#arcadia excerpt

[kwriteswords]

ARCADIA | WIP (RE)INTRODUCTION 

genre➤ ya fantasy 

pov➤ alternating first person

status➤ reoutlining for fourth draft rewrites

themes➤ identity exploration, confronting past trauma, duty vs. integrity, fear of self, facing reality, and searching for “home”. 

cw➤ guns, violence, descriptions of blood and mild gore, physical and mental abuse, mild body horror, and self-harm. 

BLURB

In Brumania, only one word strikes fear in the hearts of its people. Wolves. They're dangerous, according to Her Majesty, because they can conceal their beastly forms beneath a human skin. She’s vowed to destroy them with her specialized army, and hopes that Fredrick will become her best soldier. After all, who better to track down the wolves than a wolf himself? 

After failing a test of loyalty, Fredrick is sent away to prove himself. Soon, he meets Sloane, a girl from a ruined city who's convinced she's human. When she shifts into a wolf for the very first time, the explosive revelation forces her to flee the comforts of her isolation, confronting the reality of who and what she is. While she struggles to keep herself and her friends safe, memories of a siege that took away her family come flooding back, reigniting her hatred towards the soldiers and Her Majesty.  

As Sloane learns more about her wolf identity, Fredrick tries to forget his, struggling to live up to the expectations placed on him. However, wolves have long memories, and the two will need to confront their pasts if they want to survive. After all, in Brumania, there are few places left for wolves like them to hide.

EXCERPT | Chapter 1 — Fredrick

❝ “You will do as I order you, Fredrick,” Cassia scolds. She then grabs the wolf’s face, and presents it to me. 

Hanna’s ashen eyes are large, tears pooling at the rims, too terrified to blink them away. Please don’t, she urges me with her thoughts. You are one of us.

Just for that I want to shoot her. How dare she violate my mind, knowing that as a wolf, I cannot help but listen.  I am human, I remind myself. Everyday for the last eight years, and will be for the rest of my days. The truth rings as clear as a raven crying across an empty field.

I draw the pistol from the holster on my hip, and point it directly at her forehead. Part of me has always known this day would happen eventually; and now, after years of falling asleep to my own anger, dreaming of when I could finally get revenge for the humiliation and betrayal I’ve suffered, here it is. Offered to me by the queen herself. 

Hannah pleads again. You are one of us.

My finger hovers over the trigger.

No. I am not. ❞

tag | excerpts | spotify playlist

Let me know if you’d like to join the taglist for future updates/posts about this wip!

[wolvesofarcadia-archive]

“First” words of NaNoWriMo and it’s already angsty. Fantastic.

[kwriteswords]

This snippet is so funny, considering at the end of this chapter Sloane goes feral and ***** a ******* :)

[wolvesofarcadia-archive]

Wasn't going to share this, but it's the first thing I've written in over a week 😅

Book two is slowly being written with out-of-context moments like this

[wolvesofarcadia-archive]

Another excerpt from my miraculous writing session the other day—this time featuring a vague panic-induced flashback!

[wolvesofarcadia-archive]

ARCADIA EXCERPT | CHAPTER 16 ↳ Elliot’s Backstory (or a part of it at least)

Figured I'd share some fresh content about my boy on his special day (considering I hardly share my writing anymore lately lol)

At first I wasn’t sure how we were going to get inside the cabin. Katie’s more than ready to smash a window, a large, jagged rock already in her hand somehow. But it isn’t necessary. Elliot had knelt beneath a shrub, and dug up a bit of dirt to retrieve a key. Now, he stares at it in his hands, so long that I don’t think he’s even looking at a key anymore, but something else. Eventually, he snaps out of it, and with a big sigh, he places it in the lock, turning it slowly until there’s a soft but audible click.

“Unbelievable,” he mutters.

Katie and I exchange a look. There’s something Elliot isn’t telling us, but I don’t want to be the one to say anything, remembering how defensive Matt was earlier. Katie, on the other hand, never shies away from blurting out exactly what I’m thinking. “You used to live here, didn’t you?”

Elliot doesn’t respond, almost like he didn’t even hear her, and turns the knob. With a loud creak, the door heavily swings open, a rush of stale, woody air escaping from inside. Elliot takes a step into the dark cabin, stopping in the entryway. 

“I didn’t live here, exactly,” he says, making his way across the room. His hand traces along the cabin walls, almost searching, until something switches and suddenly, there’s light. A long, leather sofa takes up the center of the room, with blanket of brown fur draped over the side. “But this is—or was—the hunting lodge my father brought me to a when I was a kid.” Elliot stops in front of a brick fireplace, using the edge of his sleeve to wipe a thick layer of dust off the mantle. 

“You’ve never told us about your family,” I say, nearly cut off by my own sneeze.

Elliot looks over his shoulder to give me a half-hearted smile. “There’s not much to tell.” He shrugs. “They died. I left home. Then I found myself in Mason with you guys.”

“Yeah right,” Matt growls under his breath.

Elliot still hears, and rolls his eyes. “Matt, don’t—”

“No, Ellie, you can’t keep glossing over what happened. Not after that shit storm we just went through.” Matt throws his arms to his side, eyes fierce. “How the hell can you even say that when they were—”

“Murdered? Yeah, I know, Matt. I was there to watch the soldier shoot the bullets into their skulls myself. Excuse me for not wanting to go into the gory details of it.” Elliot grips the edge of the mantle, so tight the wood nearly cracks. His voice crumbles word after word, eyes glistening with anxious fury as he stares down Matt. “Especially right after you almost ended up the same way.”

[wolvesofarcadia-archive]

So... I wrote 1600 words today. I'm more shocked than impressed tbh, but to celebrate, here's some Sloane and Fredrick interaction :)

[wolvesofarcadia-archive]

Last Line Tag

I was tagged by the lovely @moondust-bard some time ago, and I finally have something to share lol. Here's a small scene I wrote from Sloane's POV for book 2

“Was that… Were you singing?”

Fredrick cuts off, starting at my voice. The fresh fallen snow makes it hard to hear, so he must not have heard me approach. He doesn’t blush, but I can feel the warmth radiating off his cheeks. 

“Keep going,” I say, sitting next to him. “I think I liked it.”

He takes that as a challenge, and without missing a beat he picks the song up where he left off. Fredrick sings just like he talks, cradling each word his mouth like a tender thing. The longer I listen, the more I realize it’s actually the other way around. He’s always had a rhythm to his speech that made it hard not to listen, and while I’ve always thought it annoying, I find myself mesmerized. Each note is pulled delicately into the next, catching occasionally in his throat in a way sounded intentional. To be honest, I almost don’t want him to stop.

But then he does. He opens his eyes, having been closed the entire time, and looks out into dim white field. 

Tagging: Anyone that wants to be tagged!!