Spells of Old is sitting at approximately 59,000 words. This makes it currently about half the length of Ancient Ruins, but I want to stress that the story will be as long as it takes to tell the current story arc. I’m not sure how long it’s going to be in the end, but at this point in the story winter is starting to descend, which will allow each side much-needed time to adjust and make plans…which is good and bad for all of them.
I hope everyone is having a good weekend, and that you are doing well. As always, I’m open to questions and critiques.
Edit: And one of the reviewers while the sale was going spotted a massive error. Somehow I managed to put Phynis’ last name in the Epilogue as Contessa instead of Constella. That is…immensely irritating. I’ve fixed it and uploaded a new copy, but…argh!
Ancient Dreams 
Loved the first book can’t wait for the second.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s ok take your time! I want quality, so far I am not disappointed by your writting style that I find pleasant. I remember trying to write a story with a male MC, but it turned into a harem story… How do you evade that pitfall? Oh and thanks for rectifying the mistake xD
LikeLike
Actually, I don’t set up which character ends up with which ahead of time in my stories. I give every named character at least a basic background in my head that serves as their motivations, and see how it plays out, though I often put them in position to potentially have relationships with characters I hope they get together with. In face…
-SPOILERS!-
Sistina was originally supposed to be more likely to have a relationship with Desa, not Phynis, if she had a relationship with anyone. Phynis was intended to get together with Lily, if anyone. At another point I expected Desa to end up romancing Topaz or…wait, that’s spoilers for Spells of Old, so I’ll shut up on it. But the point is that I let what feels natural to me to take its course. This sometimes leads to characters completely screwing up my plans (thank you, Lily/Ilmas), but it feels more natural to me.
And sometimes it’s not a problem that it leads to a harem storyline. If all the characters are okay with it, who’s to say that there’s a problem? I admit I do enjoy the idea, so more stories end up using a vaguely harem-esque situation, though. But one thing that you can do at times is decide whether or not two characters are open to dalliances. For elves, with a lifespan measuring in centuries…how much sense does it make that they go purely monogamous? Isn’t it possible that in their society they believe that as long as you return to your beloved, it doesn’t matter? Or that in trying to stay perfectly loyal it could turn to resentment and thus ‘Fall to the Dark Side’ as it were? It’s something that I’ve seen addressed before in a couple of ways.
But how to avoid harem stories? No clue. Do what works for the setting, the society, and the characters involved. That’s what I decided to do in my writing. That’s also the advantage of self-publishing, in that a publisher isn’t deciding that what you wrote isn’t perfect for marketing to an enormous audience and making you change it to their vision.
LikeLike
Thanks, I’ll try to make it work then!
Wow major spoiler xD
Careful with that.
LikeLike
I’m a compulsive explainer. I know it, and it sometimes is frustrating. However, I will state that nothing I mentioned in the reply is actually a spoiler for Spells of Old. I deleted the line that was actually a spoiler. >_>
LikeLike
That’s good! Phew, it reassure me. I can’t wait for the book to be released. But I don’t want to know, I can stomach hints.
LikeLike