Hey lovelies! Hope all is well! After a long car ride, I'm on vacation!

Sorry to the mushies since I didn't post a snippet. I was road tripping, but I did get some reading done! I started Our Viscuous Oaths by N.E Davenport. I am loving it!

Now, for a couple of weeks, I'll be working at faire, so I'll have to have the lives on another day. Let's see what works for everyone!

My friday and week has been all out of whack due to packing. SOOOO enjoy this! I got a new edition of Lore of the Wilds.

Maybe I'm obsessed 🤣

Hello my dearies, froomies, and refuses of the gender constructs! Today is Slow Down Sunday and I am sharing my bookshelf!

I will be hosting a live on TikTok at 12pm cst/1pm est where we relax for a bit and just vibe together!

Later on, I'll be at my TTRPG Game, Hex Heist with my friends and just enjoy the day! Feel free to join and watch us!

I hope you get to relax, sleep, rest, and recharge for the week!

Childhood dreams

Balanced precariously on the fallen log that spanned the narrow creek, my arms outstretch for balance. The murmur of water below and the rustle of the forest around us the only sounds, save for Hazel’s laughter. Standing on the bank, hands on their hips, their smile beaming as if they already knew how this would end. Forever and a day ago in another wooded environment, was our safe-haven. It was where adventure happened. We were sorcerers, brave warriors, explorers, and anything that our minds could imagine. 

But most of all, we were friends. 

.

.

.

“We’re never going to grow up, are we?” Hazel asked, their voice soft and wistful.

“Why would we want to?” I replied, closing my eyes to remain in this moment. Laying with them in companionable silence, the world around us remained peaceful. In that moment, nothing else mattered. It was just the two of us, dreams that were too big for our world, and the forest that let those dreams thrive.

But, all perfect things must come to an end. 

“Ezra!” 

I can still hear the booming echo of my father’s voice. The base carried shivers down my spine. The darkness seemed to close in as my name repeated, continuously, weaving a tapestry of fear that was suffocating. Echoes of my name lingered in the air, leaving me paralyzed and my blood running cold. Warmth encircled me, slowing the physical tremors I wasn’t aware of as a bushel of auburn curls tickled at my chin. I chased the comfort, wrapping my arms around Hazel’s figure until I was sure that my heart had stopped racing. The sound of my name drowned out in the wind, and I knew in my bones that I only had a few moments left.

“I am here. He can’t hurt you, Ezra… Ezra… Ezra…”

Hello my dears!

Today is wrap up Wednesday and, we have a couple of things to wrap up and to talk about!!

1. I have been working through my arcs as of late. Being sick'll do that to ya 🤣. But I am reading the third book of the Golden Court series by AK Mulford, A Heart of Crimson Flame. It is as good and bittersweet to come to the end of a series, but I am loving every minute of it.

2. I have been playing the game Date Everything and it's been inspiring my writing again? How, I am unsure but being able to date furniture has helped with my writers block. Do I understand it? NOPE but I am not questioning it!

3. Real life updates, I also have been going on interviews, so fingers crossed!

4. My word count still is at 71,000 but I have been working on plotting as working out more of the framework of the ending. Baby steps, but it's all going well!

5. I also got a hardback copy of Lore of the Tides by Analeigh Sbrana. So I'm still cheesing and geeking at that!

I think that's all of my updates for the time being!!! I hope you all enjoy your week!!

Hey lovelies.

I had content for Fantasy friday as well as Snippet Saturday but I am in the midst of a pretty bad cold which has me not wanting to do anything othet than sleep.

I apologize for the lack of content but wanted to let you know. I shall resume everything soon but I wanted to let you guys know 🧡🧡

Hey my dearies!

I hope all is well with each and every one of you! I have been well, just taking things slow and enjoying my days!

Today is wrap up Wednesday and so, here's the wrap up:

• I have added 500 new words to my current work in progress! Which brings my total to 71,024 out of a projected goal of 80,000! Will it grow, probably, but I'll let the story decide!

• I got the author copies of the anthology that I was a part of, One Page, One Love. Seeing the physical copy got me misty eyed. 🥹 If you haven't read it, please do! There are some incredible authors included, new ones like me too, and all proceeds go to the ACLU.

• I cleaned and reorganized my bookshelf! I can't believe I don't have a doompile shelf anymore (we will see how long that lasts). I'll have to post a tour soon!

• Reading wise, I just finished my arc copy of Evelyn Leigh's second book: Shadowed Obsession. You guys.... IT WAS HOT. I need to YAP about it, so a dedicated review shall be posted soon. Pub date is the 13th, so definitely read it!

That wraps up the wrap up! What are you guys reading? I need more additions to my never ending TBR 🤣.

We are going to dive back into the mind of our favorite Captain of the Royal Guard and Golden Retriever energy of a man, Ezra.

We touched on Hazel's upbringing as we as a snippet of their life as a child, but. we also need to dive into a bit more of Ezra's mind. While it is only briefly mentioned in passing (the harshness of his father and the abuse that he went through as a child as well as the trauma) Ezra was one to often hold it all in as he grew up.

Especially after losing Hazel.

The true snapshot of emotion that we start to see from him, it is when he reunites with Hazel. He begins to think of how lonely he truly was within the nearly 12 years of being separated from them.

Here is a small snippet of that:

For years, while always operating with the best interest of the knights in my care, I never took the chance to grow close to them. Often keeping the conversations brief and focusing on our tasks, I closed myself off after the traumas and the absolute horror knight’s training were. Betrayals played throughout those knighthood halls and grounds, and discord and malice plagued the air as we rivaled one another to become the best of the best. Grueling nights where I took the abuse from those who would later serve under me, I remained in my bed alone. The correspondence from my mother was my only guiding light. It was her I fought for, sending whatever coin I could earn to her and my aunt, hoping it would be enough. Enough to support them, enough to provide. Enough to do what my father failed to do. I rose through the ranks and persevered because maltreatment was the world I grew up in, becoming captain  just shy of my twentieth year. The men who fought to become knights, my brethren in arms, were my comrades in theory only. Their loyalty remaining conditional due to my rise in rank. Many saw me but a child, one that shouldn’t have garnered the prestige as I was younger than most of my compatriots, but I never let it get to me. I never sought for comfort in them, or my accolades. I found it in the letters shared between my mother and I, holding onto the comfort throughout the years I needed it most. That light and familiarity faded when she did as her body eventually succumbed to the sickness that plagued her. My only constant, ripped away from me, the only family that remained was ripped from me, and I was left with the comfort of my duty. My mission. It was the only thing that kept the loneliness from ensnaring me. Kept my mind busy.