The Fae Queen's Court has pirates and knights

The Tumblr home for information about books by Ceril N Domace https://linktr.ee/cerilndomace

[cwritesfiction]

me, searching the word "eyes" in my manuscript to learn whether I gave my character a canonical eye color: wow i sure talk about eyes a lot

[cerilndomace]

My first major editing note was "You mention eyes A LOT" so I feel you

[missmisdemeanor]

it is a rookie mistake to assume that the person making deeply anachronistic, inaccurate, and fairytale-esque knightposts knows nothing about real knights. i know all about real knights. i just think overseeing the farmland on your estate, explicitly being in it for (more) land and money, fighting less than half the year, and dying of cholera is sort of boring while swearing undying oaths is really sexy

[paladin-n-cleric]

what are you wearing rn and is it representative of your style

[cwritesfiction]

Writers’ Chat: Take a Hike!

How do your characters feel about nature? Who’s itching to get on a trail and admire some trees? Who would rather stay inside? Is there a particular part of nature your character enjoys, or one that they dislike?

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[cerilndomace]

Edward fully treats every trip into the wilderness as an opportunity to restock his stores and maybe even find a shiny new reagent to experiment with. When he's not allowed to work on these expeditions, he enjoys himself but also sort of wishes he were back in his lab.

Owen enjoys nature in theory, but is also very attached to things like climate control and a bug free environment. That being said, he does enjoy the occasional hike on established trails.

Given the choice between wilderness and town, Leon will take town. Any given town will have alcohol and food he doesn't have to cook. The wilderness has horrible weather, insects, and ample opportunity for his ghostly peanut gallery to bother him.

The Clarkfowler crew vary wildly but tend to veer toward the "civilization is a good thing" route since they usually have their interplanar wagon traveling with them.

[cwritesfiction]

Share an excerpt where someone accomplishes something.

Maybe they accomplish a long-term goal. Maybe it’s a simple task. Maybe it’s a result, like making another character happy…or annoyed. Your call!

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[cerilndomace]

A longer excerpt but Edward desperately needed a win.

“It’s not meant to be an explosive,” I protested, setting my flask on the scorch marks from yesterday’s experiment that I hadn’t been able to remove. In my defense, that hadn’t been a full explosion. Merely a fire that took an entire bucket of sand to douse. “It just… tends to turn out that way.”

“Of course.” Min Li snorted and sat back on the overturned bucket. “A completely unforeseen consequence of working with a highly explosive reagent, one that even powerful alchemists struggle to stabilize.”

“Entirely unforeseen,” I agreed, stirring my cauldron slowly. “Everyone knows that making new alchemical discoveries is a painless and entirely uneventful process without explosions or other messy magical catastrophes.”

Min Li nodded sagely and pulled my journal toward her. “Especially when working in less than ideal situations, like in broom closets while ones drunken crewmates argue in the next room.” She flipped through the pages, eyes wandering my notes and theories and the not so infrequent instances of the hatchlings stealing my notebook to leave me drawings and commentary. “Are they even leaving you any healing potions for your stores or is Cook using all of them to fix broken noses?”

A muffled roar of cheers bled under the door, presumably led by Cook and the boxing club he’d started to keep any fights that came from forced proximity to a controlled standard. We found our ways to fill the time, but thankfully Cook was fairly aggressive about keeping bloodshed to a minimum. Shrugging, I adjusted my burn to a low simmer. “I’d hardly noticed,” I said casually, plucking my notebook from her hands. “Especially since I managed to separate the St. Alban’s Blood into its base components this morning.”

That made Min Li sit up and lean forward to get a better look at what I was working on. “Really? How so? What came of it?”

Pride raced through me and brought a dark flush to my cheeks. “Not much so far,” I admitted, nodding at my cauldron. The St. Alban’s blood bubbled and released a stench that wasn’t unlike rotten eggs. With luck, all that was needed now was a few hours alone and I’d finally have enough of those components for more experiments. “It’s stayed stable, but I wasn’t able to gather enough components during my last test to brew more than a small purification potion.” But even that was a marvel, as clear as fresh fallen rain and glowing like a small candle. If my suspicions were correct, a single drop would be enough to cleanse a barrel of stagnant water, which would make it a dozen times more effective than what I could normally make. “I’m going to test its innate magic levels in a bit to see how it compares to one brewed without the blood.”

[cwritesfiction]

Writers’ Chat: Status Update

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[cerilndomace]

[cwritesfiction]

Writers’ Chat: Light the Grill!

Your characters are having a backyard barbecue (or outside cooking-themed get-together equivalent.) Who’s cooking? Who’s ready to eat? Who’s waving away smoke and swatting bugs, wishing they could be inside?

