My first ever attempt at watercolor pastels!!! Got them for Christmas, so of course I had to spend the day playing with them!!! Messy pastel covered fingers=a really fun time!!! I might try out my new oil pastels tomorrow!!!

QTP with a sword ⚔️

A Dance of Bow & Blade: Robyn: work-circumstance & empathy/ quest- caring for others & protecting her home & friends Art: work-following in her father & sister's footsteps/ quest-initially Morgan gives Art's word for her but she's also tied to the land & wants to do right by her people

Deserve was a delicious word. It was attainable, accessible, a possibility. She wanted to laugh and dance as the servants had the day before. Never had such a word tasted so singularly sweet. - When Morning Comes #WIPSnips

About 2,700 more words added to the manuscript!!! Ari plays a prank to help Gracelynn get back something that was taken from her before she ever entered the castle. Gracelynn, it turns out, is really good at coaching spies, at least when it's against her mother.

A true gentleman and statesman, America misses your steady hand at the helm!

The Five Winter Photography Tricks That Make Snow and Outdoor Lights Look Beautiful

Happy Christmas Eve! Feliz Noche Buena!

"It was rather endearing seeing you trip over your own two feet." "I'm a fine dancer," Art feigned offense. "Maybe after a few tankards of mead, when you lose that stick up your ass." - A Dance of Bow & Blade #WIPSnips

- 🌊💙 ☮️ #PamelasChristmasMessages Dear Veterans, I wish you a Merry Christmas. - ⬇️

Ari took the stone stairs 2 at a time. Footsteps echoed through the silent halls & she wasn’t sure if they were her own or the memories that blurred her present reality. She leaned on the wall, trying to forget the feel of Henry’s hand around hers as he led the way. - When Morning Comes #WIPSnips

Clary- more of a vibe or feeling she radiates that's very warm & welcoming & sunny, & almost otherworldly Gracelynn- she's very pretty (though she doesn't think so) Maybell- first comes across very mousy with glasses bigger than she is (this changes a bit in When Morning Comes)

Be Series: Ari- Her wrapped hands (she tends to work herself past the point of them bleeding) Fra- his dark curly hair (he looks very Northern) Sare- has always been told she's very plain & part of survival was melting into the background

Not even a streak of black painted its mossy, crooked walls. It was an architectural marvel, precariously tilting as though time froze on its steep careen downward. It was deceptively small and squat, but nowhere in the world felt quite as safe. - When Morning Comes #WIPSnips

Standing outside the precarious structure, her silver dagger in hand was the only thing that allowed Ari to become steadier than the building. That wasn't saying much, but it was enough for her to do what she needed to. - When Morning Comes #WIPSnips

Explore word origins and literary concepts with a curious little girl, a bumbling basset, and a sprinkle of fairy dust! Words and how we use them have a special sort of magic to them and the more we know, the more magical we become, too! www.amazon.com/dp/B09H7L6GYZ

Robyn & Art (A Dance of Bow & Blade): 🏹⚔️ Sare & Fra (Be Series): 🦋🐦 Clary & Molvinius (Be Series):🌱❄️ Cordelia & Esmé (Seven Years Love): 🌊🌪️ Erick & Jenna (Solving for X): 🦸‍♀️🎨

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This poor stand-in, this permeance of ink that I'd carve into stone if I could, if it meant you'd know. I should have found a way to write on your heart when you were still knee-high. This will have to do. I'm sorry it's not more. I'm sorry I did not say it sooner. - When Morning Comes #WIPSnips

Woot!!! Illustration 1 is complete! Really happy with how the glove turned out!!!

#AwesomeCharacters- Dreams play a big part in A Dance of Bow & Blade, but how they are relevant is revealed closer to the end of the story. They often have to do with different legends I touch on in the story itself. Val is plagued by them. She finds them strange & dreads how they affect her.

