Sarah Z. Creates

The Realms are a place of endless stories. Which is great, because I always have something to write about! But it’s annoying, sometimes, because I have plans and they often get rearranged by character demands, cultures and myths. Like Mona (who is very insistent for such a quiet girl) and Shad (which is a country that isn’t currently in my story arc).

Progress & Current Projects

• “Chains of Consequence” – I gave up. Mona was adamant that she be my next project. So I’ve outlined her books, come up with tentative titles (“Chains of Consequence” and “Bonds of Devotion”) and am very close to Mona’s absolute rock bottom. She’s going to get a duology (I promise! This is NOT going to be another trilogy situation!). But she’s just at the point where she’s starting to rebuild the person she wants to be. Hers is a difficult, dark journey but I know how it ends, and I’m excited to write my way there!
• “Blackbird” – Sometimes, stories write themselves. I’d been toying for a while with a new short story to introduce Selah and The Reckoning trilogy. “Blackbird” grew out of a single line at the beginning of “In the Shadow of Secrets” … “Although the blackbird that had visited us in Escabayle had been a big hint.” That’s it. That’s the line that inspired this story, where Selah first encounters the Reckoning and we begin to see the pressure that will force her into choices and changes she’s not sure she’ll survive.
• “Singing Sands” – You guys, I’m in love. This Whisper from Shad was inspired by a short video I stumbled across about actual singing sands (who knew?), and it’s dark and heartbreaking and beautiful and absolutely in a corner of the Realms that I wasn’t going to explore any time soon. And I’m not sorry at all that it refused to wait patiently to be told.

Goals

Given all of the above, you’ll probably be able to guess what most of my goals for June revolve around, but I’m spelling them out, regardless! (It keeps me accountable.)

• “Chains of Consequence” – I really want to get to the halfway mark in this book by the end of June. Honestly, I would love to just knock it out, but that’s unrealistic with all the real-life things going on. So halfway. That’s doable and a reasonable amount of progress to make me feel accomplished.
• “Singing Sands” – I want to get this finalized and formatted so I can share it with my newsletter subscribers (they always get first dibs on the new stuff I write!).
• Lycean Whisper – “Chains of Consequence” takes place in Lycea, a country within the Realms that I’ve referenced a lot but haven’t walked a character through yet. So I need to spend some time exploring this country with one or two of its people to give it the depth and shading it deserves. We’ll see what comes of that exploration!

More

• Curious about Mona? If you’d like to discover how such a quiet girl can be so demanding, this post introducing her character might help. It also links to “Making Stitches,” a short story that gives a glimpse of the quiet determination that may be her saving grace.
• New Reads – I’m always trying to include interesting and engaging content for my readers, like this collection of fantasy stories featuring strong female protagonists (yes, Mona is included in this selection!).
• Whispers – If you’d like to explore the Realms, these Whispers are a great way to do so. Whispers are short … a small slice of life from characters that may (or may not) appear in larger books from the Realms. You can find a selection of them in my blog history.