Auiva Writes

My writing blog. Expect writing snippets. Also, identifying books I want to read, writing advice, and vocab entries; learning to be a better writer and reader is a never-ending process.

[drunkentroll-blog]

SO I HEARD YOU WANTED TO WRITE SMUT.

Well. I don’t know how much I can help, but here are some tips for straight smut.

FIRST OF ALL. (And I’m assuming I’m helping out you who roleplay as guys.) You have a penis. Use it wisely. And don’t think about condoms. If you do, you’ll realize that you are having unprotected sex and then you will think “Oh my god our characters just had unprotected sex, what do.” No. Don’t go there. Unless you want to go there, then that’s cool. XD

YOUR PENIS IS YOUR WEAPON. In your smutty para, you can refer to it as: Penis, Cock, Erection, member, dick, or Length. Or you can find a way not to mention it at all. I personally would rather use erection, or length. Or some other word that I can’t think of at the moment. XD

You want to make sure you mention you’re hard at least once. Maybe twice. Or not, that’s up to you.

When your characters are getting into the sex, don’t moan too much. If your character is possessive, hiss. Grunt. Snarl. Let out breathy sighs, if that makes sense. Be creative. Do some research on fanfiction.net or wherever.

When also doing the dirty deed, don’t just focus on the sex. Change the focus to kissing, or fingers trailing down the body. Have your character lick someplace above the sternum (because if you lick, say the breast, idk i just get the picture of a really arched back. Get what I’m saying? xD). You know. Be creative.

When your character comes, cums whatever, well…….. You’re going to be inside of the girl. Obviously. Your char is going to feel something inside of him, in his lower regions. Something like a knot (I can only imagine me being a girl and whatnot xD that and from experience >3>). The rest of this whole section is up to you >_>

You are the guy. When the guy is having sex, the guy rocks his hips, rolls his hips, thrusts, slides in and out, back and forth, etc. Get the picture? Oh. And you also grind. You grind a lot. You grind to tease, too. You cheeky little fucker, you.

REMEMBER! You don’t always have to be doing it on the bed. There’s the couch, floor, pool, shower (lolz), billiard table, kitchen counter (unsanitary), the list goes on and on and on. Like I’ve said before, be creative.

This is all I can think of for straight smut. In my short time of experience in writing it. XD

Now, onto Gay smut (my personal favourite)!

Oh, you. You just couldn’t get enough smut, could you? Well. This is my expertise. Oh, yes. You are guy and you are fucking guy. Or a guy sucking another guy’s dick. This can get hot and steamy. Two guys fighting for control. Unless one is submissive. Which is totally fine.

IF… your having sex, it’s kind of the same as above, only personally, my character always fucked from behind.

When fucking, you will either A) insert into him slowly, or B) SHOVE YOURSELF INSIDE OF HIM AS HARD AS YOU CAN BECAUSE YOU’RE AN EVIL FUCK.

You can also tease by rubbing your hardness against their ass.

When having sex and you’re length is inside of the other’s ass and you’re thrusting, you, lucky you, can reach around and grab onto the other’s penis. With this new control, you can help them ‘get off’ if you will.

I don’t remember much anymore on this subject because I haven’t done this in months. So. Onto blowjobs!

SO YOU WANT TO GIVE A BLOWJOB. Well. Your mouth. His dick. Shaft. Length. Base. Tip. Tongue. Teeth. Graze. Nip. Rock your head back and forth. let the tip touch the back of your throat. suppressing gag reflexes. moaning. looking up into the eyes of the beholder.

That’s all on blowjobs I can think of!

Brie, take it away. :D

[soft-butch-cassidy]

I was getting pretty fed up with links and generators with very general and overused weapons and superpowers and what have you for characters so:

Here is a page for premodern weapons, broken down into a ton of subcategories, with the weapon’s region of origin. 

Here is a page of medieval weapons.

Here is a page of just about every conceived superpower.

Here is a page for legendary creatures and their regions of origin.

Here are some gemstones.

Here is a bunch of Greek legends, including monsters, gods, nymphs, heroes, and so on. 

Here is a website with a ton of (legally attained, don’t worry) information about the black market.

Here is a website with information about forensic science and cases of death. Discretion advised. 

Here is every religion in the world. 

Here is every language in the world.

Here are methods of torture. Discretion advised.

