Not a lot of novels do it, but I love the preparing scenes. They are filled with hope and plans for the future but, as a reader, I like it so much better when everything goes wrong. I did the same in Sand and Blood as well as these two books. In all cases, it does go poorly.

Sand and Bone 4: The Morning Before

I'd like to say that this is the last of the idyllic life chapters in Sand and Bone, but it isn't. However, it is the beginning of Rutejìmo's journey when everything is filled with hope and promise.

I know it really isn't preparing as in packing bags. It is preparing emotionally and mentally. Like most chapters, I think there are some important parts in here. The biggest is the grandparents and the children and how they interact with both Rutejìmo and Mapábyo. This is actually one of the hardest parts of the novel because all four of them are critical for the latter part of the novel but I have to keep the reader aware of them and show Rutejìmo's love alive through quite a few chapters.

A number of people mentioned I'm pretty good at writing children. I hope so, I love the way they see the world, both Kitópi's brashness and enthusiasm contrasting against Piròma's… world view.

As a side note, I actually considered writing the two children's stories but I wasn't sure if it would be an engaging story. It is also filled with spoilers.

Read Sand and Bone 4: The Morning Before at https://fedran.com/sand-and-bone/chapter-04/.

Flight of the Scions 38: Sinmak's Fate

Like all my novels, Flight of the Scions deals with the death of characters. Call it my own fear or acceptance of death (depending on the week) or just a fascination with it, it seems to show up a lot in my stories. On the other hand, I really hope that the death scenes that do come up are emotional and meaningful. I don't want to just off a character because it is an even chapter.

There are only four chapters left after this, one is an epilogue. It is also setting up to be… one of the strangest climaxes I've ever written and I'm always worried that I won't pull it off well. It is a hard battle, both for the characters and the writer.

At this point, though, it is just a simple matter of preparing for the battle. Kanéko is as prepared as she can be. Original (back when she was Welf and her earlier incarnations), she was a pacifist. As I wrote the story, I realized that she wouldn't be, she would just consider lives seriously before ending them. This is important when and why she picked up the pneumatic gun.

This also has a scene where she is fully aware of one of her talents, though it isn't magical.

Tagon joined her on the edge of the crater.

Kanéko looked over at him, and then reached down to grab his hand. As soon as she felt the itch of his telepathy, she brought up the image of the gun. It came quickly, like with Ruben, and she focused on it. Images flashed through her head and she continued to pull the construction of the weapon, how to use it, and what it could do. The images flashed through her head and she used it to explode it into parts and reassemble it in her mind.

«Kanéko Lurkuklan, we need to discuss your manners with telepaths,» came the amused thought from Tagon.

This always made me simple since it is the same thing as some teenager picking up someone's cell phone and doing research without asking. In this case, it is using the information retrieval that all Vomen have. Tagon could have stopped her, once he figured out what she was doing, but it amused him that she was so comfortable with using telepahy despite having no magical powers.

Tagon is another hard character to write. He's basically a psionic ninja/ranger though he has hints of the Elfquest's Wolf-Riders (also because the Vomen in Muddy Reflections were also wolf-riders).

Read Flight of the Scions 38: Sinmak's Fate https://fedran.com/flight-of-the-scions/chapter-38/ (subscribers)

Patrons

I give away my books for free downloads. You can get them as EPUB, MOBI, and PDF versions on the website links above. If you like it, consider commenting on social networks or becoming a patron. The money I get goes directly into producing more books, starting with getting Sand and Bone published and also my future projects.

Reviewing my existing books, Sand and Blood or Sand and Ash would also help me greatly. I suffer from being obscure, very few people know about me but I can't toot my own horn constantly. If you like it, tell others. Thank you.

Speaking of patrons, I'm selling the print versions of both of my books “at cost” for all my patrons who have been with me for more than three months.