Maggie K. West

Writing stories that will plunge you into an adventure | she/her This blog is run by hedgehogs. | Open to tagging games! https://bio.site/maggiekwest

[maggiekwest]

🌿Writerblr Intro🐸

Hi!! My name is Maggie, I'm an author, adventurer, and Friend of Frogs™. Some things about me:

I'm in my 20s, based in the Rocky Mountains

When I'm not writing books, I spend my time building cosplays, playing/writing TTRPGs, and most recently I've been getting into fantasy/cosplay photography!

My favorite movie franchise of all time is Pirates of the Caribbean. Because CIRCLES and FORESHADOWING and ALL THE THINGS.

I has synesthesia with taste. Chocolate’s purple, in case you were wondering.

I'm fluent in Pig Pen code. Is it a useless skill? Yes. Do I feel cool doing it? Also yes.

I have a 9 lb dog named Bilbo Waggins. Yes, he does have curly hair, a toy dragon, and a toy Sting.

I like to say I've been writing since before I could pick up a pen, and I self-published my first book in 2020! Self-publishing was totally my first choice, I really love the freedom that comes with it compared to traditional publishing. Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions about the self-publishing journey. 🌙

I love doing tag games and asks!

Come for the stories, stay for the chaos 🐸

My Books & WIPs 🖋️🦔

- Descendants of Robin Hood trilogy (Published) -

Book 1 - Guardian of the North

Book 2 - Curse of the Arrow

Book 3 - Son of Lightning (Just released on June 11th, 2024!)

Percy Jackson meets Avatar: The Last Airbender with a dark folklore twist.

Jack is a Rangerian—a descendant of Robin Hood who inherited a remnant of an ancient curse. His North Wind power is about to manifest when the rival nation of descendants attacks; and Jack is faced with the horrifying realization that his power is part of a much larger plan.

As the war deepens, a villain out of legend rises to crush any opposition and claim his immortal throne. But the Sorcerer Gisborne’s plans run much deeper than first believed, and Dark sorcery spreads like a plague.

Caught in a whirlwind of myths-turn-reality, Jack is forced to face the horrors of his past, the threat of a traitor, and a fateful choice. All while trying to contain the chaotic power within him.

✦ Ask to be added or removed from the tag list! ✦

Hardcovers, paperbacks, and ebooks

Read Online

All the links

- Working Title: "Black Sky" (WIP) -

⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️

An untitled new-adult cyberpunk dystopia about a police-state government and what happens when you break the law... (more details coming soon).

✦ Ask to be added or removed from the tag list! ✦

🗝️All the Links🌙

My long-form blog/monthly newsletter

Website

Linktree

A quick side note... Please don't send me messages/asks relating to the following topics:

Discourse of any kind (including political and/or humanitarian issues)

Review-for-review or read-for-read soliciting

Hate comments & spam messages

Any messages/asks I receive relating to the above topics will be deleted and/or blocked and reported.

[maggiekwest]

Lizard Time

Definition: The act of sprawling yourself in the sunshine to soak up maximum potential rays a-la a plant or lizard for 🦎Mental Health🌱

[maggiekwest]

Official Son of Lightning Book Trailer!!

Eeeeeep I can't wait to share this story with you guys! My precious boy Nick is having such a hard time in this book 😭

[maggiekwest]

Status Update: Me and the frogs laying down that sweet bass line.

[maggiekwest]

Would you read a book with this energy…

MC who has no idea what they’re doing

Spooky sorcerers

I Am Shadow ™

Sending letters on black arrows

FIREBALL

Touch Him and I’ll Smite You but it’s bff boys

[maggiekwest]

What if you’re a little beetle? What if you’re living in a hole under a bush?

[maggiekwest]

Country roooooads *kidnaps you*

Take me hoooome *throws armor and a flower crown at you*

To the plaaaaaace *feeds you breakfast and coffee*

Where I belooooooong! *sticks you in my car*

RENAISSANCE FESTIVAAAAAL!

