It's amazing how quickly a scene that had been baffling me for well over a week can suddenly find a solution. Sometimes I forget that a lot of my own writers' block situations can be resolved simply by letting the scene play out in my head and then remembering how it went down. Very often, my characters have a way of writing themselves when I just put them in a situation and let them do their thing naturally. In this case, all it took was a brief bout of daydreaming as I was brushing my teeth last night and all of a sudden I got enough material to belt out 1,700 words in a scene I'd been stumped on. I know it's 1,700 words of material because that's how much I wrote out earlier today (well, 1,770-something, but you get the idea). What makes me extra-proud is the fact I resisted the urge to play video games during that time, which is a temptation I've been falling into lately when I get stuck on creative projects. So! Inching ever-closer to ARC Knights' conclusion in spite of setbacks.

Of course, not every setback is a bad thing.

Saturday as I'd been mulling over the aforementioned scene, my muse came up out of the blue with something else to try. I've learned by now that when inspiration presents itself, take it before it flees! As a result, I'm now 500 words into a short story that I had originally planned to begin later this year, like around summer. Here, we return to the Spirit Wilds of New Atlantis, this time following Maple the deer. Interestingly, this particular tale was one I'd been contemplating ever since beginning a scene-study drawing featuring Maple. Originally I had the faintest idea of a tale to tell of her, up until I began putting a basic plot together for her story. Like magic, it seemed that just writing out basic plot details wound up filling the major plot holes and providing an ending that had been missing since I first had the idea to give her a tale. Love it when that happens :D Plus it gave me some ideas on how to separate her from the other characters with unique skills. In this case, Maple is a Rune Weaver: a person who paints and activates those glowing runes you see on the characters' bodies. They work sort of like foci over chakra points on the body to aid their natural abilities. More on that when the story comes, but that kinda gives an idea of what I'm working with. While I didn't originally plan to even start the story until months from now, it's nice to have a foundation already present, and maybe circumstances will accelerate the project depending on how my others go. I've already got artwork to go along with it!

Speaking of art, I've got not one, not two, but THREE New Atlantis-related drawings that are already in the inking stages. This is one of them, and the rest are similar in scenery, so it might be a while before they're shown. In any case, something for you all to look forward to.

And on top of all that, amidst the writing today I also finally got around to organizing my files on my new computer, which was something I'd been putting off for a while (art references, artist collections, etc.). So yeah... a few good things to be proud of today.


And to reward myself I enjoyed some video games afterward :p Metroid Dread is fun!

It's a new year, and with it a new round of nominations for the Ursa Major awards! Those of you who feel inclined to make nominations, I have a few works that are eligible...

Chief among them is Khaki's narration of my short story Urban Mystic parts 1 & 2 for the Short Fiction category.

Also, works here on FA are eligible for the Published Illustration category! Though I didn't do much last year, I did complete Neon Otter and Song of Christmas Cheer.

Other than my own works, I'll put up the recommendation you guys also nominate  kalahari's beautiful rendition of Orchid Under the Moonlight.

Of course, there are tons more works out there totally deserving of nominations, though I thought I'd toss these in for those who would like to nominate any of my material for the Ursa Majors ^_^

You can submit nominations here: https://ursamajorawards.org/nominations.htm

Wow, thank you all for the watches, everyone! Glad to have you here. See the previous journal for upcoming plans this year - I've got high hopes and plenty of stories in the works!

And so we begin the year 2022!

While 2021 wasn't an idea year for me artwise, I did get some good writing out. Wrote three short stories for three different anthologies, made a lot of progress made on ARC Knights, edited and adjusted another short story for narration by Voice of Dog (Urban Mystic, it's up now!), designed a character to be featured in an upcoming D&D 5e RPG publication, and designed a deerfolk race for another 5e-compatible adventure module to be coming out soon.

Goals for this year? Finish ARC Knights (just a few chapters left!). Go back to Auran Legend and perform some much-needed surgery (I finally nailed down a problem I'd been having with the pacing of the story, but it will require some precision trimming of the narrative and adjusting for the changes to be made). Once the changes on Legend are made, submit it to a publisher; I've found one open for submissions and there's been a noted interest in female-led fantasy, which Legend absolutely has in spades. After that, work on editing ARC Knights. There's also another short story to be written for yet another upcoming anthology that I've already been accepted into, so I'll be working on that, too.

