C.C.A.B. Writes

A Place to share my stories for others to read| Indie Author| 27, she/her/they| Mother| I write mostly Fantasy and the cosmos are my muse

[ccabwrites]

Writing, Silence and the Future

Writing:

Despite lack of updates, I have been working diligently and added between 15k-20k words total across all current WIPs. There are now two others alongside the first two + BBV. I am keeping the two newest close to my chest for now, but do know I am still working diligently despite not updating.

The Silence:

Life changed for me drastically around 7 months ago. Not only were house renovations necessary for us and our animals, but there are still more to come as I and my husband prepare to welcome a new family member this summer. This, combined with other family demands, has left me with little time or energy to post here.

The Future:

June is when we expect our bundle of joy to arrive. Of course I will continue working on my stories up until the arrival, however I will probably hit a writing hiatus after the arrival while I adjust to life with a newborn. I hope to still get at least one more work out this year- be it flash fiction or a proper Novella- but I am not making any promises. If I succeed, this will be the first place I post the link for the next published work. All things considered, the trend of slow updates and silence here on the blog will more than likely continue for some time to come. I will do my best to still appear from time to time, and I thank you all for your continued lurking and good wishes.

All the love,

-CCABWrites

[ccabwrites]

The Truth About FWTSW:

{SPOILER: Its probably not what you think.}

Around 2017, I published a novel. I'm talking a full novel- 33 chapters and almost 80k words. Within a year, I pulled it down for personal reasons. Despite that, I had still been working on subsequent novels meant to continue the story of what I first published.

In 2020 those deeply personal reasons for pulling it down lead me to completely abandon that project. I lost friends over it, and other friendships became strained. While I understood how much I had let people down- how I had utterly failed as an author by stepping away; I had to. For my own mental health, I HAD to step away and put that project down.

I know it is infinitely frustrating what I am doing with FWTSW, and the lack of updates and sudden restart make the project feel empty. But I swear I am trying. I am trying to salvage a passion that spurred 79-80k words. Trying to find a way to tell this story that feels right and authentic not just to me, but to the protagonist who deserved so much better than what she had been saddled with at the time.

I'm not looking for sympathy. I am looking to be as transparent as possible with anyone who may have or still does have interest in my work. FWTSW is my attempt at trying to write that story again. And it's a struggle, to put it simply. There's a lot to unpack and work through as I try to regain that part of myself and realize what *I* made wasn't bad- but the world I had put it into, and the amount of twisting and damage I allowed to happen to my character and her story was bad. It was a betrayal of myself, and a betrayal of that character.

I wrote about healing and how reclaiming my passion for writing has been a rocky journey, and this is at the heart of it. I just hope you all are willing to stick around while I work my hands to the bone and my brain to a raging headache to bring back the legend of Heaven Kusai, the Lost Raikin Princess.

Her story has changed considerably since 2017. I feel now I have a better grasp on what I want to do, and it probably won't be as large of a novel as it used to be. Heaven has a story to tell, and she still wants me to tell it.

The difference now is that it is on mine and the blorbo's terms instead of anyone else's.

"For Whom the Stars Weep" is hell to write, but I put Heaven through hell. I suppose in a weird way that it is only fair. "FWTSW" is also- as of right now- just a working title. It may or may not change by the time I'm ready to publish it, but either way I'll keep you all updated.

[ccabwrites]

1/15/25 Writing Update

FWTSW: 3,039 words

ODAS: No changes

BBV1: No changes

Star Song: 1,588

[ccabwrites]

Changes to WIP Updates and WIPs

I apologize beforehand and ask for understanding, as this update may not be entirely satisfying.

FWTSW: I have started this WIP over. In the writing I realized some of the issues I had with the structure of the story and where/how I was starting it. While the wordcount felt nice, I hit a wall shortly after starting chapter 4 that left me feeling bad about the state of the work. I refuse to force myself to work on something that makes me deeply unhappy, so I made the choice to start it over.

I already feel far more confident about how I am writing this story, and I've already hit 1.2k words on this version. While it may probably take me a couple of days, I will reach and surpass the 7k words I had with the last version of this story.

ODAS: This story has stalled out at this time, though I am still constantly looking for inspiration and chances to add to it.

BBV1: This remains untouched and unchanged, as instead of dumping errant ideas into solely this I have begun to hammer out short stories and Novelettes. If anything, this and ODAS has helped and inspired not only "The House Called Spite", but specifically ODAS and FWTSW have also inspired another short story/novelette within their universe. As of now, the new short work inspiration is under the working title "Star Song".

So, here are the full word counts as of today (1/13/25):

FWTSW: 1,272 words

ODAS: No changes

BBV1: No changes

Star Song: 1,479 words

"The House Called Spite" is live on Amazon as both a Kindle eBook and a 6x9 paperback. You can either follow the links here on my tumblr, look up the title or search my author name; 'C.C. Ashley-Blair'.

