writing
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The Blue Lady, Part I
It was that time of the night when insect voices rose in chorus over branches in the breeze. Some said the sighs of a miserable woman could be heard, always a little heavier than the wind. Few came to this part of the forest—only those with hearts of steel dared to camp here. If only…
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The Hopelessness of a Firefly
Crickets sang in chorus, a merry song dancing around like freedom. Fireflies drifted from bush to bush, their light bringing sparkle to the hollow. They couldn’t outshine the moon, a familiar face in the sky; some believed it saw and knew all. In the light of the moon, I caught a firefly in a my…
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The Looking-Glass, Conclusion
This random bit of fiction I started writing for fun will be a novella soon. Over the course of four days, it’s grown into a plot full of potential, and it’ll be a lot of fun to expand. If you’ve been reading it all this time, I hope you enjoyed it, and thank you! “Stop…
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The Looking-Glass, Part III
The traveler returned on his own a day later, his nephew nowhere to be seen. He closed the distance between them, watching her with bored acceptance. “Fine, then,” he said. “We made a deal. Where’s the looking-glass?” The faery didn’t reply immediately, puzzled. She’d grown accustomed to superstitious villagers seeking her out for her ability.…
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The Looking-Glass, Part I
Prose was inspired by this photo on Pinterest! “Fancy a glimpse into truth?” the faery asked. She smirked mischievously, holding a looking-glass to the face of a weary traveler. He’d wandered onto her favorite dirt road on the way out of the city. He crossed his arms, watching her with an expression not of surprise…
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The Faery’s Birthday Gift
There was a long line of frustrated people outside of the movie theater. Rain thumped on colorful umbrellas, for those who cared to pack them. A few had come without umbrellas and were forced to wait in the rain. The weather was so unpredictable nowadays that it was hard to tell when an umbrella was…
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Excerpt: A Hundred Pages
These days I really have been procrastinating edits by writing short stories. I’m not sure what I’ll do with them all, but some I am really happy with; I will be sharing excerpts. I don’t know how long all of them will be, and most will probably be serialized. Briony’s story is still in progress,…
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Edits & Expectations
I’ve been on hiatus for several weeks now. Yesterday, it took a long time for me to muster the courage to open Serenade and start final edits. Perhaps I was afraid it would need rewriting. In the past, I could only make my stories better by rewriting entire chapters. This time, it’s not the case.…
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Road to Serenade – Day 1
When you’re a writer, time goes by slowly. Maybe it’s because we play with time in the stories we tell; everything appears bigger and full of mystery. It feels like years have passed since I started drafting Serenade. I completed the first version in early January, and in the time since then, I’ve learned a lot…
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Dealing with Manuscript Fright
Writing a book is one of the most difficult things in the world. Having just finished a novel this week, I feel like it’s the most difficult thing. Even now that I have an almost-complete draft, putting it away for a month remains a challenge. My mind won’t settle; it keeps insisting that I have…
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Writing Update: The Spontaneous Novella
As I stated in this post, when I am immersed in a writing project my blog suffers. It’s been weeks since my last post; every day I had the intentions of writing a review, since I did quite a bit of reading despite the writing and edits, but there never seemed to be time. Since my…
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Writing Update: On Short Novels
I’m taking another break from editing Serenade, and thought this an appropriate time for an update. I get so caught up in the editing process that I forget to tell people how I’m doing. I’ve learned many things since editing began, but perhaps the biggest lesson is that my books tend to be short. It’s been a…
Mariella Hunt & the Tearoom 