It was a fairly good week when it came to writing. I've started working on editing ahead of time, mainly to finish things, but also because this is turning out to be a writing week.

For patrons, I did find a bug in EPUB, MOBI, and PDF generation for all subscribers. All of the files have been updated if you have downloaded them.

Next week should have at least one or two new chapters being posted for subscribers. The password didn't change because there were no new patrons.

Sand and Ash 24: Tijikóse

This chapter is an introspective chapter for poor Rutejìmo. He found the love of his life and they are traveling together. He knows what society expects of him and he gets a chance to practice it among clans who have already accepted him.

It's a good chapter.

Flight of the Scions 6: Germudrir Mill

When I wrote Wind, Bear, and Moon (now known as Flight of the Scions), I decided to include a dog-aspected girl as one of the main characters. Much of this was inspired by my love of anime, but it made the transition to Fedran relatively untouched.

The history of dalpre (animal people) changed, however. Fedran is a bit darker of a world so the dalpre were a species of humans that were magically altered to have animal aspects to assist in serving others. In other words, a slave race. As I see it, the dalpre were that way of thousands of years until society slowly came to the realization that they were people to. This mimics some of the revelations that our world has taken when it comes to various races without singling any specific one for purposes of the story.

During the point of Flight of the Scions, the dalpre had been freed across most of the continent for just over twenty years. Salcid was a young man at the time (I have a story about his and the mill's freedom). Maris is the first generation that had spent her entire life not being a slave, but she still has a chip on her shoulder because everyone reminds her that she shouldn't have been free. Not to mention, reminding her that she is less than human because she has canine ears and a tail.

Unlike the image for this post, Maris is not slender. She is overweight, short, and curvy. She is also very strong, a dirty fighter, and prone to believing that fights should be ended with her on top. She also thinks that most fights with men should consist of groin, throat, and knee shots. And the fight doesn't end when someone falls, it is just time to remind them to never attack again.

If I had written this novel last year, I could have said that she was modeled after Violet of Rat Queens, but let's be honest, she's loosely based on my wife. And I'm proud of both of their brutalities. Of course, she isn't as uneducated or simple as Maris, but I had to start somewhere.

If you are interested in chapter six, become a patron and start reading.

As a side note, “germudri” means “dog type-of wood”. Actually, Kanéko's name is also symbolic: “lurcukla” means “full moon” which is a nod to the original character's moon-based healing powers.