L.G. Estrella's Blog, page 9

Boy vs Dragon Redux (Flash Fiction Fridays #58)

The boy had returned.

He and his sister had suffered long enough beneath the tyrannical claws of Spot the Drooler. For too long had their cheeks been licked, their hair been ruffled, and their dignity been besmirched!

Today, at long last, they would have vengeance!

“Hah!” the boy jabbed his finger at Spot. “Prepare to meet your doom!”

The dragon opened one silver eye but remain utterly unbothered by the boy’s declaration of righteous vengeance. Instead, he continued to bask in the sun as a certa...

No Surgery Needed

Some oddities on the scans, but all ligaments and tendons are intact. No surgery needed. Physiotherapy is the plan although I’ll have to keep an eye on it and a specialist might get involved depending on how it responds to physiotherapy.

It’s about the best I could ask for since both my knees have long histories of injury. The oddities are related to some findings that would normally be associated with ligament damage, but the scans came back clear and the ligaments are intact. It could be fro...

Boy vs Dragon (Flash Fiction Fridays #57)

The boy was cunning. The boy was wise. The boy was stealthy.

Or so he believed.

With all the patience he could muster, the boy crept around the edge of the courtyard. He knew Black Tower Castle like the back of his hand. Every nook, every cranny, every secret passage.

Or so he believed.

His foe lay slumbering in the courtyard ahead of him, black scales gleaming in the winter sun, a patch of white shining upon his snout. The dragon’s massive wings were folded against his body, and his long, sinuo...

Genre Fiction

One of the pitfalls that I see a lot of writers fall into is either paying not enough attention or too much attention to the conventions of the genre they’re writing in. Now, that probably isn’t a particularly helpful statement to make. It would be better if I could say something like ‘pay 50 units of attention to genre conventions’. Unfortunately, we have yet to quantise attention in a literary sense.

What I should probably say instead is that if you’re writing in a particular genre, it often h...

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. May it be awesome, healthy, and successful.

Reminder

Just a reminder that I have been told by my publishers that Two Necromancers, a Dwarf Kingdom, and a Sky City and The Sheep Dragon are currently on sale on Audible until January 1st. If you haven’t already picked them up, now is your chance.

Dang…

Went to the doctor today about my knee injury. I was hoping that the lack of swelling and other things would portend a more positive outcome. Well… I have to go for scan. More detailed examination suggests possible issues with ACL and MCL.

Yeah. Not ideal.

If you squint…

Santa could just be Gerald flying in a magical sleigh pulled by zombie reindeer-wyverns while wearing a fat suit. After all, he does have nigh-unlimited storage…

Meanwhile, Spot is just happy to get free stuff.

Snowball Fight

Simon was more than a little bit annoyed to realise that even with his armour and Advisor helping him out, he still couldn’t beat Mr Edwards in a snowball fight. He wasn’t sure if it was a half elf thing or a magic thing, but the other man was just impossible to hit while being uncannily accurate with his own snowballs.

“Cuddles,” Simon shouted. “Is Mr Edwards cheating?”

The guinea pig who was sipping hot chocolate with a healthy dose of whiskey mixed into it just shrugged. “Nope. You just suck....

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas.

May good fortune find you and favour you.

May good friends be constant company and stalwart guard.

May all the blessing in the world find their way to your door and all the sorrows and misfortunes get lost elsewhere.

May your journeys be swift and successful and all your dreams become real.

May fair winds and following seas be ever at your side.

And may you always remember that you are not alone. Though we might seem like ships passing in the night, still we sail th...