From X by @midnightrose838.bsky.social : As much as I'm NOT a fan of villains portrayed as all evil, I think [not all villains need trauma background]. My own POV villain is broken from early childhood, but some people seek power over compassion without having suffered more than most everyone.

Also, I am going to have to almost completely remove myself from the internet again ... I might check occasionally, but very little. The temptation sometimes, to respond to certain aspects of current affairs, can be almost overwhelming, but I do NOT want to get into a discussion here.

Skies, this new announcement of a maintanence fee by D2D is a blow to some of us, who've really had life get in our way & haven't been able to continue marketing & writing for a while ... I know $12 dollars doesn't seem like a lot, but it is a nuisance to some of us.

Also, NO IDEA WHY, but apparently right now, in the U.S. market Amazon looks to be selling Kindred of the Sea in paperback for only $2.50! #fantasy #indiesale www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...

This book is in the #NarraTessIndie #IndieApril sale Also features illustrations for every chapter drawn by the author (me). (Thanks again for your thoughtful review & your support @tommock.bsky.social indiebook.sale

Happy Huge-Indie-Book-Sale to all who celebrate! Now's your time to stock up that already overflowing TBR! Hundreds of books from fantastic indie authors either FREE, 0.99 or 1.99! --> indiebook.sale #NarratessSale

#FantasyWorldbuilders The dolphinesque people have echolocation - like dolphins. Don't look a lot about the other species yet. Haven't met any of them. In all honesty, don't know A LOT about the dolphinesque ones either (there's only the one wanderer in Kindred of the Sea).

I am honored to announce that my novel, Kindred of the Sea, is in the NarraTess #IndieApril book sale - alongside a lot of other indie books, I'm sure many of them are awesome, but I'm so busy this year I don't know which they are. indiebook.sale

#AprilWordbuilders In Kindred of the Sea, on the ocean world Alaer, there are two aquatic species. One is dolphinesque - they can breathe air, but they can spend A LONG TIME underwater. The other one breathes in water.

✍️ Writing time! #QOTD: Which chapter of your life was interesting? Reading Kindred of the Sea by @areaernovels.bsky.social after I write today 🤗 I'll be going live at around 5:45 - 6:15pm BST Link to #Twitch in my bio 👆 See you there! 🖖 #WritingCommunity #books #vtuber #streamer

Thank you for this opportunity! I am honored 💚

Hoping that Raina and her novel will be the first of many I can support in the writing community 🙏 If you're an author who'd like to hear part of your story read aloud on Twitch, I'm more than happy for you to DM me about it 🤗 #WritingCommunity #books #vtuber #streamer

The lovely Sakinah @observingintrovert.bsky.social will be reading the first chapter of Kindred of the Sea on her twitch stream 5:45 to 6:15 BST tomorrow (April 4), if anyone is interesting in joining! www.twitch.tv/observingint... #fiction #fantasy #reading

#AwesomeCharacters This DEMANDS the actual snip of the dumbest thing Rush has ever said to Lara in a lifetime of dumbness around her. And it has #fool so I’ll offer it to #WIPSnips too even though I’m technically off there awhile for sanity’s sake.

#AprilWorldbuilders Frelin is an elf city in Kindred of the Sea. It's situated on the beach, at the bottom of a cliff, & its architecture involves buildings made of tarps strung between trees, stonework, & things in-between. It's a quiet, idyllic place - when the Valor Alliance isn't attacking it!

#MarchWorldbuilders It is for my novels, and it largely occurs in the process of writing them, even if some of it isn't made explicit in the novel itself. First I write one story, get to know one thing, then I feel the urge to write another story about someone else, & see another side of things.

#MarchWorldbuilders Kindred of the Sea - in the Valor Alliance, morality comes from the gods & requires obedience to those who speak for them. In Elethri - well, how you see these things is a private matter. From your own heart? From God? Still private to you as long as you respect other's rights.

