Slow cooking over an open flame... NYR 2024 by Eddie

Overview

So, 2023 came to an end. Slow, without a bang, without new things, without... a lot I had hoped for. As I said in my 2023 recap blog post I achieved great things: NaNoWriMo win in my Sixth Kingdom novel, Summer Camp Diamond badge, next to no writers/real life burnout, World Ember win in terms of writing 10k+ words.
Those are great things to achive and - even when I do not sound like it - I am really proud of myself to have accomplished all of this in just one year.
Outside of World Anvil - yes, I know, heretic! - I have finished the second novel of my Dark Fantasy series in early September and the second draft of the third novel of the Arkh'Shok series with my best friend is in the works. Storyboard is done, the first three chapters are done and we are picking up pace. But still, there is much to do and both have our things to do, our problems and our lives.
But lets take a look ahead, shall we?

A slow cooking resolution

So, what is my resolution for the upcoming year? Basically taking it a bit slower. NaNoWriMo took a huge toll on my right hand (which is getting a lot better after finishing WE) and getting back the juice for writing itself.
In terms of real life I am on job search to get out of my current position and company because my actual position is sucking up too much time and energy. It was not was I had hoped for as I was applying for this, so I have to make an emergency break.
In terms of writing we take a look at several topics and projects. We start with the Outside-WE stuff - yes, heretic, I know! - and then we dive into WA-related topics.

Outside

My first priority outside of World Anvil topics is the third & last novel of my momentarily unnamend Dark Fantasy series. This means writing it. Storyboard is set since beginning, characters are there, plots are there, now we have to write it. The first two or three chapters are done with one of them qualified for a re-write. Damn it, but you can't always win on the first try.
The second priority concerns the Dark Fantasy series as well. We are talking concept arts. My artist has began work on the second female lead and got a whole folder of descriptions and example images I tried to find all over the internet. My goal is to fill each of the books with 10-ish arts in-between the chapters. The reason behind it is simple: I want the reader to show the way I imagine certain things like items, environments and characters. If they thought of it the same way, that is good. If not, that is fine too. Some will love it, others hate it, others couldn't probably care less. But that is okay.
The third priority is the first draft of an artbook of the series. Glossy, printed, hardcover. Maybe we can make it work, maybe not. This includes probably a few more arts which weren't used, but that is a problem of Future-Eddie.
The fourth priority is the third Arkh'Shok novel. There is nothing much to say about it except that we visit the desert homeland of the male lead and resume training of the female lead. Otherwise we experience otherworldly meetings and the consequences from accidentally starting a mage war.
And all in between this writing and dancing and working I am going to set up the rest of my workshop - tools, table, furnace - and hopefully can start with my jewelry crafting sessions around April. Because I wanna craft jewelry based on my novels and on some of my characters incl. custom made stuff. Stay tuned, I keep you posted.

Inside

Okay, inside World Anvil. Some of you might noticed that I wrote a plot for one of the first novels I plan for Koria. It is called The Black Rune and you can read it here (watch out for spoilers!), if you like. And if you want to experience it while reading, that is fine because that what books are for, right?
But the books needs a lot of time and preps beforehand. Still, even with the plot. So there are two... no, I lied, three greater tasks I need to finish first. These are writing the last four Dwarven clans and their cuisine; writing a lot more about the High Elves, their traditions, heroes and holy days and as a third task fleshing out their beliefs in detail and how they pray and which kind of rituals they have, be it on a smaller or larger scale. Can't throw a long-lived High Elf called Aelurie into the vast world without a bit of security and belief, ay?
On a more grand scale I want to replace all of my Midjourney art with art from my artist - or other artists, depends on his time and schedule (or maybe even different styles depending on the topic the article covers?) when he has finished the work for my Dark Fantasy series.

Reading List

My reading list is the same as in the last events. I have compiled a list of 10 major articles which stood out the most to me, where I liked and commented and speak a bit about them. But there were over 200 articles in my tabs and the reading list that I just couldn't choose only ten articles, so in the section below are more articles and authors you should check out.

As a friend and fellow writer I was delighted to see good ol' Nino writing about Witches as well. As he commented on mine I was curious and read through the whole thing and it was a treat. For me, you, Nino, the readers. So similar, so familiar, so carefully executed and written in a tone & style you think you know about Witches and then there are small details where you are going Ooooh and Aaaaah. And if you want to know more, he pokes you and gracefully directs the gaze to the sidebar where he not only presents the Signs you have been bewitched, but two other articles for in-depth reading.

