“Please don’t.” Crazy Inquisitive Boy piped. “There’s always stairs. Right there.”

Nathair stared at him blankly. Without Yasha telling him what to do, he was pretty slow reading people and figuring out what people wanted from him. This wasn’t at all helped by the fact that he was sure to be hit whether or not he complied, it was just a matter…[Read more]

Sage watched in confusion as Saga jumped out the window. The spider, naturally, was much bigger now. Almost as big as the couch. It was a little… intimidating. Wait, not out the window!

It… jumped… after the others… Sage decided to look down. Nathair looked down too.

“…Are you going to jump out the window too…?” Nathair asked Leana,…[Read more]

Nathair stared out the window after Alessio. Assumably he could stand safely, he always did.

As the spider grew, Nathair side-eyed the creature, seemingly immortal. It probably had a weakness of some sort, but the boy had already decided he was doomed to get killed again. So he just watched what everyone else was doing.

Panicking. They were…[Read more]

Ohel has proceeded to open door after door, only stopping when he comes to a room which reminds him of his father’s forbidden one.

Ohel approached the desk, but stares at the books (if there are any) with stunned fascination, curiosity, and longing. He’ll touch them tenderly, hesitantly, like a mist that will vanish.

———

Nithel is…[Read more]

BURN

“Heyyy!!!! Get back here!!” The voice yells near the window. It stops a moment, has a conversation I can’t hear over my own stupid stupid stupid heartbeat.

Then I hear, “I’ll be right back!” A suspicious sound, like someone’s gone out the window? Twice in as many minutes? “Come back hereeeeee!!!”

That.

Is.

It.

I push Oscar away and shov…[Read more]

“Uhhmmm…Sorry about that.” The boy who tried to touch his hair was stammering. “I didn’t know…”

Didn’t…didn’t know?! Nathair tensed more, glancing from him to Alessio as if the boy with the mismatched eyes had telepathy or something. But he was just assuming, wasn’t he? Why should he even care if the weird boy knew anything about him? He didn’t…[Read more]

@this-is-not-an-alien, @kimlikesart, @ragnarok, @sarafini

GRIMME

She looks down to see a child.

“Where can I use the restroom?” He is still tugging on her sleeve, eyes big, cheeks rosy.

She rubs the back of her neck. The kinky-coily hair rubs roughly against her hand.

This is … too many children. One, sure, she knew what to do. Three…[Read more]

“We’ll be friends now?” Alessio said, and Nathair’s crystal blue eyes skated across the room suspiciously. “They’re nice people, they won’t hurt you.”

Nathair’s eyes narrowed at him dully, his face turning…unnatural like plaster, stretching tight.

“I…I know,” Alessio gently tugged him upright. “Come on…”

Nathair tensely rose a little, and glan…[Read more]

Thank you all! This was super helpful!! I think I’m going to plan for hitting 80,000 words since that seems like a solid average length for this genre. Thanks again!

Mariah

‘It’s ok’? That’s what he said, but he meant ‘I forgive you.’

If this was to give him another chance at living…Nathair didn’t know. They had so much more than their differences and Alessio would never be reconciled to who he was after all. So why was it so intoxicatingly safe to hear him?

You’re scared of me.

Why didn’t he kill Nathair now th…[Read more]

@rose-colored-fancy

Awesome, thanks so much, Rose! I just sent you an email. And so cool that the story you’re writing is similar! 🙂

@krisb5678

Hi Kristen!

This sounds right up my alley, it’s similar to the story I’m writing! I’d love to beta read it, I have some experience with writing and critiquing short stories, and fantasy is my main genre.

My email is rose (dot) everdeen (dot) author (at) gmail.com, please do drop me an email to discuss the critique you need!

Hi Natalie,

I’m not sure if “Dark Fantasy” has specific genre connotations, but I would say my current WIP is of a darker tone for sure. The overall atmosphere is fairly moody and guilt is a prominent theme. I’ve got some monsters and tried my hand at writing creepier scenes as well. It’s different from anything I’ve written before, but I found…[Read more]

Popping back in a year later. Don’t mind me! 😀 Thanks for the recommendations, everyone! I read and loved Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I’ve also read some of N.D. Wilson’s books and loved those as well.