#DecemberWorldbuilders- In the Be Series, the laundries tend to be where clothes are repaired in the castle. Gracelynn, in particular, is very skilled with a needle & thread. In When Morning Comes, she gets her own dress shop. Pine, one of Ari's younger brothers, was an apprentice for a blacksmith!

3/3- A lot of food prep in Ari's family initially fell to her when she was still very little. She can cook, but it has some negative associations for her. Peter owns and runs the local tavern in Ari's hometown.

2/3- Maybell has fond memories of collecting blueberries. One of Maybell's brothers worked for a bakery in town and now owns and runs that bakery.

1/3 - #DecembetWorldbuilders- A lot of the characters in An Impossible Dream & When Morning Comes either have worked in the castle kitchens or are still currently working there. Maybell's father had a garden patch where he grew food to help supplement what they'd buy in town.

#AwesomeCharacters- Fra in When Morning Comes would be happy if it wasn't at the castle or the whims of Midgrim nobility. He would like it to reflect him & his family in some way. His preference would always be a gathering on the smaller side, ideally him, Sare, their child, & their friends.

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Looking for some shorter reads for the end of the year? Check out my short stories and novellas! * The Memory Tree * Water's Edge (wide) * Oath Keeper * Solving for X www.amazon.com/stores/Ellie... #booksky #readersky 💙📚💙

“You want a doll, Leon,” Molvinius returned to the rigidness he normally wore around the other man. “Then gather up some clay and reenact the Western story. Let her be, the way your father never let Clary be." - When Morning Comes #WIPSnips

When writing Where the Heart Is it was a lot of fun writing moments that reflect and call back to parts in Be. Paperback, ebook, KU: www.amazon.com/dp/B0987YP9JX

A collection of old ornaments come alive to aid a grandmother, on her last Christmas Eve night, in telling family stories and imparting her final wisdom to her granddaughter. www.amazon.com/Memory-Tree-...

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Festive and comfy!!!

Either side of the split pulled open like a doorway. Instead of further desolation inside, nothing but darkness and the faintest echo of the only few drops of moisture could be found. - A Dance of Bow & Blade #WIPSnips

Where Do Americans Go When Their Country Stops Feeling Safe?

Paperback, ebook, KU: www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7GN6QWD/

Paperback, ebook, & KU!!! Books can be read in any order or as stand alones!!! www.amazon.com/dp/B0987YP9JX

About 10 hours left!!!

Illustrating Grandmom's Little Zinnia while listening to the Seven Years Love playlist and thinking about characters from When Morning Comes... #writerslife

8/8 - There are a lot of children who live in the streets with no one to care for them. In When Morning Comes, Fra is working on fixing a lot of these things. I could say a lot more about the other kingdoms, as well, but this answer is already very long, so I'll just leave it at Midgrim.

7/8 - Children are either adopted (does not happen very often, & when it does it often ends in the child being brought back), pushed into servitude/work at younger ages than usual, or if they age out or they don't think the child will be adopted even at a young age, they'll be kicked out.

#DecemberWorldbuilders- 1/8 -The upper classes of Midgrim tend to have a nanny for their children. They send their boys to boarding school, starting around the age of 7. The girls generally have a governess, but that's not always a guarantee.

Because now the lines were blurred and these men, in all their rapacious opulence, still sought sharp divides. Because Sare and Ari herself and even Fra were a threat to the carefully cultivated world order that kept their heels on everyone else's necks. - my WIP, When Morning Comes #WIPSnips

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Last couple of days for this mega bundle!!!

#SnippetShare from my WIP, When Morning Comes!

The piano is important to Clary and her sons in Where the Heart Is, too! (Paperback, ebook, KU: www.amazon.com/dp/B0DJWSGDTL/)

A Dance of Bow & Blade: Robyn- 🏹🌳🦊🫂🕸️ Art- 🗡️🏰💍💔🐻 Where the Heart Is: Clary- 🌱❄️🌀⏳🐚🕸️ #AwesomeCharacters