[ccabwrites]

Writing Update:

Expand to read an excerpt of my short work.

"The House Called Spite"

I grew up in rural Oklahoma, specifically in a little town called Rosette. We weren’t a very large community- no more than three-thousand people lived there when I was growing up. There was a supermarket, of course, as well as a library and even a couple of fast-food restaurants. Beyond those places there were a couple of rather well-developed housing areas in the town, and of course there were schools. The elementary and middle schools were basically in one large, conjoined building close to the center of town. The high school, on the other hand, was near the edge of town. A few blocks away from the high school was the one place in Rosette that everyone in town seemed to have a fear of.

            It was an old thing, almost decrepit in appearance from the outside. It had a sagging black roof and well-weathered pale gray siding. Every frosty window had storm shutters, and its covered porch always had a layer of leaves or cut grass dusting the boards. The whole frame of the single-story house seemed to sag with exhaustion- if a house could be bone-dead tired. Even from the street we could see an old iron horseshoe nailed to the frame above the front door, and there was always a bundle of dried herbs hanging from the front door handle.

My first short work, "The House Called Spite", is live!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSVC3912

Kindle Ebook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSV9R2QK

[ccabwrites]

IMPORTANT WRITING UPDATE

I apologize to anyone expecting a word count update today. While I know this post is coming late, I wanted you all to know I'm still writing and have spent most of the afternoon yesterday and all of today working on a short story that came to me and wouldn't let me go until it was written.

I'm eager to show it off, but I need to finish the first round of edits before I feel comfortable with sharing it.

It's a combination of real-world phenomenon, a touch of supernatural, and a lot more Lovecraftian-protagonist flair than I knew I was capable of writing.

Not everything will be answered, and for that, I will not apologize. Sometimes, the best stories leave you imagining what the author did not describe, tell, or show you.

This short story is a labor of love, passion, and violent inspiration.

I can't wait to share it with you.

[ccabwrites]

Word Counts for Current Manuscripts:

I plan to reblog or connect this to every subsequent update. I will also be using the shortened versions of the WIP names for now.

As of the writing of this post (1/5/25), word counts are as follows:

Novel (FWTSW): 4,024 words

Novella #1 (ODAS): 750 words

Novella #2 (BBV1): 432 words

FWTSW & ODAS are both within the same universe, and take place at different times. BBV1 is more of an idea purge, but has potential to be more with some refinement.

PLEASE NOTE that FWTSW & ODAS are my primary works and where my focus stays. BBV1 is where I go to drop errant thoughts that have no place in my primary two works.

I hope you enjoyed this update and look forward to continuing to update you all. Feel free to ask questions if you have any, I will do my best to answer so long as I can do so in a spoiler-free manner.

[ccabwrites]

1/6/25 Update

FWTSW: 5,501 words

ODAS: 1,129 words

BBV1: No changes

[ccabwrites]

1/7/25 Update

FWTSW: 6000 words

ODAS: 1,245 words

BBV1: no changes

[ccabwrites]

1/8/25 Update

FWTSW: 7053

ODAS: No changes today

BBV1: No Changes

[ccabwrites]

My Writing Goals

This is the reference I usually use for manuscript length depending on what I'm writing.

For FWTSW, my goal is at least a Novel, though I wouldn't mind stopping somewhere in Novella territory if the story permits or it feels more right for how the story is going. Even if I pushed it to Novel status, I still wouldn't want to end the story after that; which is where I feel Novella may work just as well.

For ODAS my goal is somewhere between the upper limits of Short Fiction and Novelettes. Once again, as I get more of the story hammered out I will figure out where exactly the work will fall in terms of classification. While this is one of my primary works, I do tend to put more into FWTSW, as it is a much larger project and will usually take up more of my time on any given day. However, I am working to make sure I do not neglect ODAS in favor of FWTSW.

BBV1 has no classification, nor do I have a general goal for it. BBV1 is- as I've said before- just a place to dump errant ideas, threads and/or vibes that do not fit within the narratives of ODAS or FWTSW.

With all that said, thank you all for following me on this journey and don't feel intimidated to send asks- whether genuine or to be kind/silly. I look forward to the progression of these works and hope to see you all at the finish line.

<3

C.C.A

[ccabwrites]

Word Counts for Current Manuscripts:

I plan to reblog or connect this to every subsequent update. I will also be using the shortened versions of the WIP names for now.

As of the writing of this post (1/5/25), word counts are as follows:

Novel (FWTSW): 4,024 words

Novella #1 (ODAS): 750 words

Novella #2 (BBV1): 432 words

FWTSW & ODAS are both within the same universe, and take place at different times. BBV1 is more of an idea purge, but has potential to be more with some refinement.

PLEASE NOTE that FWTSW & ODAS are my primary works and where my focus stays. BBV1 is where I go to drop errant thoughts that have no place in my primary two works.