#MarchWorldbuilders - Kindred of the Sea In the Valor Alliance, marriage & sexual relations are ONLY between a man & a woman, & marriage must be contracted before a priest of a recognized order. The elves of Elethri do NOT CARE what you do with your private life & mutually consenting adults. 1/4

#FebruaryWorldBuilders Kindred of the Sea - in the Valor Alliance, the State & Religion are completely interwoven. In the elven nation of Elethri, there is no public or official religion - elves tend to be very private about such personal matters - so I would say ... complete separation hehe

#MarchWorldbuilders In the Valor Alliance (Kindred of the Sea) - no, for all its flaws, the Valor Alliance is surprisingly unbound by social classes. Valor Knights can & DO occasionally come from the very lowest of classes & the poor, though most are nobles' or merchants' sons. 1/2

#WritingCommunity Even when there's a lot of violence, I almost *never* go into any detail that isn't strictly necessary (for example, Epoch of the Promise: Dawn Unseen features a huge amount of violence, war, massacre, etc, but almost NO detail AT ALL). Other novels are very tame.

#MarchWorldbuilders This question is too vast to be answered in an essay! Maybe even a book. Short answer: different people & religions have different gods. Some of them exist. Some of them are very unlike what their religions say (others may be). Some don't care about the religions. Others do.

#MarchWorldbuilders In DragonBirth, Kriela wants to start a cult for a historical "ascended goddess." In the Valor Alliance, there are lots of prayers & ritual worship. IF I publish A Bond With No Vows, you won't see any directly but you'll learn about some of the things Valor Knights do.

#MarchWorldbuilders If a ritual manhood hunt counts then - definitely yes, I have several hunter-gatherer peoples who have such or similar rituals: for some, it's just 'adulthood' regardless of gender. The presentation of a Valor Knight to a gryphon hatchling might also be considered a ritual.

#MarchWorldbuilders In RotD / DragonBirth - dragons are considered demons & hunted (or were, until they become all but extinct) but I don't know if that counts. Gryphons, drake-lizards (& dragons) are all telepathic animals that will hunt for / with their friends. And in Alaer - the dolphins!

#MarchWorldbuilders Different cultures & peoples have different approaches. Some may worship certain animals as gods. For example, there's the Gryphon People in the mountains south of the Valor Alliance worship the gryphons. There are also many creatures or spirits that are not human.

@midnightrose838.bsky.social wrote this on Twitter (conversation about whether "villains" are an inherent part of stories): With nature it's less conflict & more accepting hardships & struggling to survive. After all, it's nature that feeds us. The gifts nature gives are as great as its hardships.

#MarchWorldBuilders The MC in Children of the Dryads is Tara-lin - dryads are not really plants, but they have a *very* close relationship & identification with their trees. And Tara-lin has a lot of significant interactions with the dryads. Her magic is a human-influenced variation on theirs.

#MarchWorldbuilders There are no mentions of unique fungi in Kindred of the Sea - though there are slightly unique fungi in Alaer - just a little different, like the trees & animals, as they are adapted to a cooler, ocean world. There might be a unique & dangerous fungi somewhere ... unconfirmed.

All my novels are discounted for the #Smashwords #ebookweek26 sale. The magical in the mundane - the mundance - stories that mix epic fantasy with deep, character-driven plots - sometimes cozy, sometimes a bit darker. www.smashwords.com/books/view/1...

#MarchWorldbuilders Areaer is home to a handful of varieties of "special" trees. Some of them are quite unique, some less so. The only one featured in Kindred of the Sea - well, it doesn't *look* all that unique, but it's important to the relationship between the dryads & the elves for some reason.

#Febchantment #writingcommunity #writesky Sometimes, I call my idea "the mundance" (originally a typo). There is overt & semi-hard(er) magic. But the fundamental, profoundest, ultimately more powerful magic is the magic that comes from the personality present in the natural world & day-to-day life.

#Febchantment #writingcommunity #writesky The history of magic in Areaer is far too vast for any mortal (or even most immortals!) to be "experts". In Kindred of the Sea, the MCs don't know very much. The Valor Alliance - like many empires - lies a lot & suppresses the truth at least as much.

