We've reached the beginning of another month, which means it's time for an accountability post. Overall, May was a tight month because of professional requirements but still had some productivity. I felt I got some good stories in but I see some struggle approaching as I head into June.
April was not the most productive month when it came to writing, mainly because of a pretty big distraction with my website.
A summary of a March worth of writing. It was a hard month but I still got three stories in addition to my chapters. And hit a major roadblock
A summary of a January worth of stories, novels, and essays.
Tarsan is one of the most significant countries in Fedran, as both the oldest established country at the time of the Mechanical War and its influence on the rest of society.
A Jogūchya game inspired by "Go Fish" and "Uno" that is easy to understand and play.
Much of my secondary stories are sequels or prequels but I rarely mix the two for a single character.
A summary of two months of stories, novels, and essays.
On Lexember 31, 2019, I present "relif" as "to celebrate surviving a difficulty."
On Lexember 30, 2019, I present "egys" as "to celebrate families coming together."
On Lexember 29, 2019, I present "astar" as "to tap the energy of the land for a ritual."
On Lexember 28, 2019, I present "tunas" as "to tap a land for magic to build things."
On Lexember 27, 2019, I present "foosga" as "to tap a land for defensive magic."
On Lexember 26, 2019, I present "lorkku" as "lands that border against another country."
On Lexember 25, 2019, I present "bloom" as "a blood or lineage claim."
On Lexember 24, 2019, I present "gyusplas" as "to make a claim on a land."
On Lexember 23, 2019, I present "gubbaba" as "a moot baby."
On Lexember 22, 2019, I present "ogumma" as "to leave a mother's clan."
On Lexember 21, 2019, I present "pilmsunnad" as "to negotiate a land claim."
On Lexember 20, 2019, I present "eestor" as "someone who taps a land's energy without consent."
On Lexember 19, 2019, I present "meraslan" as "a tragedy that splits a tribe apart."
On Lexember 18, 2019, I present "dissago" as "an argument that splits a tribe apart."
On Lexember 17, 2019, I present "aborlas" as "to split a family away from a tribe."
On Lexember 16, 2019, I present "clitici" as "to have a family join a tribe."
On Lexember 15, 2019, I present "ookna" as "to perform a ritual."
On Lexember 14, 2019, I present "gyolas" as "a tradition or convention that has been obseved for multiple generations."
On Lexember 13, 2019, I present "toysa" as "to clean up the land before leaving."
On Lexember 12, 2019, I present "ca" as "to travel by walking."
Magic is a funny beast in Fedran. Using some of the concepts I got from my various religion classes in college, I decided that no one actually knows how magic works. While there are some consistent rules that are evolving as I write, no technique or system that encompasses everything. That goes for psionics also. Psychic powers is just a different form of magic, telepathy included.
On Lexember 11, 2019, I present "as" as "to move air by exhalation, to blow."
On Lexember 10, 2019, I present "boosly" as "to walk away from a fight to calm down."
On Lexember 9, 2019, I present "flinork" as "the violent reaction of disharmonious magical energies."
On Lexember 8, 2019, I present "adysin" as "to accept the vows of marriage."
On Lexember 7, 2019, I present "oplin" as "to change the frequency of magic to match another."
On Lexember 6, 2019, I present "gsach" as "the resonance of magical energies interacting."
On Lexember 5, 2019, I present "gsubi" as "a marriage between two people."
The whole idea of the United Hidanork Tribes started with Elizabeth Moon's The Deeds of Paksenarrion. It was the first time I heard of the term taig to refer to the land itself as a distinct being capable of magic and awareness. I'm not sure about the history of the word (and my Google search isn't good enough to verify) but the idea of the taig had stuck with me ever since I read that scene.
On Lexember 4, 2019, I present "shik" as "a supernatural force that affects the world."
On Lexember 3, 2019, I present "kasi" as "a tract of land."
On Lexember 2, 2019, I present "misa" as "a strong wind."
On Lexember 1, 2019, I present "soli" as "the aggregate of solid mineral formations that makes up bedrock or the earth's crust."
For this week's world-building post, I want to talk about tent poles. In this case, I'm not talking about the ones under a circus tent but ways of exploring the world through fiction and documentation (writing dictionary or encyclopedia entries).
Last week, I wrote a short story called I Will Hurt You Only Once. This is a story about Gichyòbi telling his young daughter about the rite of passage into adulthood such as Rutejìmo's in Sand and Blood. Both of these are about how trauma affects magic in the world of Fedran.
So, with me writing Looking for The Wrong Thing, I realized I need to start working on the constructed language Hissian, the language spoken by the United Hidanork Tribes in the creatively named country of Hidanork.
Two weeks ago, I went to ICON for four days of fun and a lot of panels. Here are my thoughts and a few observations.
One of the first questions asked at world-building panels is "how to get started?". Starting is scary when trying to build a world intended to be used for decades as opposed to a (relatively) smaller world for only a short story or two.
So, I was gently pinged on my Patreon that I don't do a lot of status updates. I appreciate the reminders, so I'm going to try writing up a monthly post of everything I serialize on my fantasy website.
The deadline for submission for the writing workshop at ICON 44 has been extended to October 15.
I will be running a writing workshop at ICON 44. If you are interested, check out the post.
An update on near- and long-term plans for my writing and updates on this site. Also status on my Pride Month challenge stories, various novels, and financial plans.
Over the last few months, I've been berating myself about representation of queer characters in my world. Last year, I made a list on Twitter about some of the queers that I've already introduced. Those haven't changed but I realized that I'm had not made any of those characters obvious that they were queer despite the fact they are and have been from the beginning.
Hours later, Desòchu abandoned wakes up in the middle of the desert and covered in scratches. What is he going to do? How could he survive? He quickly figures out he has only two options.
Days later, Desòchu still struggles with his father's disappearance and the clan's silence. But how far would he go when he finally loses his temper?
When Desòchu wakes up, his father is still missing and now he is fully responsible for his brother. Without anyone to comfort him or allow him to grieve, what could he do?
Despite having a night away from his duties, Desòchu can't get over his guilt about leaving his brother with his father. He decided to head back before something went wrong.