Beyond those goals, I'd also like to continue work on developing Chronicles of New Atlantis. I've got the basic plot figured out, so I just gotta work on the specifics of a narrative (it's been incredibly fun to world-build, but forming a plot around it is a challenge because of the elements I want to play with that require some creative abandoning of a lot of common story tropes; more on that later on as things develop). I've also got some art ideas for the setting that I'd like to try. Speaking of art, there's more I'd like to do visually with ARC Knights, and at some point I'd like to return to Auran Connection. Yes, the original R-Force, the modern-day sci-fantasy superhero team. There's been some internal changes and a couple of shifts in their story, and doing artwork for it is a great way to help me focus better on upcoming changes. For instance, the cast has changed slightly, a couple of characters being swapped around, and so on. An example: due to changes in the story, a different character has taken up the mantle of Stealth, and the original Stealth has moved to a different role and renamed Cypher. More on that in the future. Auran Connection still needs more work to correct some issues that the original story had that require more than just taking elements out and writing around the changes. There're some world-building elements that need adjusting, so... hopefully gonna be able to work on that, too.

Of course, there's no guarantee I'll come close to any of this, but I move forward with hope and excitement!

Hmm... the lunar year for 2022 is Water Tiger.
I've got at least one tiger character in every major setting of my stories. Perhaps it's time I finally draw them...

And so after a year away from cons, I'm back in attendance and will be present at MFF this year! I've been vaccinated and have gotten my booster, so I'm pretty much good to go.
Anyone else planning to attend whom I might meet there?

Also... while I don't have plans on doing the Artist Alley at the con this year, I've nonetheless considered opening up a very limited amount of slots for commissions afterwards to help me get back into the habit and practice more with my tablet. Nothing's concrete yet, but I would like to gauge if there's any interest so I might have an idea of what to expect. If you're interested, let me know!

Guess who just got a brand new tablet with included smart pen that's compatible with Clip Studio?

This rudderbutt right here!

Hard drive failure = very yes.

*sigh*

I guess my art will be relegated to sketching for a while. At least I can still write using my tablet and a wireless keyboard, so the novel will continue while I wait for a (highly marked-up but very necessary) replacement to arrive.

Khaki's narrated another of my stories! This time, my modern-day fantasy story Urban Mystic has been split into two parts and are now up on his site.
I had to abridge it a bit to fit it within time constraints, but it should still have the same beats and impact.

Part One, here

Part Two, here

Thanks again, Khaki! :D

We made it to 2021!
I suppose it should go without saying that I plan to keep writing (in fact, I've got another anthology submission just about ready to go, plus another in the planning stages to be completed later in the spring). Much as I'd hoped to use the extra at-home time spent over the summer completing ARC Knights, it turns out that covid anxiety and an even more unpredictable schedule had slowed that plan. This year it's my hope that things might run a bit more smoothly, or at least predictably, and by summer after the anthology submissions are complete will be back on the novel train. As for art, I'd like to try and get a fully-colored piece done each month. I've got plenty of ideas, and a brand new digital tablet to try out, too!

Speaking of ideas, I think it's time I admit that my original concept for that modern universe setting where Melon and the others spend their lives has kinda.... morphed into New Atlantis, so it's back to sci-fantasy on that front :p Ah well, I've always kinda struggled with modern-day story settings anyway.

Here's to a new year full of possibilities and hope for a brighter future!

Just letting everyone know I updated the source file to my recent Urban Mystic story, so now you can read the entire tale right on your browser here at FA! It had been so long since I posted a story here that I forgot TXT files were transcribed fully. I also took the liberty of sprucing up the narrative a bit and fixing a couple of errors, so it should also read a bit more smoothly with some brief extra paragraphs here and there.

Speaking of, I'll be submitting an abridged 2-part version to Voice of Dog soon, so you may get to hear this one narrated, as well!

You can read my stories of course... but what about listening to them? ;)

I'm proud to announce that Khaki has narrated my short story, The Scout! Check it out here: https://www.thevoice.dog/episode/th.....cout-by-aelius

I've been a part of Sword and Shield Gaming for... wow, has it really been ten years?
One of my other prominent hobbies is video games, and my group's been conducting interviews with its members. Check out mine right here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xqbx4fNAn4

Hey all, just a quick heads up on the latest story I posted, the word limit on descriptions means I cannot post the entire story in the description box. The solution? Just download the rtf file and continue reading in your favorite reader program ^_^

Two stories in one night?
Yeah.... I really need to get back to posting my work.