#Febchantment #writingcommunity #writesky Tara-lin was taught by the dryads themselves. Keller mostly studied from books & self-learned. The mages of the Tears of Eseliana usually learn from another mage or mentor, but they can also be somewhat self-taught, guided mostly by traditions & instinct.

#Febchantment #writingcommunity #writesky 'Wielding' is only descriptive of a very narrow approach, but many people can have a relationship to magic - & it runs through every gradient from overt & obvious, to subtle & barely recognized. Does it shape them into who they are - or the other way?

#Febchantment #writingcommunity #writesky In Kindred of the Sea, magic is essential to the plot from the beginning - an intended battle goes VERY differently from expected, due to a surprising use of magic by the invaded nation - and that raises some questions about what's really going on here.

#Febchantment #writingcommunity #writesky A snippet from Kindred of the Sea books2read.com/kindred-of-t... A new world can be terrifying, strange, & hard to adjust to. Fleeing from war might make it necessary - but that doesn't mean it's easier. Can the magical dolphins be trusted with your child?

#Febchantment #writingcommunity #writesky In Kindred of the Sea, we eventually reach Alaer, ocean world of dolphins. Humans who bond to dolphins are much more tolerant of cold water, especially when close to their dolphins.

#Febenchantment #writingcommunity #writesky This Q is hard for Kindred of the Sea - magic in Areaer is *usually* relatively subtle. You could live in the Valor Alliance & disbelieve in magic. Less so in the elf forest, Elethri - perhaps the biggest single feature is the orbs that light their cities.

All my novels will be included as part of the @Smashwords Read an Ebook Week March sale. Including this one. (Thanks again for the beautiful encouraging mini-review)

Thanks SO MUCH for this. In a time when life is very hard for me, it is wonderful to see this encouraging, thoughtful, amazing opening-review. 💗💗💗 If you want a link to all/most retailers: books2read.com/kindred-of-t...

Day 67 of my #SPFBOX opening reads (Captured In Words) I wanted to see more of 2 books: a lovecraft university story & an about two forlorn soldiers forced to march on an elven wood, reminding me more than a little of The Lord of the Rings, but in a very different light. @areaernovels.bsky.social

Many of the cultures in Areaer don't have surnames in the modern usage. The Valor Alliance is an example of an empire? confederation? where surnames (among city-folk, nobility and other wealthy /s emi-wealthy) classes is fairly common. Some families also have crests (though I have not designed any).

Find my novels (epic X cozy fantasy, dragons who are real people, & the struggles of ordinary life & relationships) in the Smashwords sale: www.smashwords.com/profile/view...

When I first conceived Return of the Dragonriders / DragonBirth, one of the important ideas to me was that Silmavalien is completely "normal": she doesn't have any ancestors, her people don't have any past, that has any apparent bearing why SHE should find the dragon eggs or raise the new dragons.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT IS NOT ALWAYS ROMANCE The world may reject for me this, but it's time I'm open about my pain over the word "love" (& even the concept) being taken in so many places to imply romance. Here is my thoughtful rant, continued below in a page that mentions 1 of my stories.-🧵

My novels are part of the Smashwords Summer Winter Sale. Cozy X epic fantasy character-driven novels of dragons who are real characters in the story (and real people, though definitely not human). And more (dryads in one book, talking dolphins in another) ... www.smashwords.com/books/view/1...

Maybe-Goodbye post on the blog: enthralledbylove.com/2025/05/18/n... If you're an author for whom I've written reviews - you may want to keep a copy of my review somewhere else, in case my blog goes down completely.

🌻 Happy #PortfolioDay 🌻 I am a fantasy illustrator, creature and character designer who loves to draw dragons! I am also very enthusiastic about Solarpunk. 🎨 - cara.app/kayaskosmos ☕ - ko-fi.com/kayaskosmos

I liiiiive! And I bring you the raffle prize for @rscu.bsky.social ! #dragon #art #digitalart #dragonartists #illustration