Auden Johnson's Blog, page 12

Creating "To Other Worlds'" Print Cover, With Design Tips for Indie Authors

I generally don't have a preference for book format. Ebook, print, audio, I don't particularly care. I just like books. But, there is a special kind of feeling when I've finished the print cover for my book. Maybe it's because seeing the full front and back cover makes it seem real. But, designing a print cover is something special, in a good and slightly annoying way.
Here's To Other Worlds' cover for posting online:
Since I don't want the headache of trying to make a photo book look pretty as an ebook, To Other Worlds will be only available as a hardback. Maybe, eventually, I'll look into turning it into an ebook. I think Apple Books is good for publishing image-heavy titles. 
With that in mind, I probably should've made the print cover first. The way I created that above cover made it difficult to turn it into a full print cover.
For those who don't know, when publishing a print book, the publisher, whoever that is  (Amazon KDP,  ImgramSpark...), will give you a template.
You'll fill out a form with your book's trim size, type of paper, whether or not it has color interior and page numbers. Then, the publisher will generate a temple, usually pdf, that you design on.
For print books, the size, in general, is 8x5, 8.5x5.5 or 6x9. You can do large or smaller but those three are the most common. Your interior is black and white on cream paper. You don't publish a novel on white paper because studies show reading on white paper makes people's eyes tired. Some publishers will limit the number of pages you can have in a book. 
The Lost Sciell, at 678 pages, is the largest print book I've published so far. It was actually longer. But, when I entered the data into Amazon KDP's cover generate, they said my book was too long for 8.5x5.5 trim size. So, I went through the book and deleted certain sections. I also change the trim size to 6x9. Just keep that in mind if your book turns out to be longer than expected. 
It's usually best to have an actual print book by your side as a reference. Bluebird by Bob Staake was the closet thing I had on my shelf to my book so, I kept that nearby for help. 
Here's one thing I noticed when examining print books over the years. Look at your shelf and all your book's spine. The title and author name all face the same way. They face toward the back cover not the front. I believe it's so if your book is ever laid down on a flat surface, cover-up, the spine info won't be upside down. 
Indie authors, before you publish a book whether it's print, ebook or audio, please study other books in that format. I used to open ebooks with such terrible formatting I couldn't finish it. Clearly, the author either never studied ebook formatting or they didn't care. Fortunately, I don't come across awful formatting as often as I used to. 
Usually, with print covers, you want the front, back and spine to look like one large image when laid flat. The easiest way would be to stretch the front cover's background so encompass the spine and back cover.
With the way I created my front cover, I could 't make the print cover look like one seamless image without changing the entire design. I didn't want to do that so I spent a couple of days playing around with the image until I could fake it. 
This is not one seamless image but it looks like it.  


For the book's description on the back, I wanted to do something different. Usually, I put the summary on a simple white background so people can read it. But, that's kind of boring. I experimented with formatting in Photoshop to see if I could somehow bury the square into the image, matching the title design. I really like how this came out.
Here's the full summary. I didn't include the entire thing on the book because all that text would mess up the design.

A story can blossom from a single photo.

As a visual person, images are essential in my writing. It's easier to make a setting come to life if I can see it, even when creating fantasy worlds. I've been fortunate enough to have traveled to diverse places over the past decade. The thousands of photos I've taken give me a sense of place so that even months later, they spark my memory.

Recently, I started a blog series called Story and Photos. I take a series of photos with a related theme like a foggy day and write a story inspired by those images. I don't plot it out beforehand. I collect the photos and just start writing. After a while, the story grows legs and starts running ahead of me. A few want to be novels. Photos have that power. Images can give nearly any muse a nice kick to get it going. You know how some people create stories about people they see on the street? I weave fanatical and sometimes scary stories about places and things I photograph.