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[cerilndomace]

Cook is preparing the food, drinking, prepping the grill, drinking, cooking the food, drinking, fending off hoards of hungry privateers, and drinking. He's going to feed all of them, drink some more, and then make the lazy sods wash the dishes under his direct supervision because they obviously can't be trusted to do it right.

Kit and Alice have decided to bug Cook despite his threats to withhold food and affection. They've got lovers' privileges, they can do what they want.

Edward has come prepared with citronella candles and runes to drive the bugs away and had to be threatened to leave his notebook behind during the party. It's not that he doesn't enjoy these things, but it's shockingly difficult to find time to research on a flying ship.

Captain Proulx and Hakim (unlike the rest of the crew) are waiting patiently for the food to be done and doing any setup required.

[cwritesfiction]

Writers’ Chat: Road Trip!

Your characters are going on a road trip! Who’s excited to hit the road? Who just wants to be there already? Who navigates, who packs the snacks, who makes the playlist (or who’s banned from doing so?)

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[cerilndomace]

Garrett was confused about what made this road trip different from their normal road trips considering they live in a self-propelled interplanar wagon/library that wanders all over the fifteen kingdoms, but other parties informed him he was "being a killjoy" and "not allowed to sleep inside as that defeats the purpose" so he just went with it. He was also not told the final destination, which is mildly concerning. Hopefully this won't end up with them in the hells again, it took a week to wash off the scent of brimstone. That being said, he may or may not have some of the junior librarians sneak him his paperwork through a window.

Professor Clarkfowler wanted to pack the snacks, but considering she regularly consumes things like Belladona, Deadly Nightshade, and Foxglove(like a perfectly normal human being) her snack choices were vetoed. Siobhan packs them instead and chooses a lovely variety of fresh and dried fruits and vegetables, jerky, and nuts.

The professor was allowed to navigate(mostly because the wagon only listens to her) and she lords it over the others. She does insist they stop at any and all bookstores along the way AND give proper time to inspect any interesting looking rocks/sticks they find.

Siobhan has settled in on the wagon bench with one of the plethora of books she packed. It's a nice break from her day-to-day of running the research and development department and wrangling the junior librarians, so she's happy to just enjoy the trip.

Aleksandr (a master thief and part-time dragon) and Sweet Potato (a horse-sized housecat) have procured a lute from somewhere and are regaling the others with heartfelt renditions of popular tavern tunes. At least they were until Garrett took the lute away to save his eardrums.

[atlasshadesart]

Read Steel Your Heart :: Episode 1.42 | Tapas Community

Read Steel Your Heart and more premium Romance Community series now on Tapas!

SYH continues!!!!! Exclusively on Tapas now!

[cwritesfiction]

Share an excerpt that includes the word "want".

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[cerilndomace]

The Van der Bergs are somewhere between the East India Trading company and like, Jeff Bezos, in terms of how evil they are. I'm sure Edward will be fine.

Knots fit to stymie the saltiest of sailor had my stomach in such turmoil that even the few spoonfuls of soup and sips of water that I’d been able to slip past my lips regularly attempted to resurface. Visions of what was the come, of the disappointment and derision that waited for me after all this, alongside the oily whispers of the Bottled Truth turned sleep into a distant dream.

So it was that I faced the servant and her load of fine clothing on an empty stomach and a handful of catnaps over the course of the past day and a half.

“Those aren’t mine,” I said hoarsely, eying the finely embroidered green coat and fashionably cut breeches currently lying on my bed. A silk shirt, as soft as warm butter, lay folded neatly next to them with a pair of court shoes on top. A matching vest and frilly cravat sat off to the side, an extravagance I didn’t usually waste my time with in the shop. They were too rich for someone of my purse. This was something that nobles or their pet magicians wore.

Apparently, Annika Van der Berg didn’t want to wait to stake her claim on me, to prove that she could buy anyone.

The servant shrugged. “They’ll all fit. Your benefactor made certain of it.”

No doubt she did. It wouldn’t do for the Van der Berg’s to have anything but the best, whether that was bought witnesses, pets, or hostages.

[cwritesfiction]

Writers’ Chat: You're Hired!

What do your characters do for a living? How do they feel about their jobs? If you write younger characters, what kinds of jobs would they like to do?

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[cerilndomace]

Leon from Fallen Knight is a mercenary by trade! He's spent a decade earning money by taking protection jobs, bounties, and the like alongside his mercenary troop, the Band of Broken Blades. Generally speaking, he doesn't mind his job. It keeps him mobile and relatively hidden from the BBEG, the Templesbane, who have been hunting him since he was a child because he's the last member of an ancient knighthood that's been fighting them for millenia. Also! No one looks twice at an alcoholic mercenary.