[maggiekwest]

AHHHHHH LOOKIT THE PRETTIES!!! 🥹

I love my new covers so much 💕💕

[maggiekwest]

Prologue of the last book in my elemental fantasy trilogy 🖤

There’s two sides to every story. Beyond moonlight and starlight, beyond duty and family and legends. Drawn from the deepest abyss of space. I am trapped between these two powers, this Darkness twisting in my limbs, in my mind, in my very blood; the bright electric power still harnessed by the ring around my neck.

Branches snap past my face, the rope rubbing my wrists raw.

I used to be royalty, the True Born crown prince who walked among the young soldiers and Rangerians at court. Now I walk with this Darkness. Now they call me the villain. 

Two hands hold tight to the bonds around my wrists, around my arms, around my chest. One belongs to Jackson Marcrombie. The second belongs to Him, the energy that hung around Him held firm over my hands, the intense sorcery that streamed through His veins electric against my skin.

The Darkness inside me knew Him as a boy. But I only knew Him from legend. Legends that knew Him by many names. Soldier of Storm. Davison. Drakino. Another man with the last thousand years of memory swirling in his head. Another man whose hands streamed with blood.

The metal shaft of the Golden Arrow was cold against my fingers. Forever cold. Even though we had been marching for an hour. Yet empty of any trace of sorcery. A hollow husk with its core stripped away. 

I could claim I had no knowledge of what was happening inside me. I could claim I had no memory of the deaths I caused.

I would be lying.

My boots crunched on the forest floor. The frostbite burns down my arms had turned black, thin scars cutting through my sharp, blood-red tunic.

It was my hands that killed Isabel Tyler when the Sheriff brought her to my palace. My hands that brought Fort Calmier crumbling around me. My order that summoned the magic of the Golden Arrow into Crius’s body.

The empty sword sheath bumped against my leg as they pushed me ever forward. Hands roughly yanked the blindfold tighter over my eyes.

“The camp is supposed to be right around here somewhere...” Jackson’s hesitant voice.

“Should be over this hill. At least that’s what King Rehynall’s letter said.” Connor Avidor moved ahead, and the ground turned steeply upward. The low din of the hidden Áccyn camp came into focus.

Please, please, free me. Jack has already given up on me. Whoever is listening. I have no control over what I’m doing. I have harmed more than you could know, killed more than I could ever count.

I am not the monster.

I am not the monster.

“We’ve got him!” Jackson’s triumphant cry rang past my ears, a tone of exhaustion behind his words. “Behold, friends, neighbors, and people I don’t know very well... the Sorcerer, Ishkur Gisborne!” The blindfold was ripped from my eyes, and he smiled through my face. The Darkness inside me.

Descendants of Robin Hood, book 3 - Son of Lightning

~ Launches June 25th, 2024!! ~

[helenasurvives]

calling all authors!!

i have just stumbled upon the most beautiful public document i have ever laid eyes on. this also goes for anyone whose pastimes include any sort of character creation. may i present, the HOLY GRAIL:

https://www.fbiic.gov/public/2008/nov/Naming_practice_guide_UK_2006.pdf

this wonderful 88-page piece has step by step breakdowns of how names work in different cultures! i needed to know how to name a Muslim character it has already helped me SO MUCH and i’ve known about it for all of 15 minutes!! i am thoroughly amazed and i just needed to share with you guys 

[theredscreech]

Cultures include Yoruba, Sikh, Vietnamese, Polish, and dozens more!

[conlangery]

This could also be a good staring point for conlangers looking for inspiration for personal name conventions.

[maggiekwest]

No way, this is so cool!!!

[maggiekwest]

Them: Oh cool, you’re an author?! What’s your book about?

What the back of my book says:

What if Guy of Gisborne was an immortal sorcerer?

Eight hundred years ago, a powerful sorcerer laid a trap for Robin Hood. But the curse backfired, releasing a burst of pure magic. Robin Hood’s descendants carry this magic as elemental powers.

The two nations of descendants are on the brink of war. Jack’s North Wind power is about to manifest when the rival nation attacks. Now Jack is on the run from the Sheriff, sorcerers, and a mysterious girl of the shadows as he struggles to contain his chaotic power.

