#smatterbrain

[kvalenagle]

Did you know @toadalled illustrated many of the local fauna of Belamuria, the setting of the GryphIns series? Thinking about that serpentine whale (basilosaurus) in the upper left with today's writing...

[prideplus]

Hiiiii

I have a really big favour

Somewhere around two weeks ago I saw a post on Instagram, it was a turtle which had a rainbow flag in his shell, it was clear he was closeted, with a text "this month is for you too" (or something along these lines)

Have you seen it? Please help me, I can't find it, I forgot to save it! Thank you xxxxx

Hey @ilwiwbysmv, is this it?

[alphie-in-the-sky]

[kvalenagle]

I hear you can buy 100% genuine pink sparkle Younce feathers in the Crackling Sea marketplace at rock bottom prices. Just ask for Didi, and tell her Iony sent you. "Why are you pink?" - Zeph Parrotbane (Ashen Weald, 2019) 🎨 @toadalled

[kvalenagle]

With Saberbeak being written, I wanted to touch on more Brenda Lyons interior art, and this time we have Hatzel, a smilodon (saber-toothed tiger) plus Haast's eagle gryphon. @toadalled was very useful here in helping me to imagine how the sabers on the beaks would look. When it comes to saber cats, the sabers are an iconic feature that I never saw translated into gryphons. We tend to associate gryphons more with birds, and I wanted to really bring the cat out. Kieran was amazing with that. We looked at colors, too, even though they wouldn't be in the interior art. (You know, juuuust in case Hatzel ever ended up on a cover some day.) That brought in the influences of the black-billed magpies and Cooper's hawks that the character was closely associated with. Sister prides, if you will. I love Hatzel, and many of you have, too. There's a stereotype in gryphonic literature where there's a massive gryphon who is very full of themselves, just a brawler and a love whose arrogance and vanity are unmatched. Hatzel subverts that trope by being extremely level-headed. Whereas characters like Xavi, the denfather, are protective of the gryphlets, Hatzel protects everyone under her care. Of course, when she gets to let loose, there's no more ferocious gryphon in Belamuria. Though she gets PoV time in Eyrie and Ashen Weald, part of having such a stable character is that you're not presented with many opportunities to spotlight her, as she doesn't need to change and grow the way other characters do. It took the entire world changing around her before she earned her time back in the spotlight. With a character like this, the last of her kind (and based on extinct cats and birds), in a pride that's made up of several smaller prides, you're left wondering how she got that way. How her values were shaped by the loss of the saberbeak pride. Or, as the last ruler of Poisonmaw might say... "Family isn't who looks like you. It isn't even a feeling in your heart. It's in your beak and claws, and who you're willing to bloody them to protect."

I'm about 17k words into Saberbeak now, Hatzel's book, and I think we know who her family are.

[kvalenagle]

"This would fix me" and it's just a novel about saber-toothed tiger gryphons.

🎨 @toadalled

[kvalenagle]

What was the Saberbeak Pride like back before they'd gone extinct? One of the best parts of writing Saberbeak is getting a chance to look at the final days of this near-extinct pride of smilodon gryphons and how they shaped Hatzel into the leader she is today. 🎨 @toadalled

[kvalenagle]

Me trying to provide helpful clues for both myself and James Scott Spaid, the audiobook narrator, when it comes to which "a motmot" is which.

"Yes?" (Motmot who sings songs about Stripes' stripes) "No." (Motmot who solves all problems using strips of leather) "Brace yourself!" (Motmot who likes water slides)

🎨 @toadalled