Here are descriptions of the various methods used for the death penalty. Discretion advised.

Here are poisonous plants.

Here are plants in general.

Feel free to add more to this!

[thejovianmute]

An exceedingly useful list of lists for writers.

[oberonsson]

Tasha the Barbarian.  Or in this case, a Woman in Practical Armor 

[transperceneige]

The 9 french draft horse breeds

[kimblewick]

France, doing draught horses right

[ocarina-of-what]

@isei-silva

[isei-silva]

That’s what I’m talking about! thicc!

[theticklishpear]

Do you have any methods or tips on planning a multiple POV novel? I was looking at your 10-step model and was wondering if you have anything similar for 2+ characters. Do each of them get 10 steps, or do the 10 steps have to cover all?

I didn’t create the 10-point plot model, only use it for my own writings, so I’m not sure of the creator’s intentions (I’m not even sure who created it at all, since it was a handout in school ages ago with no attribution). I tend to use it for overall plot of an entire book. It’s not meant to be all-inclusive for every single plot moment that will occur, but rather it’s meant as a general outline to then build up further. It’s a starting point.

That said, I have used simplified versions of it for shorter stories and character arcs as well, so take a look toward the middle/bottom of that article for a glimpse into that process. If the 10-point plot model appeals to you, there are ways to modify it to fit multiple POV narratives.

Start first by looking at each of the characters in turn and mapping out their stories, even if you don’t intend for all of it to get on-screen. This also includes mapping out plot events that are common to more than one character’s progression.

You could certainly do 10-points for each of them, but unless several of the more major events are going to cross over, then you might instead think about reducing it to five- or seven-point plots. Every arc is going to have a beginning, middle, and end, and within that, there will always be a climax of some kind. (Remember that climaxes don’t have to be BIG, like battles. Climaxes can be small and still be meaningful.)

Perhaps something like this:

Now, obviously these are subjective and you can tweak things for what the story needs, particularly in terms of pacing.

You might choose to have one for each character and each line runs parallel to the others, or you might choose to mesh them together into one larger 15- or 20-point model.

Remember: You can put as many or as few scenes in these boxes as you want. As much or as little time can pass between these blocks as you need. The boxes can be used for one character or three. They don’t have to be rigid.

There isn’t really a good way to lay out one definitive point model that any multiple-POV narrative could use because the pacing for those kinds of stories tends to vary widely. When it’s important to have a scene from one character versus another character is very dependent upon what each of those characters is going through, what’s important to the overall story you’re trying to tell, and how you want it to progress.

I have my 10-point plot model up on a wall with post-it notes that I move around a lot before deciding on an order of events for a story. For a multiple-POV narrative using these models, I imagine it would be much the same. Lots of mushing together and pulling apart, and mushing together again in a slightly different arrangement until you get the overall arc of the book and the beats of the individual character arcs to feel right when you’re telling yourself the story in your mind. 

I know that didn’t really answer your question much, but I hope you’re willing to cultivate some patience and try to figure out whether these work best for you, or if another model will be better. It takes time to figure out what works for the type of story you’re telling because nothing is a one-size-fits-all method.

Good luck!-Pear

How to Write a Novel with Multiple Points of View from NY Book EditorsWriting in Multiple Points of View from @wondrousworldbuildingWriting with Multiple POVs from @roselinproductions4 Things to Look For from @brynwrites8 tips for using multiple POVs expertly from nownovelMastering Multiple POV in 6 Steps from Mythic Scribes

[theticklishpear]

But Pear, where do I even start for NaNoWriMo?

To answer this, you have to know what kind of a writer you are. There are plenty of articles that talk about what it means to be a pantser or a planner, so I’m not going to talk about that unless you want to. I’m going to get a little self-indulgent here, sorry.

Where do you start? With a story of course! 

Know your characters: This is the first half of outlining. Outlining is for getting to know your plot, but your plot will evolve out of your characters. I very nearly always start a story with an image of a character in some sort of situation (or a line of dialogue, but that’s another story). From there, you have to get to know them–who are they, what do they do, what do they want?

