Still Working On It

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The posts for Queen Titania’s Court, that is. Each one takes focus and making sure I’ve tracked down all the details, and that the formats for the individual posts are consistent. It’s a lot. I get a couple done, and my eyes start to bother me.

Yet, I am getting close. Just five more posts to go, including the finale which I will also write. Perhaps by the end of Memorial Day weekend they will be set up. Depends if we go anywhere for the holiday. (The lake is calling my name.)

Then I have to go over each individual post to make sure I didn’t mix up any of those details. And then it will be time to party!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

It’s Here!

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Toward Adventure! Cleodora, Book 2: Willow Lake. A young girl in orange and tan robes holds a glowing magical staff. A spirit animal with yellow hide and a green mane stands beside her.
Willow Lake (Cleodora, Book 2)

Yes, my latest masterpiece has now gone live. Willow Lake (Cleodora Book 2) is available from Books2Read, which will link to your favorite online book seller.

If you could get into the story of a bold girl who serves the nature spirits in a subversively non-royal, non-capitalist, non-patriarchal setting, I hope you’ll give it a look.

Cleodora’s family are the spirit guardians of Acorn Canyon Shrine. Three years ago, she saved a corrupted spirit instead of fighting it. Cleodora became an archel, bonded with the nature spirit Tef as one soul with two bodies.

But the land of Tenebira is suffering under a terrible drought. It’s all because of something her relatives did at Willow Lake Shrine. Now the auctere of Acorn Canyon’s sacred pool calls on Cleodora and Tef. They must travel to Willow Lake, confront her family, and heal the broken shrine.

If they fail, all life will wither away!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Sparks to Flame

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I have begun tentative work on the opening scenes of The Warlock’s Army. It’s been going pretty well! I thought I would start with my protagonist, Jeniana, sensing the presence of a lost boy and going to find out what his story is. My muse said, “LoL, no! How about an exciting chase scene with derring-do. And a giant crawdad!”

The whole thing has been developing so quickly, I can hardly keep up. Which is great! Except I was supposed to be running small groups with my students today, not making story notes. (Don’t tell the principal, okay?)

It’s fun when a story grows on its own like this. And the themes that are developing are rich, with lots of room for exploration. They are a group where the young women and girls are kept apart from the young men and boys. With the giant crawdad situation, a few of them come face to face for the first time in years. It was surprisingly emotional. The adult who’s running the scheme is treating them as pawns to move on a game board. I suspect the kids are going to bust out of that before long.

Of course, I’m second guessing myself, too. Giant badgers made significant appearances in my Minstrels of Skaythe series. If I bring a giant crawdad into this new story, am I repeating myself? I wouldn’t want to stifle my own creativity. But I also don’t want to do too much work that has to be done over. Talk about bringing your story to a halt.

Anyway, I’m just at the start of this and as I’ve mentioned before, I really do need to focus on Queen Titania’s Court. Regardless, it looks like I’ve found my summer writing project for 2025.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Woman at Work, May 2025

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What’s Happening? I am loving the emergence of spring. Green grass, flowers, bird song, planting seeds and waiting eagerly to see them sprout. My favorite time of year.

What I’m Working On. I am world building on a new project, tentatively called The Warlock’s Army. Since everything is still in flux, there isn’t much more to tell. But, as per my usual, it will feature at least one bold girl with powers!

What’s Next? Queen Titania’s Court is taking shape. I’m pleased with the response so far, though there is still room for more authors. If you happen to know a fantasy writer, send them my way!

Where I’ll be. I am going about town, taking part in protests, but currently don’t have any travel plans related to my books.

Fun and Games. I’m revisiting the classic game, Oblivion, and continuing to tend to my village in Animal Crossing. My current read is The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu.

I hope your spring is coming along beautifully!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

New Project

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Yep, I did have a new project emerge from the mists! It’s a juicy one, but still in the exploratory stages.

I start these things by writing a paragraph about the basic concept. Then I go on to start asking questions about the bones of the story. Who are these characters? Why are they doing this? What kind of society are they living in? Especially with fantasy, I work through the social viewpoint on magic. Is it known and accepted, or strange and feared?

As I work on this, I try to come up with as many possible answers as I can. The next step is to go through and highlight the ones that seem most interesting. And that typically leads to another round of why are they doing this, what does it mean?

Not that I ever develop a full outline with a list of required events or plot beats. My stories are more like a river that flows in (I hope) unpredictable but still valid directions. Usually I do have an idea what I want the ending to look like. Thus far I haven’t developed that.

I also need to consider length. Is this a novel or novella? Who is the intended audience? Based on my initial concept, I doubt it will be a YA title. Though there are a number of child characters, the content is too mature for young readers. Maybe. It’s early to say.

The last step, which I’m currently working on, is to start naming people and places. When you follow your plot like a river, it’s a pain to have to stop and think up names! However, I’m nearly at the point where I can begin drafting and see how the tale takes shape.