Journey to other worlds with full-color photos that will make you feel like they were captured on an epic fantasy quest. Maybe some of these photos will ignite your imagination.
I set the release date for on June 16, 2020, but I'm having issues uploading the file to IngramSpark. I create all my book files using InDesign. ImgramSpark seems to be InDesign friendly but it's having me use the program in a way I haven't before. Unless the file's fine and my internet is just slow. For now, To Other Worlds will come out on June 16. Follow me on social media for updates. 
Add To Other Worlds On Goodreads

Animal Crossing: Get Inspired by Rosewood, the Creepy Island With an Immersive Story [Video]

  

I watch a lot of Animal Crossing Let's Plays to get some ideas for my own island design. A couple of days ago a YouTuber I follow, TagBackTV, talked a lot about their tour of Rosewood. It's a horror-themed island with a story. Apparently, YouTube kept suppressing the video because of that theme. This island seemed right up my alley but, for some reason, I didn't search for the video. It never showed up in my recommendations. 
One day, I had YouTube playing in the background. I was half-watching it while working on something else. I was just letting YouTube do its thing, play more Animal Crossing videos. Eventually, this started playing.


I usually mark something as good if it pulls me away from my screens. I had to stop what I was doing to watch this video. 
Now, I understand why TagBackTV recommended this particular island tour. It has a cool immersive story behind the design. That is a well-done island. This is only Part 1. I can't wait for Part 2. I'd recommend subscribing to TagBackTV if you're looking for some Animal Crossing advice.  
I've been wanting to change up my island design but I couldn't think of what to do. This island gave me inspiration to turn mine into a kind of paranormal hotspot. I'm also throwing in some cult undertones. My island theme is "looks normal but something's not right." 

Fantasy Artwork: Reaching for Freedom

For just a moment, he wanted to be left alone. Drifting across the water with such beautiful scenery should have been relaxing except his phone kept ringing. He had tried once, leaving his phone at home or at least, turning it off. The amount of rage that came down on him from friends and co-workers had destroyed the peace he had gained. He had warned them all beforehand and yet he was still called selfish and irresponsible.
His phone rang once again. This time it was his boss asking him to do something that could've waited until Monday. Was it so wrong to want a moment to himself? Everyone said it was. Not everyone. The loudest ones said it was wrong. 
Maybe he needed new friends. That thought arose whenever he was alone. He pushed it away again.
Strange blue light rolled across his boat. He pulled himself out of his thought to really see the landscape. He couldn't process the scene before him. His mind tried but it was like trying to grip water. He was tempted to photograph it and send it to someone. Maybe they would know what this was. But, he couldn't move. The scene was so entrancing. His phone rang again but it wasn't as loud and annoying as usual.
Beautiful blue lanterns covered the sky. Immense branches wove through them like a road. He was struck by this almost overwhelming desire to climb those branches and let them lead him to worlds unknown. He stood, the boat almost throwing him in the water, and reached for the sky. It was silly. In the back of his mind, he knew this was silly. No matter how hard he worked, he could never touch those branches. That beautiful world would forever be out of his reach. Wouldn't it be better to give up now? But, he couldn't lower his hand. 
People told him to be realistic. He gave up on a lot of things in the name of reality. Why did he always have to let go of what he wanted most? 
Fingers wrapped around his. They felt like the sun on his skin after being inside all day. The hand pulled and he found himself standing on the branches, starting down at his boat. A figure made of lights and shadows joined him. He should've been afraid. He should've been but, he wasn't. His stomach bubbled in a way it didn't do often. Excitement. He was excited. 


....
I created the above image from this:


I took this shot out the window of the Metro-North train on my Beacon, NY. 
Since I'm just starting out with photo manipulation, I wanted something that wouldn't need a lot of editing. This photo is perfect because it's simple and has a lot of sky. I added two stock images from Shutterstock. This one and this one.
I don't know if it's done. I keep going back to it and changing minor details. It may be done and I'm just being a perfectionist. This wasn't the first image I used. When I started this project, I had intended to go in an entirely different direction but it didn't work. I came across this photo while looking for something else. 
I keep saying I want to do more photo manipulations but never got around to it. Being stuck at home for several months has given me some time to think. It's time for a change but, nothing will happen if I don't do something. Nothing will change if you don't do something. 

7 Places to Find Inspiration for Your Magic System (Infographic)

If only magic was real. It's not but I can give my characters the powers I want. You can make a fantasy world without magic but I find it more fun to include it.

Usually, I go into a story already knowing what kind of powers I want to give my characters. I'll add some extra stuff to make it more interesting. Then, I'll sit back and work on making it believable.

My paranormal investigator series is presenting a little problem, though. By the time I started The Unburned Island, I'd published about 12 books. All of them had characters with powers, which meant I was running dry on ideas. I'm working on Book 2: The Wailing Town, and I still haven't assigned special abilities to two characters. I'm also having trouble pinning down the paranormal baddy's ability.

