#avrablake

[emelkae]

Beyond the Darkness by Avra Blake has been RELEASED!

(That makes it sound like it's an animal that someone let out lmao. Beyond the Darkness has been unleashed)

It's here! You can just... have it and read it!

A traumatized telekinetic and a loner telepath must learn to rely on each other in the face of war, betrayal, and their own worst fears.

Beyond the Darkness is a loosely scifi, loosely fantasy, all heart novel by @avrablake. It's got magic and worldbuilding and fight scenes galore, but the best part about it is definitely its characters:

Thea is on the run from a Military Research facility after being horrifically experimented on. Reeling with trust issues and desperate not to get caught, she struggles with her powers and her fragile sense of self-worth. And yet, reading this girl is like watching a fawn slowly transform into a lioness.

Nix is broken. Tortured. You'll never find a poorer little meow meow and I absolutely love it. He's that grumpy, growly, scary character you just know has a heart of gold and then he DOES and it's so amazing, he even surprises himself. And he's also a war criminal. Y'know, obviously.

Gram is the kind of guy you wish would be your dad. Is that weird to say? Oh well, I said what I said. Only someone like Gram could put up with all these weirdos and love them so much anyway.

Kai is the sweetest and most supportive brother you can ever ask for. He's a rock for Thea and his presence on the page is so soothing. I swear I smile every time anything comes out of his mouth.

Lucan, Nolan, and Ryu are precious. You don't go into it expecting to love these guys and then oops they're your favorite

Kaori... >:))))) hehehehehehehe

This book is for you if you like when a novel's biggest focus is its character arcs. Fans of hurt/comfort and found family (like an actual found family and not just an ensemble cast) will be really drawn to it. It's about healing, physically and mentally, and finding love despite your scars. And of course the powers, politics, and fight scenes are huge bonuses.

Amazon link

Goodreads link

[oh-no-another-idea]

Trick or treat 🎃

Thanks for the ask! Here's a treat for you, a moodboard for one of my characters, Sutton Byford! 👻🍬

[talesofsorrowandofruin]

Trick or Treat 🎃

👻 Trick! :D

[author-a-holmes]

Hi there 👋 and Happy Saturday.

What's your favorite thing about your current wip? The thing you're most proud of or excited about or the thing that makes you want to gush the most? (Something like a particular character dynamic, scene, theme, worldbuilding facet or something else?)

Heya Avra!

This has been sitting in my inbox since February, I'm so sorry for the delay!

I didn't want to spoil anything on the leadup to Changeling's release, and then since it was actually launched out into the world I've been struggling with some powerful burnout.

when you first sent this I had finished Changeling and was just counting down to release date, so for Changeling what I was most excited about people finally reading about Lizzy and Booker and Andric.

To choose one specific scene, I was really curious to see how readers reacted to Lizzy's greatest fear. I feel like I tried to get it come through the narrative throughout the book, but there's one moment where she admits it aloud to Andric that I've felt was quite powerful ever since I wrote the scene. (And one reviewer did mention it in their review, that it broke their heart! So success!)

As a bonus, and an apology, for making you wait so long for a reply, I'll share the thing I'm most enjoying about writing Darkling...

So Darkling spoilers beneath the cut, but...

I'm REALLY enjoying writing the character dynamic between Lizzy and a new character in Book 2, Connorbar Moore.

There are loads of spoilery things I could say about their growing dynamic, but I'm just enjoying every scene where I get a moment to put them together.

In some way's they're very similar characters. Very stubborn, both refusing to back down, and every time they interact there's a growing level of respect between them that neither of them are comfortable with.

It's just a LOT of fun, and I can't wait to share more about Darkling with everyone but it's much harder to know what I can safely share with a sequel than it is with a book 1.

[angsty-prompt-hole]

🖊️

I scrolled through my OC list at random for a little bit and stopped on Cyrus Merrick.

Cyrus is the older brother of Jackson Merrick, and one of the reasons Jackson ran away from home. Their father was incredibly abusive, and that made Cyrus cruel in turn. After Jackson ran away and their father was killed, Cyrus inherited his father's business: an illegal underground fighting ring. Under their father, it had been dog-fighting, but Cyrus was approached by a man by the name of Simon Pryce, and that changed everything.

Simon offered to sell him non-humans that he could pit against each other and guaranteed that Cyrus's profits would skyrocket. Simon was right too; the business boomed after that. Simon and Cyrus eventually decided on a partnership regarding the business, and they spread it to other dimensions. Fighting rings were established in other dimensions and soon Cyrus was rich.