I hope you enjoyed this update and look forward to continuing to update you all. Feel free to ask questions if you have any, I will do my best to answer so long as I can do so in a spoiler-free manner.

[ccabwrites]

1/6/25 Update

FWTSW: 5,501 words

ODAS: 1,129 words

BBV1: No changes

[ccabwrites]

1/7/25 Update

FWTSW: 6000 words

ODAS: 1,245 words

BBV1: no changes

[ccabwrites]

Word Counts for Current Manuscripts:

I plan to reblog or connect this to every subsequent update. I will also be using the shortened versions of the WIP names for now.

As of the writing of this post (1/5/25), word counts are as follows:

Novel (FWTSW): 4,024 words

Novella #1 (ODAS): 750 words

Novella #2 (BBV1): 432 words

FWTSW & ODAS are both within the same universe, and take place at different times. BBV1 is more of an idea purge, but has potential to be more with some refinement.

PLEASE NOTE that FWTSW & ODAS are my primary works and where my focus stays. BBV1 is where I go to drop errant thoughts that have no place in my primary two works.

I hope you enjoyed this update and look forward to continuing to update you all. Feel free to ask questions if you have any, I will do my best to answer so long as I can do so in a spoiler-free manner.

[ccabwrites]

1/6/25 Update

FWTSW: 5,501 words

ODAS: 1,129 words

BBV1: No changes

[ccabwrites]

About My Works

FWTSW:

This is a novel that is over ten years in the making. There was a version that was published for a short time that I unfortunately had to pull down for deeply personal reasons. This novel is a retelling of the original manuscript in my own words without the influence of other individuals driving or changing the narrative.

FWTSW is mostly a high fantasy novel with some elements of romance, as well as darker themes that I plan to get deeper into closer to the novel being ready for publication. It also has elements of cosmic power and fantasy godhood; however the largest focus was and remains to be recovering from intense trauma.

ODAS:

This is a shorter work that is meant to help build the world that FWTSW takes place in. It revolves around creation, godhood and how the world of FWTSW works on a much larger scale than what the protagonist of FWTSW can initially see. ODAS may or may not be released before FWTSW. That is a bridge I will cross when I get closer to finishing one or both.

BBV1:

IMPORTANT: FWTSW and ODAS are my primary focuses, so if and when BBV1 has updates, they will always come after my main two projects.

BBV1 is a self-indulgent mechapilot story that I work on when my mind doesn't want to focus on FWTSW or ODAS. It doesn't have a real plot hammered out and is strictly written by vibes only. I hope one day after either or both of my main projects are finished that I am able to work BBV1 into a work worth publishing instead of just a mindless collection of chapters with no real plot or substance.

[writerpolls]

Writers: do you have a favorite POV to write in?

First

Third (limited)

Third (omniscient)

Second

I switch between / it depends on the project

Other (please explain how?)

See results / illiterate/ bald

Voting ended onJan 12, 2025

[17blcak]

Reblog if I can go on your page and write stupid things in your ask box whenever I'd like to.

[ccabwrites]

Word Counts for Current Manuscripts:

I plan to reblog or connect this to every subsequent update. I will also be using the shortened versions of the WIP names for now.

As of the writing of this post (1/5/25), word counts are as follows:

Novel (FWTSW): 4,024 words

Novella #1 (ODAS): 750 words

Novella #2 (BBV1): 432 words

FWTSW & ODAS are both within the same universe, and take place at different times. BBV1 is more of an idea purge, but has potential to be more with some refinement.

PLEASE NOTE that FWTSW & ODAS are my primary works and where my focus stays. BBV1 is where I go to drop errant thoughts that have no place in my primary two works.

I hope you enjoyed this update and look forward to continuing to update you all. Feel free to ask questions if you have any, I will do my best to answer so long as I can do so in a spoiler-free manner.

[ccabwrites]

Where I've Been:

Healing.

These last 6-ish years have been a rollercoaster, and even though I know there are still people who enjoy my writing (when I get around to posting it) I had a lot of things I needed to deal with.

To deal with those things, I had to keep a distance from my fiction so I could focus on my real-world issues and pains. So, I chose to distance myself from writing and posting as much as I felt necessary; I just feel bad it coincided with me starting this blog.

To those who still wait to see me post: good things are coming, it's just going to take me a while. Trying to write with trauma heavily tied to my passion has been a journey, but one I am actively working through.

I have plans for at least a novella and possibly a full-length novel. Right now, I'm just taking it one day and one paragraph at a time.

Besides, while writing a full novel in a month can be achieved, it's not something everyone can do. Sometimes, you need to take it slow and focus just as equally on yourself as you do your writing.

Thank you to those who wait, and I appreciate you more than you realize.

-CCA

[meraarts]

I’m bored and nosy. Please reblog this with the book you’re currently reading.

[spacewonder19]

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