open up, heaven

[deathlessdev]

Hello! This is where I'll be posting about the development of my writing project, Deathless! It's a novel I've been planning for several years, containing elements of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Set across lands utterly devoid of death, it chronicles the journey of a young hero summoned to stop a war between Gods. I hope you enjoy hearing about it—and eventually, reading it!—as much as I continue to enjoy writing it.

Also, fair warning: both the narrative and the themes of the work rely significantly on violence, gore, and body horror, including (but not limited to): decapitation, mutilation, acts of extreme self-harm, torture, graphic bodily transformation, immolation, pseudo-cannibalism, exsanguination, bodily disassembly, and petty insults. Please tread carefully if these topics are sensitive for you.

I'd be more than happy to answer questions should you have them, and thank you for reading!

[deathlessdev]

Howdy! I'm very pleased to share that the follow-up to The Sacred Art of Name-Cutting is complete — now you too can enjoy Souvenirs from a Burning World! I'm sure you have a bottle of champagne and/or sparkling apple juice handy for the occasion.

They're each just under 6k words and formatted like short stories slash extended chapters, so they read quite smoothly (or so I hope). Check them out, if you like! Or don't! I'm not the boss of you!

[deathlessdev]

Howdy! Been a hot minute, as usual! Just wanted to pop in to say that the follow-up to The Sacred Art of Name-Cutting (which you should read, if you haven't already!) is almost complete! It's tentatively titled Souvenirs from a Burning World, and I hope you enjoy it once it's out!

On a related note, I think I'll be posting both works on AO3, since trying to host things on gdocs hasn't been... ideal. Hopefully this will make reading much easier, especially for folks on mobile (which is to say, almost everyone at this point). If anyone has better hosting alternatives, feel free to send them my way!

[deathlessdev]

Scratchy Aeva doodle I threw together while stuck on hold on my phone. She'll be the POV character for the next short story -- tentatively titled "Souvenirs from a Burning World" -- and I've really been trying to pin down her "voice" lately. I think doodles like this help a lot!

[deathlessdev]

It's here! The moment you've all been waiting for, in an extremely broad hypothetical sense! I'm very pleased to share a short story that totally isn't also a pilot chapter for Deathless. At long last you can read The Sacred Art of Name-Cutting. Lucky you!

At just under 6,000 words, it's intended to be a succinct look into the setting of Deathless and its main characters. Also included for your reading pleasure is a glossary, though it's more of a curiosity than a necessity. This is a project that's been a long time in the making, so I'm thrilled to finally be able to share it, and I hope you all* enjoy it!

*Once again as an extremely broad hypothetical

[deathlessdev]

Hi there! Sure has been a while, huh? Here's a doodle of Aeva saying something polite to accompany this update.

Deathless is going well! After some fairly hefty re-writes to some of the earlier chapters, I can confidently say that chapters one through ten are in a mostly-complete state, barring any terminology changes or touch-ups for later consistency. Which is great!

I'm projecting seventeen chapters for the first act, so we're starting to approach some climactic moments! These are things I've been drafting out for years now, so I'm super excited to finally be able to share them!

...speaking of which, I'm still trying to find someplace to post existing chapters of Deathless publicly. If you know of any way to make that happen, please reach out! I'd love to share Deathless again.

Anyway, that's all for now! Once I find a way to post writing with a little more security, you bet I'll make an announcement about it!

With cake! And confetti!

[deathlessdev]

Been a long time coming but the next chapter of Deathless is finally here! And all eight(ish) chapters are right here!

This will probably be the last update for a bit while I work out the next leg of the story, but I think it's at a good resting point. I hope you enjoy it!

[deathlessdev]

Well howdy! Gosh, it's been a little while, huh? Writers and their erratic schedules, let me tell you!

The good news is, it's a Deathless holiday miracle! Just for you, dear reader, I've put together the first seven (...ish) chapters of Deathless for your pre-, mid-, or post-holiday reading pleasure. And you can find it right here!

All told, it's just shy of 30k words, so it's a good bit of content for you to sink your teeth into— which I hope you do! Oh, and older content warnings still apply, folks! If gore makes you squeamish, you might want to tread carefully.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy!

[deathlessdev]

Howdy, folks! After a few tweaks, I'm happy to say that I'll be posting the first chapter of Deathless here later today! The formatting for text on tumblr isn't the best, so I'll also be including a link to a google doc version from a burner account to provide an alternate format for the people who'd prefer that!

I'll be turning off reblogs on that post to help keep it contained, but I'd be more than happy to get feedback if you've got it! The chapter is about 5k words long— pretty hefty as chapters go, but as an introduction to a large world, I think it still reads pretty smoothly. And hey, if you think differently, you can sure tell me!

I've also been thinking about other things I could be doing with this space like character profiles, worldbuilding notes, thoughts on writing, and maybe even taking questions. I hope you enjoy it all!

[deathlessdev]

Been thinking about (possibly!) posting a chapter somewhere, but I'm not sure what the best way to go about that would be. I guess I could just post it here, but I feel like the formatting on tumblr isn't great for long-form writing. I'm open to suggestions if anyone had an alternative!

[deathlessdev]

FAQ

By popular demand (of one: myself) I've decided to post a short Deathless FAQ— Factually Answered Queries. Yes, unlike those big-box store FAQs, I've taken on the burden of both answering and asking the questions, leaving you free to smoke a fine cigar or continue plotting the downfall of your greatest enemy.

You're welcome.

Q: What's Deathless about?

A: Deathless is the story of a young hero summoned to a strange set of lands to stop a conflict between warring deities. Along the way he makes friends (sort of), makes enemies (definitely), and bleeds. Just a little bit.

Q: What's the setting of Deathless?

A: The world of Deathless is referred to as "comné" and is effectively numerous universes—called Astral Boughs in-story—layered atop one another, allowing specialized travel between them. While events bring our heroes across many planets and their greatest lands, the early story concerns the Astral Bough of Hyr'sos, God-Root of Fertility.

Q: What's up with the title?

A: While I consider it something of a placeholder, Deathless refers to one of the most important facets of the narrative: death is nonexistent. The inhabitants of comné cannot die, though they can still experience and suffer through death-like violence.

Q: Who are the main characters of Deathless?

A: The main characters of Deathless are Yusha, a weak-kneed hero, Carving, a grim mercenary, and Aeva, a freeloader. Will these plucky underdogs be able to save the rec center, or will it be torn down to put up a new burger restaurant? Only time will tell.

Q: What's your favorite color?

A: Goodness, this is getting far too personal. We'll have to end it here.

[deathlessdev]

Guess I should start things off with a post about progress, eh? As it currently stands, Deathless is just shy of thirty thousand words in length spread out across seven chapters. While things like this are difficult to estimate, I'd say it represents about 15-20% of the story so far. I can complete a chapter most weeks and plan on continuing this pace.