Enjoy the two pieces I recently uploaded, and get ready for a third to be posted soon! If any of you remember my Urban Mystic characters (check my Scraps for commissions of 'em), I've got their debut story just about ready!

Although commissions are still on hold, lately I've been trying to get back into the swing of artwork after months without putting pencil to paper. I've been pondering a way to gradually get back into commissions, but without the time-stress since my free time remains limited this semester.
Were I to design some characters that might appear as extras in my story settings as I practice, would anybody be interested in purchasing them for your own use? And if so, are there any species you all would like to see, or maybe even themes?

For those curious about price, they would not be as much as my commissions. I'm thinking maybe $25 for a flat-color.
Sound off in the comments!

I figured I would give an update on my New Atlantis project now that I've finally gotten more or less a rough roadmap of where I want to take this setting. Those of you who might be unaware and curious can look back here for an introduction.

As it turns out, my initial idea has gone from a series of vignettes to a series of connected vignettes. Though there will be individual, fully-complete tales told focusing on different aspects of this world, they are all part of an overarching story that connects each to a final tale in the proposed collection. The stories will initially be told from the viewpoints of the main quad of characters: Neon the otter (loremaster), Orchid the rabbit (scout), Halcyon the horse (engineer), and Azura the fox (medical officer). The final story will have them come together with knowledge and experiences learned from their individual stories that lead them to discovering some of the New World's oldest and most dangerous secrets, which are now being forced to the surface by powers beyond the characters' initial understanding. I can't help but acknowledge that in my attempt to give this setting unseen conflicts and villains outside of common man-vs-man tropes, I kinda delved a lot into some really weird Lovecraftian themes. It's actually been rather fun to mix that with Solarpunk and tribal fantasy :p

I've already finished a rough draft of Orchid's tale, where the rabbit finds herself stranded in uncharted lands and is forced to utilize her wits and experience as a scout to survive. At the same time, she discovers hints of the earliest evidence of the Fusion of nature with technology, and it drives her curiosity ever further into the wilds. I may post it here later on after some editing passes; I could use some beta readers.

Welcome to 2020, everyone!

Goals for this year and beyond: More art, more writing, less procrastination. And I have a stack of novels I've been meaning to read, as well...

Story projects on the docket: Auran series (Legend is seeking a publisher, and possibly an artist, as well; Connection is undergoing revisions; sequel stories for both along with spin-offs are in the outline stage), ARC Knights (Ellie's tale), and Serenity's Edge (Kaili & Ïsara). Long term: New Atlantis (a vignette series, maybe? Still in development)

Hope everyone has a wonderful new year, nay, a wonderful new decade!

Hooray!
Grad school is now finished :D

I am now the proud owner a Specialist degree in Education. It'll be paired with my Master's in Library Information Science.
It feels so great to finally have achieved such an honor and be done with college. With that, I now hope to dive back into writing and art without having to worry that I might be missing out on time better spent studying. I've already got a story idea for ROAR 11 (a test story exploring New Atlantis - perfect for the book's theme of Innovation). Auran Legend is just about done with what I hope is a final editing pass as I continue the search for a publisher, and I've been contemplating the idea of doing the art for it as well. Other projects will come in time, but for now I'm gonna relax for the holidays and finish up my commission queue.

Oh, and finish my annual Christmas card pic.


Hope everyone's holidays are wonderful this year!

Over the years I've noticed that when I create, my ever-active mind tends to follow a lot of specific trends that are sometimes difficult to stray from, particularly when world-building. The fantastical world of Auran Legend hosts a number of those trends, such as vast open environments where one is just as likely to find an isolated ruin from a mysterious ancient civilization (that's still somehow awake in its very structure) as one would a sprawling city filled with a menagerie of species decked out in ornate, yet revealing outfits. Beyond those, there is only raw, untamed nature in all its haunting, majestic beauty. However, another trend I've often gravitated toward is the fusion of nature with futuristic technology. While Legend does have evidence of that sort of schizo-tech (you'll see later on), I sometimes strive for something a bit more... modern. This led me to the discovery of Solarpunk, a conceptual genre where sustainable technology melds with nature across the ruins of the past; it’s a brighter future that’s no less dangerous than the wilderness, albeit one with more hope for civilization.