I’ll be sharing more of this soon, I’m sure.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Willow Lake

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A young girl in orange robes advances from a dusty beige landscape. She has curly black hair and holds a glowing staff. Beside her is a yellow bobcat with a green mane. The image is framed in dark brown with a metallic gold headline. Text reads "Willow Lake, Cleodora Book 2, by Lucy D. Ford"

I received the printed proof of Willow Lake (Cleodora Book 2) and everything looks good. So I’m happy to say you can pre-order the book in printed as well as electronic formats. Release is scheduled for May 15, 2025.

But of course, now I see a typo in the back cover copy. Guess I’d better hurry up to fix that!

So if you could get into the story of a bold girl who serves the nature spirits in a subversively non-royal, non-capitalist, non-patriarchal setting, I hope you’ll give it a look.

Cleodora’s family are the spirit guardians of Acorn Canyon Shrine. Three years ago, she saved a corrupted spirit instead of fighting it. Cleodora became an archel, bonded with the nature spirit Tef as one soul with two bodies.

But the land of Tenebira is suffering under a terrible drought. It’s all because of something her relatives did at Willow Lake Shrine. Now the auctere of Acorn Canyon’s sacred pool calls on Cleodora and Tef. They must travel to Willow Lake, confront her family, and heal the broken shrine.

If they fail, all life will wither away!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Familiars

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I’ve been reading up on the history of witchcraft. General research for a fantasy writer, you know. I’m not writing anything right now, so maybe I’m hoping to spark a story idea.

But it made me think about why a witch would want to have a familiar. It seems like they would give away the witch’s secret hobby. Yet I also look at them from a role-playing perspective. What sort of things could the familiar do to help the witch?

Anyway, let’s play the Random Question Game! If you were a witch (and I know you would all be GOOD witches) with a familiar, what creature would you want it to be? There are the obvious, cats, but don’t limit yourself. All sorts of other animals were accused of being the witch’s familiar — dogs, rats and mice, a squirrel, a pig, a horse. And, how would your familiar help you in your witchery?

I’d love to hear your ideas!

Also, this may be overly familiar, but submissions are open for my annual blog event, Queen Titania’s Court. If you know a writer who might be interested, I hope you’ll pass the lead along to them.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Queen Titania’s Court 2025

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The silvery gates of Faerie are about to open up! That’s because this June I’m hosting my annual blog event, Queen Titania’s Court. And I’m inviting my fellow fantasy authors to take part.

The setup is that one character from one of your books will be summoned to Queen Titania’s Court. You’ll you’ll answer a couple of questions, interview style. This gives you a chance to show off your book in a more fun way than just an ad or the cover copy.

It’s a chance for Indy fantasy authors to shine. Whether you work is epic, contemporary, urban, fairy tale, grimdark or cozy — if it can be categorized as fantasy, this is for you. It’s also my chance to reach out and support the community of Indy fantasy authors.

If you’re interested, all you have to do is e-mail me, CAT09tales -at- protonmail -dot- com. Or if you aren’t a writer, but you know someone who is, please give them to info. I’ll get you all the details. It’s so simple! I look forward to planning this year’s event with everyone.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Coming Soon

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A young girl in orange robes advances from a dusty beige landscape. She has curly black hair and holds a glowing staff. Beside her is a yellow bobcat with a green mane. The image is framed in dark brown with a metallic gold headline. Text reads "Willow Lake, Cleodora Book 2, by Lucy D. Ford"

Yes! Willow Lake (Cleodora, Book 2) is up for pre-orders on Books2Read. This is for the e-book; the paperback is set up but I won’t officially add it until I’ve seen a physical proof.

Release is scheduled for May 15, 2025. That gives me plenty of time to make tweaks before publication. I’d love to hear what you think!

Cleodora’s family are the spirit guardians of Acorn Canyon Shrine. Three years ago, she saved a corrupted spirit instead of fighting it. Cleodora became an archel, bonded with the nature spirit Tef as one soul with two bodies.

But the land of Tenebira is suffering under a terrible drought. It’s all because of something her relatives did at Willow Lake Shrine. Now the archel of Acorn Canyon’s sacred pool calls on Cleodora and Tef. They must travel to Willow Lake, confront her family, and heal the broken shrine.

If they fail, all life will wither away!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Progress Report

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As previously announced, my next publication will be Willow Lake (Cleodora, Book 2). I have begun the many steps toward that goal.

The first thing, after completing all revisions, was to write back cover copy. I finished that earlier in the week. Back cover copy might seem like one of the last things to do, but actually I need it for most of the next steps. When I get to assigning ISBN numbers and publishing through Draft2Digital, I have to put in a description in order to complete those registrations.

I will also need it for doing the paperback cover in Canva. I have a rough draft in progress, but I like to let it rest for several days and come back to it with fresh eyes. Maybe I’ll think it’s ready, but maybe something will jump out at me and I’ll continue working on it. That is ongoing.

Currently I am working to format the for ebook publication. I hope to finish that today. Then it will be on to the paperback formatting. And then I will begin the actual publication.

Onward!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.