Try filling out a character questionnaire. Here are a few to get you started: Writing a Character: Questionnaire; 50 questions from firstwordsoftheprologue

Pokemon: FYCD; from fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment

This is a Towel: Character Questionnaires; a collection of other questionnaires compiled by writeworld

—

Outline. I’m not going to go too far into this since there are plenty of posts across Tumblr’s fantastic writers community. One of the top recommended methods for outlining is the Snowflake Method. I’ve never used it, but mostly because the one I was taught in school works amazing for me, so I haven’t experimented with others much. The following method may not be for everyone, but if you’ve tried some others and they haven’t worked out, give this a try.      The handout I was originally given when I learned this method seven years ago didn’t give it a title, so I just call it the 10-point model.

(1) Point A: Opening - This is the very beginning scene of your novel. Make it good! Start with a bit of action, even if it’s not important to the overall plot arc. Give a sense of your main character and your world using sparse description. Being long-winded in your opening descriptions leaves you no place to go in the future. How can you describe the room later when you’ve already described it down to the specks of dirt in the floorboards in the opening chapter? Just give little tastes–enough for the audience to see the framework while still looking forward to what the location has to offer in details later in the work.

(2, 5, & 6) Event - Something happens! But it doesn’t have to be anything that stymies the characters. These should be developments within your plot or a subplot that are viewed as major. These are steps forward for your character(s).

(3, 4, 7, & 8) Complication - Something else happens! But this is something that sets your character(s) back. Your villain takes a step forward, or something doesn’t go right in your character’s plans, or somebody unexpected steps into the mix, or any number of things.

(4) The Point of No Return - This counts as a complication-type event. This is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, so to speak. It’s the event that defines why the main character is the one who must do the thing, why your main character decides to do the thing, the thing that makes your main character start the journey.

(9) Point X: Climax - Something CRAZY happens! If you’re writing a literary fiction piece, maybe it’s an intense argument. Maybe it’s a fight, or a discovery. Whatever it is, this is the final confrontation (for this book) between your protagonist and your antagonist.

(10) Ending - The great slide down to the last page. This is some sort of event that takes place that wraps up all the loose ends. Maybe it’s a subplot’s resolution or a character’s final acts or a conversation or a peace-making. Wrap up your story with this scene.

—

Assuming you have the bare bones of an idea, start collecting. Collect everything that reminds you of your story, whether that’s travel photos, or clothing pieces, or character designs, or rocks. I have a tag on this blog for my own story that’s full of just that sort of material. It helps to create a secondary tagging system within that. I have tags for certain characters, tags for countries, tags for clothing, and armor, and animals, and atmosphere, and inspiration, and all kinds of stuff. It works as a kind of virtual cork board for me, though obviously you can print these things off, too, and actually hang them somewhere. People have used Pinterest for this, too, I just happen to use Tumblr. Keeping things like this all in one place can help you when you’re actually writing by giving you things to reference. This way you can get the feel of whatever you’re writing, or keep it consistent if you’re describing something. It’s also great when you’re stuck. Looking at all these things that specifically recall your story can help put you back in the mood or give you inspiration.

Need advice? Looking for further guidance on getting started? Feel free to send me an ask!

[thewritershandbook]

[theivorytowercrumbles]

This entire article about writing women in historical fantasy is very good, but this writing advice applies to every kind of fiction.

[underhillwriter]

Yes, I do teach creative writing: your opening scene

The opening scene is the most important piece of your novel. This scene determines whether your reader is pulled in or puts the book down. Here are some important do’s and don’ts.

DO write it as a scene, not a data dump. You may have a fantastic premise, a marvelous alternate history or post-apocalyptic world or magical realism to die for, but if you don’t engage your reader in an actual scene, you will bore them.

DO write a scene that immediately introduces a character that the reader can root for. Yes, I know Stephen King has had great success introducing victims that are then shortly afterward killed off. That’s a horror trope and we expect it. But if you are caught up in world-building and haven’t dreamed your way into a character who is worth following through 100,000 words of writing, your story is pointless. I have read many pieces of fiction by would-be writers who can’t grasp this essential concept, and without exception, they fail to engage the reader.

DO introduce the stakes right away. In case that’s a challenge that needs some exposition to develop, create some immediate stakes (a life threat works) that keep the tension high and the reader engaged until you can lay out the larger stakes.

DO begin in medias res, which means “in the middle of things.” Most beginning fiction writers make the mistake of starting too early in the plot. Meet the monster on page 1. 

DON’T include a flashback in the first chapter. Work on a scene, which means time is NOT compressed. It should include dialog, action, description, setting, and interior monolog. Keep everything happening within that scene for at least the first chapter. You can bring in a flashback in Chapter Three.