Y'all know where I'm going with this ;)

That was where this piece came from, and over the past year I’ve steadily been developing it into something a little more workable. Inspirations have come from all over the place, primarily warm memories of my childhood spent in the woodlands of the south and the beaches of the east and gulf coasts. The result is an environment that grew out of a civilization-ending cataclysm. A New World where the past’s memories struggled to survive by inspiring the civilization that came after, utilizing a miraculous mystical power that even centuries later is still a mystery to even the most dedicated of researchers. New species, anthropomorphized animals of a prior age, gathered and united under a single race, called Inheritor. Here, Nature and Technology have fused in a fragile balance. There is no war, no disease, and no hunger, yet that fragile balance remains ever threatened as civilization takes root and continues to expand into the still-untamed wilds. It presents an interesting dichotomy where, although nature and technology coexist peacefully, there are still the dangers of both still present. Nature remains untamable as wild magic flows through every living cell, while Technology requires a leash in order to keep from getting out of control and warping the very magic powering its circuits. All the while, new discoveries are made regarding spirit magic, which many now consider a new form of hyper-science. At the center of it all, bordered by a vast spirit forest and an expansive ocean, is a wondrous city called New Atlantis. It’s where inheritors have gathered, sharing their knowledge and making a living among towering spires, thriving arcologies, and wondrous technologies forged from the same magic that flows through the wilderness all around. Even so, there’s still so much more society has to learn about this ethereal force, and leading this research is a corps of para-scientists. Equal parts archaeologists, scientists, historians, cartographers, mystics, and adventurers, these individuals mark themselves with magic-infused runes and seek out new knowledge as they explore the wilds, learning more of the ever-changing world and the unique creatures inhabiting it, hidden away from known society.

....

So.... I say all this to give context on the commissions I got at MFF this year. While I’m still working on some stories for this world (right now they’re more a series of vignettes and short stories than a single overarching tale), getting art from a multitude of different artists works wonders for my creativity. It allows me to see how others interpret the characters and the world they inhabit, granting me more ideas I might employ as I continue to develop it.

As the original Forest’s Magic piece featured Ael and Melon, the characters inhabiting New Atlantis will basically be the same, albeit with some compatible alterations, such as different names, but with the same personalities and designs. Here, Melon is known as Orchid (named for her eyes), Remy the stallion is Halcyon (owing to his peaceful personality), and Ael is known as Neon (after the glowing runes on his body – yeah, that’s a side effect of spirit magic usage).

There’s still more to come as I work on the setting, but I’ve come a long way since the initial concept in that artwork. This is basically the naked, furry, magical solarpunk future I’ve been dreaming of, and I can’t wait to explore it further!

Hello all!
I'm back from Chicago, and had a wonderful time at MFF! Got to hang out with so many cool people, get some art done (and commissioned, of course), and even worked on a few character studies. That is to say, I only commissioned a few specific characters this year, but the quality is amazing all around. I'll post them later on, with some details about these studies ^_^

In the mean time, hope everyone has a good rest-of-the-day!

Now that I've submitted my final work for grad school, I can finally take it easy just in time to enjoy myself at the con ^_^ Really excited to be hanging out with fellow furry friends once more!

Not only that, but over the past month or so I've been struck with a peculiar wave of creative inspiration toward my new world-building project, which you all had a glimpse of in last year's Forest's Magic piece (not to mention my alluding to it upon discovering Rare's Everwild project). This wave presented itself as I contemplated what a typical three days would be like. It all played out in my mind like it was already there, and I had a lot of fun seeing what happened as I explored the world and its characters. I'm half-tempted to write out what happened, but that'll have to wait for after the con :p

Until then, however, I'm hoping the convention will provide some creative inspiration to further guide my development of this magically-attuned solarpunk world. I have a few character studies planned, and maybe even some scenery. I may even do some commissioning related to it as well, so you've been warned :p

Just a quick journal post to say I'll be at MFF this year!

You remember that piece I made not too long ago featuring a wondrous new world of nature and magic? This one? I've been steadily developing it more (hoping to have more to show next year), but imagine my surprise when Rare unveiled a brand new IP titled Everwild.

https://twitter.com/RareLtd/status/.....71888009179136

Though Rare hasn't revealed much about the game yet, the trailer is REALLY giving me the same vibe I'm going for with this world I'm creating. You can bet I'll be watching this one closely :D

Hey all,

While things have normalized over at work, my final semester of college is just now ramping up, so I apologize for the unanswered notes and comments - I promise I'll catch up soon! XD

We weathered the storm just fine. Granted, we had some protection thanks to regional geography, a collection of barrier islands, and alterations to Dorian's course, but I'm glad everything's fine now.

Those of you up in the Carolinas, please stay safe up there!