July Updates

Big News!

Beta edits for The Aftermath are completely finished. That means it’s time to go through and tighten it up one last time then formatting for publishing. Then query letters and agent searching. Let’s see what we can do! Wish me luck. Also open to any tips and tricks you may have for that kind of stuff. This is my weakest part of the publishing stuff! Always open to any pro tips you may want to share.

Art Updates

I’ve taken a break from the nouveau project to work on character portraits for The Aftermath to introduce all of you to the characters from the story. I drew them years ago but now I’m ready to give them a refresh! It’s exciting to share all of these characters with you. It’s funny, I spent so long working on The Aftermath that when it comes to this phase, I’m almost a little removed from it. Creativity is weird! Either way, looking forward to sharing all of this with you.

Writing Prompt Time!

We’re back with a sexy new writing prompt this month. Don’t forget that if you want to participate, feel free. The rules are simple. Set a timer for ten minutes and free write to the prompt. No need to edit, this is a word exercise! If you decide to join me, feel free to share. I’m always excited to see what other creatives do with the same idea.

This week’s prompt: Fountain

Fountain

It’s that time of day when the sun is at just the perfect spot in the sky. Where the light filters onto the lake and it shimmers like a rainbow. Reds, blues, and purples shine with seemingly impossible light.

There’s no wind today. The lake is completely still. Flat. Like a mirror for the sun to play with. Reflecting prisms. My fingers ruin it all as I brush them through the chilled water. Ripples move through the rainbow, scattering the colors and breaking them into pieces. Fleeting moments of clarity show me the shallow bottom near the shore where I sit before reflecting rainbows once more.

It won’t last long. The sun only shines at this point for a few fleeting moments, but I never miss a day. Behind me, there’s more water. The fountain. But I do not touch that water. And it does not reflect rainbows, so I don’t really want to anyway. The noise of the fountain goes from soothing to grating depending on my mood.

I don’t remember anything before this. Before the fountain, the lakes, and the rainbows.

The lake isn’t particularly large. It takes only a short time to walk around it entirely. There are no fish in it either. Just plants that grow along the bottom. I sometimes hold my breath beneath it and observe them and wonder what they’re called. I sometimes give them names that I forget shortly afterward. Sometimes they seem familiar.

My memory is not very good.

I don’t think it’s supposed to be.

Beyond the lake is a stone building. One large circular room and then a tower of stairs sprawling beyond the clouds that are too close to me for my liking. They’re beautiful on days like today where the sun is shining and making rainbows. But when they are dark and howling with wind, smattered with lightning, they are terrifying.

They make me nervous even though I’m certain they cannot harm me. I don’t think anything here can be harmed, at least not easily.

I think I’m protecting this place.

At the top of the stairs in the building there is another room, round just like the one below it. It’s decorated for me in colors I perhaps once enjoyed. Blues and greens. I’m fond of the warmer hues now but tastes change with time, and I have been here for as long as I remember.

I am certain that I wasn’t always, but I know I am supposed to be now.

The fountain bubbles and I am reminded why.

There’s power in that fountain. Power that no one is meant to have. Power to create. Power beyond belief. But that same power can be used to destroy. Destroy in such a way that this place and the world somewhere beyond me would no longer exist.

I protect that power. That fountain water once drenched me. It took me here when we touched. When I try really hard, I can remember how it felt.

It didn’t feel like water.

It was hot, but not too hot. Like the warmth of a hug, wrapping around me from head to toe. Engulfing me body, mind, and spirit, until I was this.

Until I came home.

I won’t remember the rainbows soon. I hug my knees to my chest and observe the approaching dark clouds, made only darker by the now setting sun.

Knowing the rainbows will be forgotten fills me with overwhelming sorrow. I will try to remember them, but it will be pointless. It always is.

Besides, forgetting them means that I get to see them for the first time all over again.

I hope everyone’s having a nice summer!