Furthermore the idea that suffering creates villains / only those who've suffered can be so villainous is poisonous for everyone: both for those who suffer, & for those who must watch others. It doesn't help us treat ourselves OR others rightly - with compassion, not excuses or expectation of evil.
My QRT:
People who have suffered a great deal, and people who have not, alike choose both good and evil.
If we choose good or if we choose evil, what that choice looks like is affected by the context of what we've experienced: but it is not determined by what, or how much, we have suffered.
From X by @midnightrose838.bsky.social :
As much as I'm NOT a fan of villains portrayed as all evil, I think [not all villains need trauma background].
My own POV villain is broken from early childhood, but some people seek power over compassion without having suffered more than most everyone.
B&N seems to have some kind of weird problem of their own, too - I have no idea why, but they don't seem to want to carry half (if not more) of my paperbacks (just took a moment to check).
If I have to abandon D2D, I will probably simply make my ebooks available free somehow (if I can find a free way to host that, that doesn't take much energy to figure out - unfortunately, with the Smashwords merger, even direct with Smashwords won't work), & sadly - there will be no paperbacks.
I might do the same, but as it is, I will sadly be sticking with D2D as long as I can ... I do not have time in my life right now to figure ANY of these things out, I am FAR too busy with other things, and I have problems with IngramSpark too.
Also, I am going to have to almost completely remove myself from the internet again ... I might check occasionally, but very little.
The temptation sometimes, to respond to certain aspects of current affairs, can be almost overwhelming, but I do NOT want to get into a discussion here.
Skies, this new announcement of a maintanence fee by D2D is a blow to some of us, who've really had life get in our way & haven't been able to continue marketing & writing for a while ... I know $12 dollars doesn't seem like a lot, but it is a nuisance to some of us.
Also, NO IDEA WHY, but apparently right now, in the U.S. market Amazon looks to be selling Kindred of the Sea in paperback for only $2.50!
#fantasy #indiesale
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...
This book is in the #NarraTessIndie #IndieApril sale
Also features illustrations for every chapter drawn by the author (me).
(Thanks again for your thoughtful review & your support @tommock.bsky.social
indiebook.sale
Domovyoi are cool
Happy Huge-Indie-Book-Sale to all who celebrate!
Now's your time to stock up that already overflowing TBR!
Hundreds of books from fantastic indie authors either FREE, 0.99 or 1.99!
--> indiebook.sale
#NarratessSale
#FantasyWorldbuilders
The dolphinesque people have echolocation - like dolphins.
Don't look a lot about the other species yet. Haven't met any of them. In all honesty, don't know A LOT about the dolphinesque ones either (there's only the one wanderer in Kindred of the Sea).
Narratess Fantasy sci-fi april book sale - Kindred of the Sea by Raina Nightingale and other books.
I am honored to announce that my novel, Kindred of the Sea, is in the NarraTess #IndieApril book sale - alongside a lot of other indie books, I'm sure many of them are awesome, but I'm so busy this year I don't know which they are.
indiebook.sale
#AprilWordbuilders
In Kindred of the Sea, on the ocean world Alaer, there are two aquatic species. One is dolphinesque - they can breathe air, but they can spend A LONG TIME underwater. The other one breathes in water.
It depends. Dragons are hunters, so usually animals are afraid of them. But birds are often not afraid & easily learn to sing with them (dragons rarely hunt birds). And some dragons will ... just like a particular species or herd of animals, & make friends with them (& not eat THOSE animals).
✍️ Writing time!
#QOTD: Which chapter of your life was interesting?
Reading Kindred of the Sea by @areaernovels.bsky.social after I write today 🤗
I'll be going live at around 5:45 - 6:15pm BST
Link to #Twitch in my bio 👆
See you there! 🖖
#WritingCommunity #books #vtuber #streamer
Return of the Dragonriders - both Silmavalien & Noren are / would be good with at least some animals, having the opportunity! Noren has a horse he really loves. Also one of the dragons loves animals.
Kindred of the Sea - Corostomir & Aderan don't know any animals.
Thank you for this opportunity! I am honored 💚
Hoping that Raina and her novel will be the first of many I can support in the writing community 🙏
If you're an author who'd like to hear part of your story read aloud on Twitch, I'm more than happy for you to DM me about it 🤗
#WritingCommunity #books #vtuber #streamer
The lovely Sakinah @observingintrovert.bsky.social will be reading the first chapter of Kindred of the Sea on her twitch stream 5:45 to 6:15 BST tomorrow (April 4), if anyone is interesting in joining!
www.twitch.tv/observingint...
#fiction #fantasy #reading
#AwesomeCharacters
This DEMANDS the actual snip of the dumbest thing Rush has ever said to Lara in a lifetime of dumbness around her.
And it has #fool so I’ll offer it to #WIPSnips too even though I’m technically off there awhile for sanity’s sake.
Sorry for the b&w pictures, they are full-color in the ebook, but for some reason I can't find the originals, & I can't open the ebook files on this computer right now, so I took screenshots out of the print PDF for this.
#AprilWorldbuilders
Frelin is an elf city in Kindred of the Sea. It's situated on the beach, at the bottom of a cliff, & its architecture involves buildings made of tarps strung between trees, stonework, & things in-between. It's a quiet, idyllic place - when the Valor Alliance isn't attacking it!
Cool!
#MarchWorldbuilders
It is for my novels, and it largely occurs in the process of writing them, even if some of it isn't made explicit in the novel itself. First I write one story, get to know one thing, then I feel the urge to write another story about someone else, & see another side of things.
#MarchWorldbuilders
Kindred of the Sea - in the Valor Alliance, morality comes from the gods & requires obedience to those who speak for them.
In Elethri - well, how you see these things is a private matter. From your own heart? From God? Still private to you as long as you respect other's rights.
For the Kindred of the Sea, they've lived under the oppression of the Valor Alliance for too long, & even their traditional concepts have been skewed by the oppression & reaction to it. They currently see two primary paths, both sacred to the Sea: the family, & the virginity of the Sea.
4/4
this word acknowledging the responsibility a couple accepts, & the possible effects on their own relationship, when they accept the possibility of bringing a child into the world. But it is still a private decision, without involvement of anyone else. Only royal marriages are even registered.
3/4
They have a word for a close, life-long, tight bond that has NO connotations or implications regarding gender (or the presence or absence of sex in the relationship).
They also have a word for a relationship between a man & a woman that involves or might involve sexual activities --
2/4