Here's an infographic to help you if you ever get stuck working on your magic system, some places to go for inspiration.



Twist folklore 
You see this often in werewolf and vampire stories. Those paranormal beings have been used to death. How can you write them in a unique way? Some people won't have their vampires turn to dust in sunlight. The vampire will get sick and if they stay out too long, then they'll die. It's been interesting to see how authors rework mated pairs in werewolves stories to make it a bit more realistic.

For The Wailing Town, I've been researching different folklores to find inspiration for the baddy. One folklore about a dream creature, don't remember which one, inspired the book's name.

Opposites
Usually in fantasy, black is evil, white is good. I like to switch it up. What if the demon isn't the bad guy? What if that bight, beautiful town is home to a dark power?  How about a character with a dark power they don't despise and instead finds a way to use it for good.

Ask an Online Fantasy Group
I've been seeing fantasy group discussions on how to make a unique or original magical system in general. Sometimes, people will give details about their system and ask for suggestions to make it better.

Try:
Facebook Group: Fantasy & Science Fiction Writers
Reddit: r/magicbuilding

Fantasy Art
Just scrolling through fantasy artwork on Pinterest gives me some good ideas for magical powers and mythical creatures.

I've been collecting images on this board for help with the baddies for The Wailing Town.

Anime
I mentioned earlier that I usually fall back on anime when I'm running low on inspiration. Anime has influenced a lot of my writing.

It's not for everyone but I generally pull inspiration from Bleach, Inuyasha, Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Avatar: The Last Airbender is not anime but it has an amazing magic system. If you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it.

Books
When people mention unique magic systems, Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn always comes up. I haven't read it but it's on my to-read list.

Here are a few more books you can read for inspiration:
10 Fantasy Books with Unique Magic Systems
What fantasy novels have got the most unique magic systems?Top 10 Magic Manga [Best Recommendations]
Magic manga

Research Non-Western MythologyA lot of fantasy stories are based on European culture. I've started researching different African myths to add some variety to my stories. Because I'm into anime, I've been doing a lot of research into Asian mythology as well. In general, fantasy books are based on western culture so using non-western mythology for inspiration would make your magic system unique.  

What inspired your magic system?

Inspiration for Your Magic System (Infographic)

If only magic was real. It's not but I can give my characters the powers I want. You can make a fantasy world without magic but I find it more fun to include it.

Usually, I go into a story already knowing what kind of powers I want to give my characters. I'll add some extra stuff to make it more interesting. Then, I'll sit back and work on making it believable.

My paranormal investigator series is presenting a little problem, though. By the time I started The Unburned Island, I'd published about 12 books. All of them had characters with powers, which meant I was running dry on ideas. I'm working on Book 2: The Wailing Town, and I still haven't assigned special abilities to two characters. I'm also having trouble pinning down the paranormal baddy's ability.

Here's an infographic to help you if you ever get stuck working on your magic system, some places to go for inspiration.



Twist folklore 
You see this often in werewolf and vampire stories. Those paranormal beings have been used to death. How can you write them in a unique way? Some people won't have their vampires turn to dust in sunlight. The vampire will get sick and if they stay out too long, then they'll die. It's been interesting to see how authors rework mated pairs in werewolves stories to make it a bit more realistic.

For The Wailing Town, I've been researching different folklores to find inspiration for the baddy. One folklore about a dream creature, don't remember which one, inspired the book's name.

Opposites
Usually in fantasy, black is evil, white is good. I like to switch it up. What if the demon isn't the bad guy? What if that bight, beautiful town is home to a dark power?  How about a character with a dark power they don't despise and instead finds a way to use it for good.

Ask an Online Fantasy Group
I've been seeing fantasy group discussions on how to make a unique or original magical system in general. Sometimes, people will give details about their system and ask for suggestions to make it better.

Try:
Facebook Group: Fantasy & Science Fiction Writers
Reddit: r/magicbuilding

Fantasy Art
Just scrolling through fantasy artwork on Pinterest gives me some good ideas for magical powers and mythical creatures.

I've been collecting images on this board for help with the baddies for The Wailing Town.