As the war deepens, a villain out of legend rises to crush any opposition and claim his immortal throne. But the Sorcerer Gisborne’s plans run much deeper than first believed, and Dark sorcery spreads like a plague.

Follow Jack’s adventure along with a swing-first-ask-questions-later Fire bender, a Lightning bender with a dark secret, and a talking baby panther who is maybe more than meets the eye.

Me, panicking: “Uhhhh… ✨Medieval Team Avatar✨”

[ash-the-tiefling]

COUNTRY GNOMES

TAKE THEIR BONES

*a bunch of gnomes in overalls run toward you and take your bones out of you*

[maggiekwest]

Thank's for the tag, @kaylinalexanderbooks!

Tagging: you! Comment a ⚡️ to be added

My words: house, shelf, wild, beg Your words: wave, blood, eye, shape

Excerpts from Son of Lightning:

----

“You rip my knowledge from me and call yourself my ally!” Spittle flew from the general’s face. He was gaunt, hunched like an insect over the table.

“You are under no pressure, General,” the teenage boy replied. He was around sixteen, slim and lanky, a head of brown curls, a wild spray of freckles across his sandy skin.

“You come into my house,” our general hissed, flailing gestures at the boy before him. “You dare to—”

The boy clamped a hand over the general’s mouth as his eyes met Tozio’s. The general clawed himself free.

----

The library doors slammed back against the walls and we moved through the stacks of shelves, guided by memories of a boy escaping his intense training behind towers of books.

----

“You want me to beg for my life, but you’re standing on the last plank of a burning ship.” Ishkur smiled. “My curse will fall. And it will strike down everything you think you still have.”

----

All excerpts are from my book "Son of Lightning," a ya elemental fantasy with a magic system based in Robin Hood folklore. The character Ishkur, mentioned in the last excerpt, is the true name of the immortal sorcerer Guy of Gisborne. ⚜️🖤

[probablybadrpgideas]

Reverse railroad your players.

Under no circumstances let them get involved with the plot.

[aschlindartroom]

OC Ask Game: Explorations (The Fun Stuff)

I got the itch to make one of these! You know the drill. Send an ask with the emojis I’ll answer. Reblog if you want asks about your blorbos!

👖Jeans, skinny jeans, or sweatpants?

🐀 What would they do if they were locked in a room with a rat?

🐈 How do they react to being cat-called?

🚘 What’s inside their glove box?

🎶 What song do they swear they hate until they’re alone and start singing it on repeat?

🔪 Open up this character's kitchen cupboards. What do you see?

😨 They accidentally break a vase. No one is around. What do they do?

🌭 Deep down, do they believe a hot dog is a sandwich?

💰 If they won the lottery, how would they spend the money?

🎤 Do they sing in the shower? What do they sing?

😳 Why don’t they like how their voice sounds in recordings?

🏠 What's the first thing they do when they get home for the evening?

🤓 What is one thing that they "nerd out" over?

🕺 Do they dance when they're alone? Are they good at it?

🤕 What’s the dumbest way they’ve been injured?

🍺 What's their favorite drinking game? If they don't drink, their favorite card or board game. What's their approach to winning?

🤑 For a million dollars, would they punch their best friend in the nose? Either way, have the character defend their answer.

😴 If they talked in their sleep, what weird jumble of words would come out?

🖌 If they spray-painted a city wall, what would they write / draw?

Some questions taken, loosely, from here, here, and here.

[maggiekwest]

🌭 Deep down, do they believe a hot dog is a sandwich?

Yes, absolutely. If called out, Jack would launch into an hour-long “But wait hear me out” speech. 😂

[maggiekwest]

Can I just stuff my face into a book hard enough I obtain magical powers via osmosis?

[maggiekwest]

“I don’t want to go to work” but actually it’s “I want to spend every waking moment pretending I’m a character in a fantasy novel and it’s hard to do that when I’m solving Carol’s e-mail verification issues”