DON’T shift points of view within a single chapter. Let the reader establish a strong bond of interest (even if it’s with a POV villain) over the course of a whole chapter.

DON’T open the story with your character waking up unless it’s because she’s got a gun in her face (or a knife to her throat – you get what I mean). We don’t need to follow a character through their mundane daily routine. 

DON’T be coy. Beginning writers often have this idea that they need to hold back on revealing all their secrets – what’s in the box, who’s behind the curtain, where they’re going next, etc. Their well-meant plan is to slowly reveal all this over several chapters. Trust me on this one: tell your readers instead of keeping it a mystery. You WILL come up with more secrets to reveal. Your imagination is that good. Spill it now, and allow that revelation to add to the excitement.

[fictionwritingtips]

Writing Science Fiction: Tips for Beginners

We’ve seen a lot of science fiction stories over the past year or so. It’s not like they sci-fi ever went out of style, but it seems to be gaining popularity recently.

For some, writing science fiction might seem like a daunting genre to break into. Do you need to know complex mathematical equations? Do you need to know exactly how space travel works? Did you need to major in astrophysics?

Sure, those things don’t hurt, but they’re absolutely not necessary. You can write a great sci-fi novel without years of research. And you can tell a really interesting story, even if you’re not a science pro.

Here are a few tips to get started:

Consider ‘What-if’ Scenarios

This isn’t just a great rule for sci-fi novels, but I think the best ones use this approach. Start off with a simple what-if scenario. For example: what if we lived on a world made of ice? What if in this particular world only consisted of women? Obviously, you’ll need to expand on those scenarios and spend time really developing what those caveats would mean, but you get the idea.

Start with a small what-if scenario and brainstorm!

Figure Out Your Rules

I don’t think writing great sci-fi depends on being 100% scientifically accurate ALL THE TIME, but I do think you need to stick to your own rules. Whatever is a hard rule for your own universe, it’s important to keep it that way. Does your world have ships that can travel quickly from planet to planet? Sure, that’s great! Figure out your own rules for space travel and develop your world. How do the inhabitants on one planet act/grow/eat/interact compared to the inhabitants of another? Spend time developing these ideas!

No Info Dumps!

Sometimes when people write science fiction, they tend to explain their universe all in one big info-dump. Don’t. This is boring and it does nothing to serve your story. Slowly reveal information. Every plot point in your story should serve a purpose. Develop your characters through the action and show off your worlds through them. Get creative.

Keep it Vague

If you’re unsure about the science of something, write to your strengths. Don’t understand how space travel works? Maybe your MC is put to sleep during a long trip. This is just one example, but try to figure out a way to make it work for you. Maybe avoid space travel altogether if it doesn’t serve your story.

Listen, this isn’t a substitute for research, but I also don’t want you to avoid writing science fiction if you just don’t get a lot of the concepts involved. If you’ve got a great idea for a story, work it out to fit your style. Science fiction is a great platform for unique and compelling character studies, so don’t get scared off! You don’t have to write hard science fiction in order to write a good novel.

-Kris Noel

[ambientwriting]

What sort of questions should I be asking my beta readers?

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR BETA READERS:

When I send out my chapter to be read over by my beta readers, I always include a set of questions typed out at the bottom, grouped into different categories such as: plot, pacing, character, setting, etc. 

You might want to tailor the questions depending on the genre or which chapter it is. For example, if it’s the first chapter you’ll want to ask them about how well your story managed to hook them, or if they managed to easily get an idea of the world you’ve introduced them to. If it’s the climax you might want to ask if the action scenes are fluid, and if the plot twist/s were predictable or surprising. 

Here’s some example questions that you could use:

Opening Chapter:

What is your first impression of the main character? Do you find them likable? Annoying? Boring?

After reading it for the first time, what is your first impression? Was it cohesive and compelling? Boring and confusing?

Did the first sentence/paragraph/page efficiently grab your attention and hook you in?

If you were to read this chapter in a bookstore/library would you be convinced to buy it? Or would you need to read further before deciding? Why or why not?

Did you get oriented fairly quickly at the beginning as to whose story it is, what’s going on, and where and when it’s taking place? If not, what were you confused about at the beginning?

Does the first chapter establish the main character efficiently? Do they feel believable?

Characters:

Could you clearly imagine what the characters looked like? If not, who?

