi. Things to sort out…"
November 11, 2025 at 7:03 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 10/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has five instances of ‘local’.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Why, then, should she be shocked, even a little, to find male slaves being treated just the same, for the use of female owners and their guests? I thought I knew all the indignities that can be inflicted on people; but I should have known there'd be more. As much as anything, what grated was the utterly casual way Meridès threw out the offer—in front of the men themselves, and in front of her young daughter too. But she had not come to Sessapont to argue the morality of local customs. Not this time, anyroad, she told herself. What, then, would be the most graceful way to decline the proposal? "I am a married woman," she said. "Bless you, Your Grace, are we not all married? And women of the world, too. Do you suppose your husband would scruple to accept an equivalent offer when he travels without you?" She laughed. "I am certain sure my husband has no qualms."
November 10, 2025 at 7:42 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has nine instances of ‘picture’.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Tor took a moment to parse the double negatives. "You said I should ask for royalties for the portrait of Vireddi, the other illustrations." "You absolutely should, and we’ll talk about it with Papa when we get home. But that means we also need to think about how you get paid. Just as we had to work out how Vireddi could have access to the money her books make." "I’m sure I won’t be earning that much." "Maybe not right away, but… one day, who knows? Of course it also depends… I suspect there’s most money to be made in portraits of the nobility, maybe pictures of their hideous mansions." Tor smiled. She’d never heard Mamma express real admiration for any house grander than Kirwaugh, or the near-replica they’d built at Skilthorn. "But I’d be surprised if you wanted to do that all the time."
November 9, 2025 at 7:50 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 12 instances of 'movement’.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
"Seems to me the current’s carrying us at a good rate anyway. Why’d’they need the sail too? Looks like it’s nothing but trouble." Aliénor was right there, thought Torvyn from her perch on the steps to the little fore-deck. The twists and turns of the river meant the wind-direction, as they felt it, was rarely constant for ten minutes at a stretch; the crew had hardly got their breath back from one manoeuvre before they were trotting to the ropes again, re-setting the sail, sometimes swinging the whole thing, with its heavy boom, from one side to the other. She was doodling with a pencil, trying to see just how few lines would suffice to catch their movements, the stretch and bend, the straining curve of a muscled back. But she was not too preoccupied to catch Peri’s reply. "If we were just drifting, they wouldn’t be able to steer. You have to be moving through the water for the rudder to work."
November 7, 2025 at 6:41 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has just one instance of 'penultimate’.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
"For which you deserve credit. But at Kendrigg you swore a Pledge, did you not?" "I did, Senior Tutor." "And I’m sure you recall the penultimate line…?" "I shall conduct myself at all times in accordance with the rules and practices of the Guild." "You see the contradiction, I’m sure. No Dawnsinger wears any form of jewellery. There is a measure of flexibility in the matter of clothing—its cut if not its colour—but other adornment, if I can call it that, is limited to trim at collar and cuffs—gold for Masters, and so on. Tell me, do you have any suggestions as to how we might resolve this?"
November 6, 2025 at 8:08 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has five instances of 'trail’.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Finally a repeated question from Raëval shook her fully from her reverie, and she attended to the discussion about weather and time, the latest reports of trail conditions and which water-sources were still flowing at this end of the summer. She joined in the considerations of what food they could and should take from the refuge’s stores. She went up with the others to the dormitory, shook and folded the blankets, stowed the last of their belongings in their packs, joined in the grumbling about the weight, reminding everyone that they were always heaviest at the start and that they’d already done the steepest climb, up from the Defile.
November 5, 2025 at 7:53 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'steel’, and just two of ‘iron’.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
It took a little while before the shifts and eddies of the crowd of Dawnsingers and Sojourners allowed Torvyn to get close enough to study the engine in more detail. She pulled her sketchbook from her satchel and sat on a handy bollard. She realised at once that it was cold iron, not warm stone, but a few minutes’ mild discomfort was a small price to pay. As she began studying the engine and making the first marks, she was also watching the lad—about her own age, she thought—who was tending the engine, wiping here, adding a drop of oil there. He looked up. “I hope you’re not plannin’ on buildin’ a copy from that.”
November 4, 2025 at 6:54 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips
No more ‘spooky week’, which may make it easier for me.
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has four instances of 'nice’, which doesn’t feel like too many
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Fièdra held Tor's arm as they walked down to the lake, but nothing much was said until they had settled on a bench near the Western end. Across the water, a swan sitting on the humped mass of its nest gave them a look of lofty suspicion. "You heard from your parents…?" said Tor tentatively. "Yes. My sister's set a date for the wedding… in Fructander." "Ah… Well, I suppose that's a nicer reason for missing the trip than some." Fièdra shrugged. "We're not even close. She's six years older than me, and of course I've been here, term and summer-schools, for seven years now. But she wants me as a bridesmaid—or Mamma does, I don't know which."
November 3, 2025 at 7:43 AM