At least, until he made the mistake of kidnapping Illonna Sinclair and Kirsty McCallahan, two members of the infamous interdimensional gang-for-hire the Bloodhunters. After that, he ended up having to face his brother again, and with the help of the Bloodhunters and Kira Shade, Jackson destroyed Cyrus's entire business.

Cyrus is a real skeevy dude who really gets a rise out of other people's pain, and who thinks the world owes him because of what his father did to him. That makes it really easy for him to hurt others and to run something as inhumane and horrifying as an interdimensional fighting ring. The only one that he really cared for was he and Jackson's mother, but she died not too long after Jackson ran away and their father died, leaving him all alone.

Here is a picrew ref I have of him. He lost his eye when one of the dogs his father used to keep attacked him. The chunk out of his ear was from a kidnappee who tried to pull one over on him and kill him. He also uses obscene amounts of hair gel.

[writeblrsupport]

@avrablake is an awesome writer with some really cool wips, with amazing and distinctive characters! Plus you will find very supportive and enabling vibes, and tons of encouragement!

[jess-p-edits]

Thank you for thinking up Blorbo Blursday! It’s my new favorite day.

I would like to know more about the relationship between Krieve and Godric. It sounds like my type of friend dynamic.

Thank you so, so much for this ask!!!!!!! And of course! I saw @jacquesfindswritingandadvice blorbo post and literally just thought…haha, Blursday… I know a ton of us writers here love character-driven stories, so it made sense to make it a whole day! I hope it catches on!

So: Krieve and Godric!! I absolutely love their dynamic! In the beginning, they are definitely your classic grump and ray of sunshine pair. King’s Guard Commander Emile Alberich Krieve is a delightfully uppity stick-in-the-mud and Captain Godric Alderswulf is a wonderful golden retriever of a man! They are both incredibly loyal to their home kingdom, to a near fanatical degree, especially at the start of the story. While Krieve is very vocal and obvious about his disdain for other lands during the exchange, Godric….is much more subtle about it, but it’s definitely there (I promise some important character development happens. They are absolutely examples of “you are not immune to propaganda”.) This provides some common ground for the two and at the end of the day, they have massive amounts of respect for each other. They are very much friends and equals. In the story, Krieve and Godric travel for quite a bit of time along with their assigned representatives for the world exchange, so we also get plenty of opportunities to see them interacting together and navigating these unprecedented orders from their king to make nice with the other lands.

They don’t clash so much as simply contrast with one another. At times, Krieve is envious of Godric’s effortless charisma, especially when it helps Godric connect with the representatives that he is paired with during the exchange. Krieve, uh, has a little bit of a harder time connecting with outsiders. At least Godric is there to support him in that endeavor with some well-meaning ribbing!

Commander Krieve scrutinized himself in the mirror. He always kept an impeccably tidy appearance. His shining silver commander’s armor was formal enough for tonight’s ball, though a fine cape hung over his back, its fur ruff making his shoulders appear even broader. He sighed as he swept an errant piece of hair from his forehead.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be the prettiest one at the ball,” Sir Godric said.

Krieve didn’t turn, glaring at Godric’s reflection peering over his shoulder. “The intruder from yesterday. He is taken care of?”

“Oh, him?” Godric scratched the side of his nose and shrugged. “He escaped last night.”

Krieve whipped around. “What?!” He fumbled with the silver clasps of his cape. “How was I not-!? I must leave at once to-”

Godric held up his hands. “I was joking,” he said with a laugh. “The spy has been dealt with, of course. You, on the other hand, seem far too eager to get out of tonight.”

Krieve’s cape was already halfway off his shoulders. He grumbled as he straightened it. “The night is still young, my friend. Perhaps some other catastrophe will happen within the next hour.”

[diphthongsfordays]

Hi there 👋

What’s a challenge you are currently struggling with in your writing? And alternatively what is one thing in your writing you are excited about?

Hi Avra! Thanks for the ask!

My current biggest struggle with writing is...actually writing, lol. Job and family and other life stuff keeps getting in the way - and I'm happy with all of that stuff, it just means that writing is a lower priority and so I've written like 300 words in the last five days. Oops, lol. I've had an emotional couple of weeks so I'm trying to be kind to myself about it. Lately I can either write, or I can do life things that have to get done, so I've been doing the life things :-)

Generally though, my biggest struggle with a book is the start and end of the middle third (I'm reaching the end of it in Deathdancer right now). But I still write linearly, so that I can sort out all the big moving pieces and figure out ending details, and then I go back and rework it once I've drafted the ending.

I'm always excited about character dynamics, and characters discovering things about themselves! My favorite thing is having two characters I like in a scene together and letting them just go wild. They say the darndest things, and I love it!

How about you?? Any current writing struggles? What are you excited about?