Anime
I mentioned earlier that I usually fall back on anime when I'm running low on inspiration. Anime has influenced a lot of my writing.

It's not for everyone but I generally pull inspiration from Bleach, Inuyasha, Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Avatar: The Last Airbender is not anime but it has an amazing magic system. If you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it.

Books
When people mention unique magic systems, Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn always comes up. I haven't read it but it's on my to-read list.

Here are a few more books you can read for inspiration:
10 Fantasy Books with Unique Magic Systems
What fantasy novels have got the most unique magic systems?Top 10 Magic Manga [Best Recommendations]
Magic manga

Research Non-Western MythologyA lot of fantasy stories are based on European culture. I've started researching different African myths to add some variety to my stories. Because I'm into anime, I've been doing a lot of research into Asian mythology as well. In general, fantasy books are based on western culture so using non-western mythology for inspiration would make your magic system unique.  

What inspired your magic system?

Animal Crossing: YouTube Channels and more for 5-Star Island Help and Inspiration

I played New Leaf but I'm discovering I didn't' play it. I logged a lot of hours into that game and I still barely scratched the surface. You can do so much in Animal Crossing. Terraforming is new but there's a lot even outside of that. I didn't pay much attention to decorating my town. Didn't even know about hybrid flowers. I'm tempted the play the game again but I don't think I can handle the shade I'm going to get after being gone for 8 years.

Speaking of things I didn't know, I just kept collecting plaques from Happy Home Academy.

I didn't pay much attention to the letter they sent or the points they awarded my house. I kept getting an S ranking. It never occurred to me that it was a good thing until I was watching a YouTube channel. They said the S rank was the highest and I was like "Wait, what?"  I haven't fully paid off my house yet. I have one more room to go.

Here's a wiki on increasing your house's rating.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch) Wiki Guide

I'll admit, I didn't have any of these things the post mentioned in mind when decorating my house. I just like designing and Animal Crossing lets me do a lot of that. 
I finally got a 5-star rating!


My Lily of the Valley didn't show up until a couple of days later.



I didn't do any time traveling or pack my island with a bunch of items just for the points. I'm also not a bellionaire. I've been playing the game since it came out, watching YouTube videos and Googling design inspiration.
Here are the YouTube channels that helped me:
ZackScottGames



TagBackTV



Austin John Plays  


r/AnimalCrossingTours on Reddit is also good for inspiration.

I am playing this game by myself. None of my friends or family members have Animal Crossing so I'm still missing a lot of fruits and flowers. Apparently, you can still get a 5-star rating despite that. I do kind of wish I knew people who played this game. I may check out a discord, which I didn't even know existed until I started watching those YouTube videos.

For hybrid flowers, I've been using this post:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons flowers and hybrids guide

So far I've been able to get:

Blue hyacinths
Orange hyacinths
Pink hyacinths
Pink windflowers
Pink lilies
Orange lilies
Orange tulips

I just got a black tulip today!

I also have black lilies but I got them from a mystery island. Because of Leif, I'm finally started working on hybrid mums and cosmos. Just got a pink one today.


Right now, the blue hyacinths are my favorite.



Here's another hybrid flower post:

How to create hybrid flowers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing is really letting me get my creativity on and I love it. I heard they're going to be giving us new content for the next 2 years. I'm looking forward to that. 

Spring Macro Photography

I stumbled onto some little spring treasures on my walk with Oreo. Flowers are pretty in general, especially during the spring when they're everywhere. But, it's more interesting to find unusual ones. My neighborhood has a lot of red and yellow tulips so when I see other colors, I get excited.

Photographing these flowers straight on creates a beautiful shot.


Beautiful but boring. Fortunately, no one was on the sidewalk at the time so I didn't have to worry about being in people's way. I parked myself in front of those flowers, got as close to them as I could and experimented.



Sometimes, a straight-on photo will work if I get close.



I also came across this lovely on the same walk. I had to get pretty close to the bush to even see it.


For this below pic, I wish the whole flower was in focus but I enhanced and cropped the photo to highlight the water drop because that is in focus.

Work in Progress: Fantasy Map-Making

Sorin, the dead land. The province no one visits unless their desperate or corrupt.

Years ago, I created 7 maps for my Merging Worlds series. In Book 2: Chains of the Sciell, characters started mentioning places in overseas lands. It was time to include a world map in the book.