Edward from Fortitude’s Prize is an alchemist and surgeon on board a pirate ship. He learned his trade from his mother and loves what he does, but wishes he had more time for research.

Owen from the Fae Queen’s Court is a carpenter by trade, a SAHD by preference, and a ruler by necessity.

The Clarkfowler crew is whatever is funniest for the bit. The eponymous Professor Clarkfowler is a librarian, tea lover, and "human". Garrett is a (former) prince in hiding, (retired) king, and a (rehired) administrator for the library. Siobhan is a curselore expert, the Head Junior Librarian, and researcher. Aleksandr is a master thief, the library's acquisitions agent, and part-time dragon. Sweet Potato is a horse-sized ginger cat, which is a full-time job in and of itself.

[cwritesfiction]

Share an excerpt where two characters have a conversation.

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[cerilndomace]

Mel has opinions about their housemate/business partner/arch-nemesis...

“It’s unconscionable,” Mel grumbled, biting harshly into a blueberry crumpet. Hardly bothering to swallow, they continued, “To be kicked out of my own greenhouse simply because Konstantyn’s guest wanted to speak privately. The nerve.”

Having been subjected to this rant several times already since Mel had burst into the lab and thrown themselves into the desk chair a half hour ago, I shrugged without looking up from my work. They were lucky none of my projects had reached explosive stages yet because I’d nearly knocked my cauldron across the room when the lab door crashed open. “He’s fully within his rights. The greenhouse belongs to him, after all. He just lets you borrow it.”

Thank God the hatchlings weren’t with me this afternoon, otherwise they’d have to listen to Mel’s complaints too and I already had enough problems without Mel encouraging the hatchlings to play pranks on Konstantyn. With how thick the storms had been today, they’d have been climbing the walls, desperate for something to do, and I had little patience to deal with that today.

The relationship between Mel and Konstantyn—the curse checker who lived in the back rooms of the Swoop—was an eternal source of consternation and confusion to me. Depending on the day, time, and weather, they had described their relationship to me as being everything from close friends to mortal enemies to mutual pests to business partners. Several years ago, Konstantyn had, through methods unknown to myself and anyone else I asked, come into part ownership of the Swoop. Specifically, the greenhouse, three feet of counter space in the kitchen, and the watercloset on the third floor.

For a man of few words and fewer public opinions, Konstantyn quickly leveraged his property to his advantage. The sitting area in the greenhouse became his place of business and Mel his partner, shuttling clients back and forth between each other’s working areas as necessary. From what I gathered, the only things Mel got out of the deal was a boom in the enchanting side of their business, ready access to cursed items clients wanted to dispose of, and a housemate they seemed fully prepared to throw off the edge of Fortitude most days.

Mel snorted. “Hah! He holds that over me as if I don’t bring him most of his clients. If it weren’t for me, he’d be back to peddling his craft in the back of taverns and swindling drunkards at cards.”

Deliliah, the calico cat who made her home in the Swoop when she wasn’t lazing about the market, let out a plaintive mew. Her chatter continued as she stretched and glared at Mel.

“Deliliah has a point,” I said gently, paging through my notebook for where I left off with my last experiment. “Konstantyn is terrible at cards.” This would mark my twenty-third attempt to strengthen a healing potion with St. Alban’s Blood and I had a good feeling about this mixture. Afterall, last time I managed to keep things from catching fire for a whole fifteen seconds and without the hatchlings here to distract me, I might be able to make it a whole twenty.

“And the fact he’s able to swindle drunkards anyway certainly says something about the quality of alcoholics in Fortitude, doesn’t it?” Mel muttered under their breath before stuffing the rest of their crumpet in their mouth.

[cwritesfiction]

Writers’ Chat: Status Update

Time for a status update! What are you currently working on? How is it going? Do you have a timeline for when you want to finish, or are you just letting the writing go where it goes?

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[cerilndomace]

I finished drafting the last sequential short story in my magical pest control series last week. which brought me an unspeakable amount of relief. From now on, any further entries in that series are complete standalone.

I also finally broke through a plotting issue on Sky Pirates two. It turns out that if you want to get a character out of a metaphorical tree after you chase him up there you need to make sure he's actually got a way down, lol. Hopefully I can finish the book in a few weeks because this is the climax and I just need to wrap the story up

[cwritesfiction]

Writers’ Chat: Love is in the Air

What role does love play in your stories? Do you write romances or stories with romantic subplots? Do your stories focus on love between family members or friends? Share the love by explaining how love factors into your writing!

