After delving into the story of Discovery, check out the latest episode here, I turned my attention to the second Wattpad story for the month. With this tale, I wanted to explore Darren’s education. When I went to my notes, I had a brief description to use for the tale. This story centers around Wayne as he interrupts a study session with Darren and Lia. He pulls Darren aside and tries to enlist him in a special job to help position him with their family. Granted, it’s been some time since I last visited this blurb, but it was enough to give me some ideas on how to take the story.

Throughout the previous tales, I’ve highlighted that Darren wants nothing to do with the portion of his family represented by Wayne...

Despite the cruise being finished, there were still wonderful sights to capture. A stillness settles in when the memories remain fresh, and it becomes important to etch those moments into your mind before they begin to fade. Aside from the pictures, all that remains are glimpses of water and land speaking in their own unhurried language. The first image leans into that quiet with softened distance, shifting colors, and the surface of the water gathering what light is left. It’s the kind of view that feels discovered rather than staged, carrying a sense of pause that lingers in the body long after the eyes move on.

The second image deepens that mood, turning attention toward an opening between branches and bay...

How This Came Together

In Shifting Form, Tarian’s grief and guilt leave him brooding in the meeting hall, hunched over a cracked table with dagger in hand. His friend Keldon tries to pull him back from despair, but their exchange takes a sinister turn when a monstrous impostor invades their bond. What begins as self-recrimination erupts into suspicion, steel, and the chilling revelation that trust is more fragile than ever.

Every strike of Tarian’s dagger echoes his fractured alliances, and when the shapeshifter reveals itself, the cost of vulnerability becomes undeniable...

When I sat down to write the first story for my patrons, I turned once more to the prompts I created for my new Card Draw shorts. Instead of drawing on something unpublished, I chose to expand a piece I had already released. At its core, the story follows this prompt: A down on his luck mercenary is seeking to get back onto his feet, by finding a lost detention camp. Yet if he’s able to discover this site, he’ll be forced to fight his enemy’s battle for him. Building on that seed, I brought Marcus to life with a depth you wouldn’t expect from the seed alone.

Every scar tells a story, but not every story has the power to change a man’s future...

Storytelling has always been my compass, from my first novel, Dead Man’s Hand, originally published in 2015, to Drawing Thin, the second installment in the Forger’s series, which followed in 2019. But between those milestones, I discovered the power of flash fiction. The format limits you to one thousand words or fewer. These short, consumable stories let me explore new ideas and go through the writing/editing process with great immediacy.

That shift planted seeds for bigger things, including bringing my fiction to YouTube...

The moment I finished Radiant Offer, I turned my attention to the next piece of micro-fiction, an entry for my Monster Hunter, Solomon. While the core of this story was done behind Patreon and you can read that sample here, this picks up after the climax and is self-contained for those who enjoy reading my micro-tales. The reason I wanted to leverage that story was simply because of the setup it left me with. There was plenty of room for me to explore the aftermath of the story. With the loose threads flapping before me, I took hold of them and wrote a little scene for those who want to buy me a croissant.

Sometimes silence hides the loudest dangers. When alarms pierce the air and shadows dance across steel walls, every step forward carries its own weight. In these moments, trust is fragile, and hesitation can prove fatal...

As another month continues to churn, I looked over my Wattpad stories. While I have two planned, I pulled out an older draft in the Discovery storyline and began preparing it for release. After several rounds of revisions, I’m ready to bring it to the world.

Beneath the canopy of Morven’s vast forests, the search for new allies carries both hope and peril. In this chapter, the crew of Discovery Squadron ventures into unfamiliar skies, their instruments crackling with signs of life. Yet their struggling technology offers no guarantees of answers...

When people talk about a sunset cruise, I’m sure you picture a boat slicing through the waters beneath a sky streaked with vibrant hues of red, orange, pink, and gold. I was hoping for that kind of spectacle, but the reality turned into something quieter. Because of timing, the trip became more of a late afternoon jaunt across the water. While I missed the blaze of color, there was something else for me to seize. The following shots aren’t portraits of grandeur but of subtler truths. The kind that reveal themselves only when you stop asking for spectacle and start noticing what lingers in its absence.

As the trip drew to a close, I wasn’t disappointed...

In Plummeting Skirmish, an exhausted Glen steps into what should be a routine trip home. But when another passenger disables the camera and demands a mysterious key, the confined space becomes a battleground. With each floor, danger escalates until the balance of power shifts in an unexpected way.

This micro-story blends claustrophobic suspense with sharp turns of loyalty, fear, and resolve...

With a new month comes new stories. As the early days marched forward, I opened my plan and reviewed the micro-stories I wanted to tell. I was pleased to see another entry in my Tattoo series waiting for me. Fortunately, not that long ago I sketched out a rough draft of Lucas. While it began as an episodic series, a few entries ago I decided to shape it into a longer arc. The result has been several micro-stories building toward a full flash fiction piece. I’m not ready to conclude the series with that larger work yet, but I’m glad to bring this next chapter to those who support me on Ko-Fi.

Some mornings carry a weight beyond its stillness...

Every shoreline carries its own rhythm. Some are bold and dramatic, demanding your attention. Others slip quietly into view, rewarding patience and curiosity. This week’s roundup leans into the subtler side of the coast, presenting two photos rendered into watercolor renditions of the bay that blur the line between landscape and memory.

Both works capture the same stretch of land at the close of a journey, yet each reveals a different aspect of its character...

How This Came Together

In Fragile Alliance, Tarian struggles to hold together a coalition already strained by mistrust. A forged signature surfaces, the elves demand answers, and the dwarves reject every accusation. Each word spoken risks tearing the pact apart, and when suspicion sharpens, even the strongest bonds may break.

When trust wavers, shadows creep in, and betrayal poisons the room..

This entire mini-series was captured during the Sunset Cruise. You’ll notice that none of these images are filtered with golden hues, yet each one offered me a moment of peace. Together, they form a quiet study of balance, light, and subtle transformation. They don’t shout, they linger. Each image whispers in tones of amber, lavender, and turquoise, echoing the quiet power of stillness and the fleeting beauty of the moment. Whether you’re drawn to painterly textures, seasonal shifts, or meditative compositions, this collection invites you to slow down and witness the soft-spoken poetry of the world.

From the gentle arcs of shoreline to the glow-kissed treetops, these pieces capture the space between change and calm...

In Vengeful Shadow, Jonathan finds himself trapped in a factory with more than lingering resentment. A former coworker’s threat becomes terrifyingly real when shadows come alive and laughter turns lethal. Armed with only a mop and a phone, Jonathan must survive the night, fend off monsters, and search for the spark of hope simply to survive.

When a sinister presence returns, horror settles upon the night shift… Jonathan has to react to each sound and every revelation if he hopes to escape with his life...

With Shattered Faith and Molten Gambit completed, I turned my attention to my patron’s final story, a thriller. Fortunately, I knew who I wanted to feature, my hunter. Despite most of his stories remain behind a paywall, I’d love to gather the snippets into one place eventually. Though they’re scattered for now, I’m resuming Solomon’s story after the events of Hidden Effects. While that story was more of a drama, this tale explores the aftereffects of his treatment.

Solomon was built to hunt monsters. But after being altered by science, he’s become the subject of scrutiny himself...