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Oh well, here we go again. Hanhula. I have read a lot of her work in Istralar and oh boy, was I compelled by her Dreams article. I mean, who hasn't heard about a Dreamworld, a Limbo, a place where dimensions mix and you end up without trousers in front of your entire class to solve the puzzle of quantum physics as a 5th grader? Yeah, right. But this does not only concern us mortals, but demigods and true gods as well. One does not simply walk into Mordor another dream, but there are possibilities here. Forbidden romances, influencing other people, scaring them or leading them down a path or everything at once. It is rich on information, delight and horror and as one who has more nightmares than good dreams I am intrigued. Never thought about the Plane of Dreams the way Hanhula did and now I am not going. It is too risky to be catched in my own dreams, too great the danger that I may corrupt those who are around me.

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One of my favourite entries from Satrium and his phanteon of gods is the Lady of Crows. She might be presented as a Deity of Death, but she is also a God of Life and the first mortal ascending into godhood. A compelling story and I would love to hear more of her lore and how she became the Lady of Crows. But Satrium is doing Satrium things and says Many myths and legends are told about her ascension, but in the end, only the Lady knows the truth. to keep us longing and wanting and to know of her past in the dark. Can't say I hate him for that since I am doing the same things sometimes. Well done again.

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You want the truth? All of it? Without filter, without warning, the entire thing? Then the Book of Truth might be what you want. But beware, the unfiltered Truth might fry your brain, melt your eyes out or just drives you mad. You good with that? Well, here you go. Take a look what Tyrdal has written and also feast your eyes on the myth and the city of Harran which compliments and completes the entire story in three acts. Beautifully executed, a short and sweet read and it lets us - at least me - hungering for more. It reminds me of one of my own books which has liquid pages in it, filled with knowledge of humans and demons alike. So this one is just down my alley.

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I couldn't really choose between all the great articles Blue Fairy had done during World Ember, so I decided for her phanteon. It is a sweet little article which gives us a great overview of the gods of one specific area without overflooding our senses with an abundance of information. And did you see the self-made family tree?!

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The lovely Line - or Strixxline - has crafted a lot this World Ember, just like Blue Fairy and all the other Anvilities out there, so I had to choose. And I chose their Leylines because the concept of those is familiar, but Line did a lot of extra work in here with different Leylines. Not only in naming, but also in effect, side-effects and colour, at least Line's drawings are indicating that. The Leylines are shaping the environment with the emergences which happen more than one might think, even reshaping entire civilisations. What a neat idea for such a well-known concept.

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So... lets talk real-world tech, shall we? As a tech-guy I did know a thing or two about the history of mainframes, computers and the development of them, but there is ShadowPhoenix. This beautiful, bright, kind and mad soul with her own affinity for technology took a deep breath and with a mad grin jumped straight into Computer Adventures and the history of CPUs, the Central Processing Unit, the thinking and calculating part of a (modern) computer. She does not only provide a deep dive into the history, but also gives a spotlight to the women of technology and programming for which I am for myself be a huge fan of. There are not also spoilers with more juicy content and small animations, but fun anecdotes. Even if you are not a fan of tech or just not interested, this is a fun read which is not only dusty & dry theory. And fun note on top of that: with that article she singlehandedly won World Ember. There are 10k words in it!

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This time a german text from Nightone. It is about his kingdom of Moardaan and he covers nearly every inch of knowledge and detail one might or might not need. History, ethnic development, people, economy, relationships and provides not only a map, but also a relationship web and a rich history-rundown with a lot of more information.

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Haly, our beloved Moonlight Bard, tackles a topic everybody knows and doesn't talk about: the stuff everybody knows. Like pyramids, ancient knowledge like the burning of the Library of Alexandria or how to go to the toilet. Well, in this case we talking time, ages and how and when dragons mate. It is an interesting way to count time or years in this case and it is a great example of how Haly and I think about same things (like my Dragon Sun Empire and the main calender of Koria, the Draconic Calender), but write and craft it in an entirely different way.

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Last, but not least, a personal favourite of mine: the cookbook from NotAHumanHand in Etharai. It was exhaustive, it was diverse, it made me hungry. I am going to re-create some of the stuff with our worldly ingredients and try not to set my kitchen on fire.

Additional Love