In the second installment of Colonization, the colonists who survived the crash have turned their focus on surviving. On this new world, they were expecting a fresh start. However, they’ve been forced to relearn forgotten concepts in their effort to survive. Tarian and his crew are determined to establish Laria’s fist colony on Morven, a planet locked in a shared orbit with their homeworld around their sun. Despite surviving the devastating crash, they soon realize their biggest threat isn’t their dwindling resources or broken technology, it’s the planet itself...

Fresh off the climax of The Archmage Unbound, I eagerly grabbed my digital copy of The God-Stone War. But around the halfway mark, the story veered into an uncomfortable situation. Looking back after finishing the book, I was reminded of a warning a friend once gave me regarding Wizard’s First Rule. It was crucial heads up to help push me through a similarly uncomfortable scene in that book. Without that warning, there’s a chance I wouldn’t have finished Wizard’s First Rule, let alone The Sword of Truth series. Had someone provided a similar warning for The God-Stone War, I may not have paused my reading...

With promises from Cecile and a fragile friendship with the dwarves, Jarvis invites King Gilras and his most skilled warriors to a feast. While the settlement enjoys the dwarven ale and waits for the meal, Jarvis pulls the king aside for a candid conversation rooted in the logs from the previous human expedition. As the line between survival and discovery grows dangerously thin, the shadows of a forgotten enemy stir, thanks to the digital pages from Tarian’s writings. The uneasy alliance between humans and dwarves will soon be tested, not by open battle, but by the haunting vespers of history threatening to repeat itself...

Photography has a wonderful way of encouraging you to slow down and soak in the world’s beauty, not simply glancing at it. During my stroll along Bethel Beach, I found the beach house and its surrounding landscape enticing. There was a quiet charm in observing it, though not in the obvious way you’d typically consider. Instead of fixating on the structure itself or the individual components of the landscape, I allowed my camera to find the subtle poetry of the scene. The movement of grass, the dancing light with shadows, and how perspective can transform something familiar into something extraordinary...

In the first installment of Colonization, we meet Tarian, Keldon, and Sherry, leaders of the pioneers on the brink of starting the next great chapter of Laria. Their mission? Establish a new home on a distant, habitable planet that shares an orbit with their own. Equipped with Laria’s best technology, these colonists are determined to build a future. As the ship nears the new world, everything seems to go according to plan. However, as they are making their final descent, an unexpected scenario strikes the ship. What started as a momentous step toward expansion and exploration quickly sours, forcing the crew to face challenges they never expected. With their training and instincts put to the ultimate test, Tarian and his team must navigate a situation that no mission prepared them for...

When March ended, I went to bed feeling proud of the month’s writing. After waking up very refreshed, I worked my day job. However, after I got off from the job that pays the bills, I pulled up my writing schedule and realized I was going to miss a couple of deadlines. Without missing a beat, I shuffled the deadlines around to ensure those posts would be released.

Luckily, after a quick peek into my notebook, I realized today’s micro-fiction deadline was an easy one to manage, since the broad strokes held told me to write a comedy in an episodic series of The Academy...

Normally, I don’t write very many comedies. I find them too difficult to write. However, whenever my patrons choose for me to write one, I do as I’m told. Fortunately, last November I had an epiphany. I love Abbott & Costello. When I wrote Hidden Treasure for my patrons, I took my love of Abbott & Costello and married it with a roll of my story dice and piped it into ChatGPT for some inspiration. After reading the resulting the brief screenplay, I quickly made a unique story introducing my pair of friends, Sebastian and Jimmy. While I haven’t given them last names yet, I’ve returned to this pair on two other occasions in Buried Treasure and Who’s Leading...

It’s interesting how certain visuals can transport you to another time and place. There was something undeniably beautiful about the juxtaposition between the long blades of grass and the sandy shore. It was like nature’s own brushstrokes on the canvas of life. Beyond appreciating the beauty, I’ve always enjoyed observing nature. However, capturing it through a lens is still something I’m learning. And whenever I’m recording the sights I see, I’m experimenting with zoom, focus, and composition...