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[cerilndomace]

Generally speaking, love in my stories focuses on family and friends. Romantic love in my stories(as in my personal life) is something that comes a distant third.

The Fae Queen’s Court focused on the relationship between family members, on a father trying to rebuild relationships shattered by change and loss. Owen is shaped by his desire the protect the ones he loves and is willing to put his own body, mind, and soul at risk to do so.

Yes, Owen is married and loves his wife, but that relationship isn't the focus of the series. That being said, it is changed irrevocably by the events of the series. The husband and wife that end the story in Hiraeth are not the same people that started Haven.

Fortitude's Prize also has a family/crew focus. There are a lot more romantic relationships(two married MF couples, a MFM trouble, and hinted romantic leanings) but Edward's focus is on how the plot will impact his family rather the leanings. He's trying to earn enough money to send his sister to a good school without needing to take on debt and the pirates chasing them are not helping.

Leon’s relationships in Fallen Knight are probably the most extensive in my blacklist. Besides his friends in the band, he's also got their collective adopted daughter, his ex-lover(and boss), and an adopted father and aunt. Despite the yearnings in his heart, he doesn't feel like he can have a romantic relationship while he's got the guillotine of being a Knight Vigilant hanging over his head.

All the people who love him want to help ease his burdens but he's terrified that doing so will doom them along with him. Him finally trusting them and himself enough to let them in is a major turning point in the story.

[cerilndomace]

29 & 30 for edward?

29. How did your character's peers treat them when they were kids?

Before his father was exiled, reasonably well. Edward's mother is a skilled alchemist so they were able to support themselves and Edward was well-liked by the villagers. After his father's exile, things rapidly turned around. No one wanted to be associated with an exile, so the family was shunned. Their small farm and the fact Edward's mother was the only alchemist for days in any direction on flying ship meant they survived, but Edward quickly learned not to trust people to stay by your side.

30. Name one (or more) of your character's favorites in any category--foods, colors, bands, movies, animals, etc.

Edward's favorite animals are dolphins! There was a pod of them that lived near St. Bernard and he loved watching them fly through the clouds. He also really like griffins and is excited he gets to help care for the ship's griffins.

Edward's favorite color changes, but right now its sky blue.

[cerilndomace]

12 for Leon, 5 for Njeri

12. Describe a piece of clothing you have that your character would never wear.

Leon hates tight collars, poofy sleeves, and wearing the color purple. Nothing against any of those things on other people but he will and has made certain dress clothes unwearable when well meaning people (Aoife, and Kellan) tried to push him into a new wardrobe.

5. Your character has had a supremely lousy day. What do they do to cope?

Njeri enjoys reading Alkan poetry when she's had a tough day. She's got two books of it she keeps stashed with the Band's records. Cheaper than drinking(Leon), safer than sparring(Kelan), less time consuming than foraging(Jackie), and more stimulating than napping(Bettany). Sometimes Shea finds a forging manual and joins her by the fires.

[littlefreakiesaesthetics]

all i do is make ask games hiiiiii

(pro tip: name some ocs in the tags when you reblog this so newcomers can ask with ease, and be sure to send an ask to the person you reblog it from!)

Has your character's worst trauma already happened, or is the worst yet to come?

How would/does your character feel about being picked up?

Does your character like candy?

Describe your character's favorite cup/glass/mug. If they don't have a specific one, make one up.

Your character has had a supremely lousy day. What do they do to cope?

Does your character get sick often?

What is/was your character's best subject in school?

Think about something traumatic that's happened to your character. How has it affected them?

Describe your character's teeth.

Are there any colors your character really isn't a fan of?

Describe a piece of clothing you have that your character would like to wear.

Describe a piece of clothing you have that your character would never wear.

What's an easy way to ruin your character's mood?

What's an easy way to cheer your character up?

Your character just woke up. What do they want right now?

Who is the most likely person to irritate your character?

What's your character like when they're nervous?

You know in cartoons when somebody has a little angel and devil on their shoulders telling them what to do? Would your character be the angel or the devil?

Is your character a picky eater?

Does your character like to argue?

What colors are most common in your character's wardrobe?

Does your character ever wear revealing clothing?

Describe your character in an unkind way, then describe them in a loving way.

Who is your character proud of?

Do people generally see your character as smart?

What's something about your character that nobody would guess by looking at them?

How much does your character talk?

Are/would your character's parents be proud of them?

How did your character's peers treat them when they were kids?

Name one (or more) of your character's favorites in any category--foods, colors, bands, movies, animals, etc.