I created each land in a separate document and then added them to the world map once they were finished. It was probably the harder way to go about things but it was a fun project. I'm glad I designed it that way now.

Most of the Merging Worlds series has taken place on Jael. I will admit, I didn't put as much effort into designing other lands and I did with Jael. Characters simply mentioned other places. They never went there.

Book 4: The Sciell's Legacy deals with other lands. Some characters grew up overseas. Other's are spending a great deal of story-time in other provinces. It's time to update the maps.

I talked about creating Cayden in another post.

Sorin is next. I haven't decided yet if characters are going to spend some time there but they might. It'll make the story longer, though. One character, Danyal, is actually from Sorin and he's quite happy to never return.

Here's the original:

I noticed something off right away as I was zooming in to fix the rivers. The edges look like something took a bite out of Sorin.  Land edges are more sharp than round. I experimented with different brushes in Photoshop to fix Sorin.


One of the main reasons I love Photoshop, there's more than one way to get a result. You're really only limited by your creativity. I have a lot of map brushes loaded into the program. They make it easier to add things like mountains, forests, cities... Mountains have sharp points, so I used a mountain brush to fix the edges of my map.

Next are the land textures.

At this point, I'm not creating textures from scratch. I'm just copying and pasting them from one map to the other and then tweaking it to fit the land's personality. This time I'm using Cayden as a reference.


Then I was reminded of Sorin's history.

It's known for weapons manufacturing. That's not the only thing it does but most of Sorin's money comes from the creation and exporting of weapons. They don't glorify in war but they obviously aren't upset when one breaks out.

At the end of Book 1: The Sceill, walls of Darkness rose all over the world. Everyone blamed Sorin.  Even cities in Sorin blamed each other, which caused a civil war to break out. When no one admitted to creating the walls, every other province in the world attacked Sorin. They devastated almost every part of the land, destroying every warehouse, every manufacturing plant. Some even killed the people responsible for making weapons.

This did nothing except turn Sorin almost unlivable. The land never recovered. By Book 2, people only travel to Sorin for parts that they can sell in other places for a high price. Not a lot of people make this trip because sane people avoid the land. If you're taking the trip, you have to know how to defend yourself.

When it comes to design, Sorin's colors aren't going to be as pretty as Cayden's. Simply copying and pasting the land texture won't work. I did a Google image search for war-torn lands to get some ideas and added a little brown to the forest area.

Most fantasy maps don't show devastation by battle but I wanted to see if this one could, just for fun. A lot of images I found on my Google search showed a lot of craters. I searched Shutterstock for stock images of craters and found this one.


It became this on the map:


I don't hate but...I don't know. I tried these:



But I didn't like the results any better. Then I found this one:

It became this on the map:


Okay. We're getting somewhere. I'm still on the fence about it because I don't care for the white spots in it.

I wanted some other damaged textures so, I found this:

Which became this:

I'm still experimenting. This is what I have so far.


I'm getting close. It might just be a matter of a few small tweaks. I don't know what, though. I'm letting it sit for a bit.

I think my hang-up is that this isn't pretty like Cayden but Sorin is not supposed to be pretty.

I kind of love it in black and white, though.

Who Is Your Fantasy Book's Audience? Reddit Can Help

Have you ever tried researching your genre's audience? Just Googling fantasy readers? You won't find a lot. Most of the content is usually dated or you can't vet them. I've tried using those databases you can only access through your school or local library. Even then, it's difficult to find genre market research data.

Why do I need to do market research? Everyone can enjoy my book. Plenty of posts have addressed this topic. Everyone is not your audience. There is no book out there that everyone likes. No product that's for everyone. Even the bestsellers.

If finding data on your audience is so difficult, how can you do market research? Social media's great for that.

A comment on a Facebook group drew me to Reddit. Now, that's a place to do some great market research.  I was actually surprised. For some reason, Reddit didn't have that good of a reputation in my mind.

I follow r/fantasy. I don't comment or post. Mostly, I pop in every now and then and read the discussions. Often people will ask what readers like and dislike about fantasy-What do you wish you saw more of in fantasy? If you see a trend in the comments and your book has it, use it in your marketing. If you see more people want magic in their books and your story has a lot of magic, focus your marketing on that aspect.