Who was your favourite character and why? Has your favourite character changed? (if this hasn’t changed feel free to skip this question) 

Are there any characters that you do not like? Why do you not like them? (Boring, annoying, problematic, etc.) 

Was there ever a moment when you found yourself annoyed or frustrated by a character? 

Could you relate to the main character? Did you empathise with their motivation or find yourself indifferent? 

Were the characters goals/motivations clear and understandable? 

Did you get confused about who’s who? Are there too many characters to keep track of? Are any of the names or characters too similar?

Do the characters feel three-dimensional or like cardboard cutouts? 

How familiar have you become with the main characters? Without cheating could you name the four main characters? Can you remember their appearance? Can you remember their goal or motivation? 

Dialogue:

Did the dialogue seem natural to you?

Was there ever a moment where you didn’t know who was talking?

Setting/world-building:

Were you able to visualize where and when the story is taking place?

Is the setting realistic and believable? 

How well do you remember the setting? Without cheating, can you name four important settings?

Genre:

Did anything about the story seem cliche or tired to you? How so? 

Did anything you read (character, setting, etc.) remind you of any others works? (Books, movies, etc.) 

Plot/pacing/scenes:

Do you feel there were any unnecessary scenes/moments that deserved to be deleted or cut back?

Do the scenes flow naturally and comprehensively at an appropriate pace? Did you ever feel like they were jumping around the place? 

Was there ever a moment where you attention started to lag, or the chapter begun to drag? Particular paragraph numbers would be very helpful. 

Did you ever come across a sentence that took you out of the moment, or you had to reread to understand fully? 

Was the writing style fluid and easy to read? Stilted? Purple prose-y? Awkward?

Did you notice any discrepancies or inconsistencies in facts, places, character details, plot, etc.?

Additional questions:

What three things did you like? What three things did you not like? 

Can you try predicting any upcoming plot twists or outcomes? 

Was there ever a moment when your suspension of disbelief was tested? 

Is there anything you’d personally change about the story? 

Was the twist expected or surprising? Do you feel that the foreshadowing was almost nonexistent, or heavy handed? 

Feel free to tailor these to your needs or ignore some of them if you don’t think they’re useful. Basically, your questions are about finding out the information about how others perceive your own writing and how you can improve your story.

-Lana

[flukedoesecology]

In some D&D settings, there's an Underdark terrain, consisting of massive underground tunnels and interconnected cave systems. What would such a subterranean ecosystem look like? I was thinking some sort of chemoautotrophic bacteria at the bottom, then cave fungi, and then assorted animals. And a second question, though not quite ecology - what might a large beast of burden/livestock type animal look like in an underground environment? Would it even make sense?

There are two types of cave dwelling faunas! Troglofauna and Stygofauna! Troglofauna are mostly cave dwellers that exist above sea level. They can be comprised of insects, arachnids, and the occasional bat colony. Stygofauna typically are water dwelling creatures that exist in caverns caused by water erosion. I don’t know a terrible lot about cave life as its mostly insects, which I am very not fond of. Even though wikipedia is a non-scholarly source, I would check out the pages it has for Troglofauna, Stygofauna, and Subterranean Fauna for general information and the sources they used.

Large mammals would be VERY uncommon to exist in a cave setting. They would have to be surrounded by a food source, which would have to be in this case insects, and would likely be blind or have no eyes at all! I could imagine a very short stout beast, like an overgrown naked mole rat met a badger and had a scary furless love child with no eyes.

Thanks for the ask and good luck!

[obviousplant]

Is your New Year’s resolution SMART?

[dudeinthestacks]

I rolled my eyes when I saw this because it’s such a buzz thing in education. Then I read it. 

[flukedoesecology]

Hi. Would domesticated huge fish as a sort of cow analogue be plausible enough to make sense? sheep-sized and completely placid, have a diet of a specific seaweed and thats domesticated too and so grows where humans farm it in lagoons, with the fish just bobbing around grazing on it, growing fat, in fenced in enclosures? Is there anything obvious that would rule that out as making sense or massive practical problems that would have to be accounted for? Thank You.

Well, we already do fish farming! We farm lots of medium sized species like trout, salmon, tilapia, and even some shellfish like scallops, mussels, and oysters!