A routine bombing mission. A heavily escorted flight. And a secret so dangerous it could end the war. In Bombing Run, what starts as a standard bombing run quickly unravels into a high-stakes mission filled with unexpected dangers, military strategy, and powerful magic. However, as they draw close to their target, details emerge that change everything.

Why were they assigned five master witches as escorts? What makes this target so critical? And will they escape once the mission is complete? Strap in for an action-packed military fantasy thriller filled with suspense, high-altitude danger, and a powerful secret that will change the tide of war forever...

With the completion of Curious Wilds and Fraught Wait, I turned my attention to the final piece of the month for my patrons, a spy story. While espionage isn’t a genre I typically explore, I’ve found myself thoroughly enjoying both this entry and the previous one. The biggest realization that made this genre exciting for me was its simplicity. When I first think of spy stories, my mind immediately jumps to 007. But while you can craft a spy tale with a suave agent like James Bond, you can also take a different approach, one that leans into atmosphere, tension, and the power of subtlety.

For both this installment and the last, I revisited a character I developed in Fortunes and Mounting Tensions, Darvin, the Living Mountain...

Of all the worlds I’ve created, Morven has been the one I’ve spent the most time exploring. And while Thobin originally appeared in Tumultuous Beginning, it was a later picture prompt, Rebuke that fleshed out some of my more exciting aspects of the character. So, when it came time to craft a story based on the image below, it didn’t take long to realize Thobin would be the perfect protagonist. But as I delved deeper into the plot, I realized I had the opportunity to weave in some richer worldbuilding for Morven. Once that idea took root, the path ahead for this story became clear. While some sharp-eyed readers may recognize the twist I’m introducing, I’m confident this tale will captivate everyone...

Despite rebuffing several assaults, Jarvis knows his people need more than just resilience, they need better tools to survive. And whenever he requires such an innovation, he has a single person to turn to Cecile. Every invention starts as an idea, a flicker of inspiration, that demands perseverance to be forced into reality. Fortunately, Cecile has a knack for transforming ambitious concepts into working machines. Instead of praise, each success only leads to more difficult requests, each one a test of her ingenuity, endurance, and resolve...

While not all beaches are created equally, I cannot think of a single beach that I’ve been to that made me think that sandy shorelines were a bad thing. That said, I’ve never seen so many patches of lengthy grass errupting from the sandy dunes. So the juxtaposition of the sight was an amazing view during this trip. For a moment, I thought I was a giant striding through a desert and pausign over the oases peppering the endless expanse of desolate sands. However, the salty air constantly chased that momentary image from my mind...

First, I want to apologize for the delay in publishing this video. Last week was a hectic for me and my body was acting on autopilot. Which is a fancy way to say that the video I originally uploaded was not fully edited. The moment I realized my mistake I scrambled to complete the editing to upload the video.

In Draconic Bargain, a powerful wizard faces a life-altering decision. With an external threat looming over his land, he embarks on a dangerous ritual that could shatter his world. Abandoning the very teachings he’s passed to his apprentice, the wizard dives into a risky deal with a mythical creature. Magic, summoning, and powerful forces collide in this high-stakes fantasy adventure. Will the wizard’s plan succeed, or will he bring chaos to his doorstep? Join the journey now to witness the thrilling consequences of this perilous bargain...

The moment I finished penning Curious Wilds, I turned my attention to my patrons’ next tale, a science fiction. While I had a couple of crews, I could have used to explore the unforgiving expanse of space. It took me longer than I’d like to admit to choosing between them. Ultimately, I chose the crew of the Drifter II. Yet, an actual story eluded me. That is until I remembered the last time I visited this crew during the events of Derelict Ship. And with that recollection, a fresh narrative flooded into my mind. Sometimes, someone’s survival hinges not just on skill, but on the delicate balance between a trio of ideals: duty, loyalty, and the weight of responsibility...