Paper books for me. Because of how I write, reading ebooks feels too much like editing for me. However sometimes I get stuck on paper books, and an audiobook is the way to get “unstuck”.

I love this piece. Really cute and sweet, it almost feels like we’re intruding, but they only care for each other.

Then there are the supernatural (humans), and mystic (fae), who were given their powers by witches/wizards/mages. While witches etc. have wide-ranging abilities, supernaturals etc. have very specific ones (eg. Salamanders have powers over fire, but only fire), and often a price to pay for them.

Cassie carries as little as she possibly can. She got tossed into fae with only the clothes on her back (debatable, as those are shredded and charred), and gets well-used to having nothing. On return to Earth, it takes Ben to remind her she can actually have stuff again.

For drafting/editing I use Scrivener, with a template that was built for NaNoWriMo back in the day. Mostly because it’s easier for me to keep my plot notes etc. in sight as I jump around between Chapters.
When time comes to find beta-readers, I export to word/google docs as they prefer.

He’s a grumpy sod, and retiring on December 31st, so there is that.

The joys of being a writer, right? I swear characters take of a life of their own.
I had to re-jig the plot for book 1, and add a whole extra chapter because two minor characters decided somewhere in the first draft of book 2 that they’re VERY IMPORTANT now.

I write *mostly* chronologically, but do tend to have to go back and add/alter bits a) for sake of foreshadowing and b) because my characters decided to completely change the original plan.

Scientific journals are a world away from small indie fiction authors. This is the reason a lot of the big research funders now require publishing through Open Access (almost all my labs funders require it). It doesn’t justify stealing from fiction authors that are barely making anything as it is.

Ooh. As horrible as that sounds, I’m also intrigued.

George has one hell of a backstory, and dips in and out of the main story as he follows his own.
But for one completely separate, we catch a few glimpses of the complicated romantic relationships between the fae Queen, her advisor (*cough* consort), and the exiled Prince.

I read on my lunch break. One of my colleagues today asked how much I spend on books. I gave him a ball-park of ~£40 a month. For some reason he saw fit to tell me it’s a waste of paper, and that’s more than he spends on fishing. I was like ???

I like books. Let me buy books and support authors.

Yes, though mine is more so for health reasons. I’ve been unable to deal with the wider world at the same time, so all I can do is hope everything going on in the world gets better sometime soon.

I’m loving the sound of this book

Yep. Well, three if you include the grey/white hair of the elders in old-age. Fae just never developed the blonde-hair gene.
It’s like the fae also all have purple eyes - might be dark aubergine, or light violet, but still purple. Unless there’s Earth magic involved…

Magda’s is dark, thick, and tightly coily.
The fae tend to have black hair, but some have red. Taengi wears hers in a series of dense braids. Feno is a very old fae, so his is white.

I don’t think I really describe Cassie’s hair. It’s long enough to go in a ponytail, and probably dark blonde/light brown.
Ben has thick dark curls that he occasionally tries to corral into a half-up knot or the likes. Most often, it doesn’t cooperate, so he sticks a hat on top.

I’d love to name all my chapters, but I tend to run out of good ideas. For books as a whole, the first one came with the idea for the story, and just feels right. Finding one for the sequel is harder though as I want it to have a similar vibe. I’m raking through my first draft for inspiration now.