Sparks to Flame

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.

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