Sometimes people will ask for recommendations similar to a certain book or in a certain subgenre. Something like this: Looking for recommendations for dark/gothic/supernatural high fantasy? Check out the recommendations on Goodreads or Amazon. Read reviews. See what keywords people are using to describe them. Use those keywords in your marketing campaign. Check out the author's website. Do you notice any trends in the design?

Do those authors have social media accounts? Where do they spend the most time? I found most fantasy authors in my subgenre have Facebook author pages but aren't active on them. They spend their time on Twitter or Facebook Groups.

This next part may sound a little stalkery (because it is) but on Goodreads, people often list their hobbies. Look at the Goodreads profile of those who enjoyed books you discovered on Reddit. See if you notice any trends. Most of my audience plays video games. Knowing hobbies will give you a better picture of your audience and could dictate the kind of keywords you use in your marketing. But, still, be authentic. If you see your audience enjoys video games and you know nothing about them, don't include that topic in your marketing campaign. You don't want to sound like a parent trying and failing to use modern slang.

Below are some Reddit groups you should check out.

r/fantasy
r/fantasywriters
r/horrorlit
r/scifi
r/scifi_bookclub

It is true that readers may like a book they don't normally read. I generally don't read fantasy without magic but I've found some books I enjoy that don't have magic. If you have unlimited time and money, you can market to those people. But, most of us don't. Why waste your time and money marketing your fantasy romance story to someone who hates romance in their fantasy? Shouldn't your bandwidth be spent marketing to people who are more likely to buy your book and spread the word?

Free Dark Fantasy Ebook: Download Creators of Darkness Today

Title: Creators of Darkness (Merging Worlds Series 3.5)
Author: Auden JohnsonGenre: Dark Fantasy

Summary
They gave darkness life
It’s a living power, made good or bad depending on who wields it. This energy lives in darkness, night and shadows. It grows in those hidden areas within you. The parts you don’t want anyone to see.

It gave Darkness life. They gave Darkness life.

Anyone can use this power but Darkness allows only a select few free access. These people went by many names over the years— gods, demons, avenging spirits. One name evolved and outlived the others.

They became the Sciell.

These are their stories.


Shadows shaped like bodies hung from the sky by invisible strings. That was a memory he didn’t need resurfacing. No wonder Cassion couldn’t deal with this. Why did he think Haylan could? Haylan hadn’t spent two nights with these things as a little one. He had simply walked under the bodies for half a day before finding Cassion and leading them out. Cassion never talked about those two nights. Haylan never figured why those shadows hung from the sky or even if they were still there.

A memory screamed at Haylan. Of a forest and shadows hanging from the sky. Cassion wasn’t alone this time. Someone was talking to him, pointing at the bodies. A white light invaded the memory as Cassion suppressed it. Cassion found the forest. What he learned, apparently, added energy to his nightmare.

I will kill you if you ask me about it. Cassion said to his mind.

“I’m not interested.”

The stifling scent of decay rolled over him. The bodies rocked. Back and forth. In sync, like some twisted dance. They all spun then rocked.

Haylan sat back on his legs. It was hard to breathe. His arms wouldn’t stop shaking.

“When we get home, we need to deal with this memory,” Haylan said.

“I’ve tried.”

“Try harder.”

Cassion placed a shaking hand on his back and pushed him forward.

“Just deal with this.”

How did he break the illusion last time?

Nearly breaking my hand. Cassion said.

“But this time, we both know it’s not real.”

Cassion was not going to like this.

We are not ignoring it. Remove them.

Cassion hand was still on his back. He, once again, lost a measure of control of his power. Thin pins kept shooting into Haylan’s skin, knocking off his concentration.

“You spend a lot of time in these negative landscapes, you must’ve come across this illusion before. What did you do?”

“Nothing. I left and sent in Manyt to purify the entire area.”

Haylan wasn’t going to do that. He wasn’t experienced in cleaning negative emotions. This wasn’t the time to practice. Cassion would have to deal with this.

A body dropped about four paces in front of them. The mound of shadows rose like smoke, taking the shape of a robed figure. It moved like it was controlled by loose strings.

Haylan had dreams of this. Years ago. They never moved the day he found Cassion. He dreamed they did. Every night, they cut themselves off the strings and surrounded him. Cassion’s screams every night had saved him.

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