The only problem I would think could arise is the time it would take for even a single fish to get to the size of a sheep. When fish are born/hatched they are most often nearly microscopic, even fish that get to he large sizes like blue marlin and sailfish, which are predatory and not grazers like you’re thinking.

However, it would be very possible to have carp farms! Some species of carp get very large and feed on algae. However, carp would absolutely wreck an aquatic ecosystem if they somehow got out. Take the Pacu, a cousin to piranha in Papau New Guinea. They originally introduced the species as grazers to offer more food to impoverished locals who fished to eat to survive. Now the Pacu is so numerous that it has driven all the other fish species away and has even turned predatory to compensate for the lack of grass since it all is getting eaten by the other Pacu.

Fish take a pretty long tome to grow and aren’t as effective for farming the larger they get. It takes a tuna about five years to mature while it takes a sheep only one.

As a concept however, yes this would make sense. It would be a good source of food if the ages of fish were staggered so that there were always fish available for harvest. Say about a few months between groups and having about, eh, twenty or so groups.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask!

[allthebellsinvenice]

Native Hawaiians used to build “fish pens” with lava rocks at the edge of the ocean. Some of them are still visible today! Look up “ancient Hawaiian aquaculture” for more info. Also: cool idea :)

[auivawrites]

Gelid

gel·id

jelid/

adjective

icy; extremely cold."the gelid pond" synonyms:icy, very cold, icy cold, ice cold, frosty; frozen. "a gelid winter morning"

Example

[writerkaitlinm]

Reading Like a Writer

One of the most common pieces of writing advice is to read. Important, but vague. An easy way to analyze novels to become a better writer is to sort what you read into what you don’t like and what you do like. Spend some time thinking–whether alone, in writing, or through conversation–about what makes you like or dislike the writing, and brainstorm ways that the writing could have been improved or changed.

Here are some possible dislikes and likes that you might notice when reading:

What You Don’t Like: 

Boring spots that you skim through

Unnecessary scenes that don’t advance the plot

Confusing sub-plots

Chunky dialogue 

Characters acting outside their character

Poorly done tropes 

Too much telling, not enough showing

Too much showing, not enough telling

Overly flowery prose

Big words for the sake of big words

One-dimensional villains

Lack of distinctive voices

What You Do Like: 

Twists on tropes 

Scenes where you felt like you were a part of that world

Characters you think about after the book ends

Clever plot twists

Good information reveal

Villains and antagonists that keep you on your toes

Characters that know what they want

Characters forced to make sacrifices 

Side-characters that have personalities of their own

Scenes so intense that you find yourself peeking at the next page

Protagonists with flaws that hold them back

Scenes where you felt the emotions conveyed

[itstartswithablankpage-deactiva]

Good tips here for your first read through before revision.

Think like a reader. Be brutal. Were you bored? Excited? Did you find anything confusing? Chances are, if you spot these, your readers will as well.

That’s where you start.

[theliteraryjournals]

BOOK OF THE DAY:

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

“Although we travel through a metaphysical journey, Mitchell has the uncanny ability to mesmerize and hypnotize. He stops time and transports you to an alternate realm.”

David Mitchell’s The Bone Clocks is nothing short of majestic. Holly Sykes is far from an ordinary teenager. As a magnet for psychic phenomena, Holly  opens an obscure vortex filled with lethal mystical enemies after running away from home. Bound to a world of fear and danger, Holly fights a life long mysterious war with the immortals. Supernatural events follow her without an explanation attempting to cause a catastrophe. What seemed like a rebellious act of running away from home, turns into a worrisome disappearance. We embark on a journey of coincidences and unexplained circumstances with Holly, where every person she loves will be affected by this unsolved mystery.

Overall we promise you will love Holly’s voice. You are glad Mitchell introduces you to Holly in all decades of her life. We can say with confidence is that it is impossible to hate this book. Mitchell’s prose is uniquely inviting and fascinating. The richness and complexity he brings to a fantasy fiction story without forgetting to explore the state of the human condition is transcendental. For the latter reason, Mitchell’s literature is fascinating and unpredictable, which makes him one of the best genre bending writers in our generation. Mitchell’s imagination is unbelievably sophisticated. Although we travel through a metaphysical journey, Mitchell has the uncanny ability to mesmerize and hypnotize. He stops time and transports you to an alternate realm. Let’s just say this, we would follow David Mitchell and Holly Sykes anywhere!

Read excerpts from the book here!