Elijah David

Beautiful People is a blog link-up hosted by Paper Fury and Further Up and Further In . This is the last edition (for now), and it's all about favorites! 1. Favorite genre to write in? Fantasy for sure. I occasionally write something sci-fi-ish or horror, but fantasy is where I belong. 2. What book (a real actual published book!) do you think your character would benefit from reading? Mortimer should probably read Uprooted . Merlin would benefit from Narnia. Bryn should probably read The Book Thief . 3. Favorite piece of dialogue you’ve written? You mean I have to choose? Robin's conversation with Vivienne from Albion Academy is probably at the top of the list. It's one of the earliest snippets from that book and really helped me define their characters. 4. What did your character want to be when they grew up, and what did they actually become? Merlin wanted to be anything but a wizard. I don't think that's working out for him so far. Br...

Yes, I have reached the end of Albion Apparent , and it is in the hands of beta readers even now. (If you would like to be one of those beta readers, just drop your email in a comment and I'll send it to you!) Here are your final glimpses into the second book of the Albion Quartet. Tune in next month for some snippets from other things I'm working on. “What have Oberon’s hopes to do with you, grey sister?” Grandmother’s voice did not overpower Darity’s in the way a bombastic politician will drown out an opponent. Instead, it slipped around the chamber like a strand from a web, throwing out more threads of itself until the entire room was subjected to its will. “You are not his vassal, that his hopes and fears should rule your own. Nor are you his ally, except in times of war, and let us pray that war is far from us.” Darity’s hands stilled. “Do you mean that the Merlin we have foreseen will not be responsible for—” “He will be what he will be, child. Do you suppose our desti...

This has been a busier month for me as regards visual art. I haven't painted much, but I've been working on my sketching skills because one goal I've had for ages is to be able to sketch my own characters with some degree of finesse. I'm not going to be designing characters for film any time soon, but I'm pleased with my progress so far. Halcyon and Dammerung: Sassmaster Shapeshifters My watercolor this month is a fan art painting of Halcyon from Mirriam Neal's Paper Crowns  and Dammerung from Jennifer Freitag's Plenilune . These are two of my favorite books from last year, and two of my favorite characters from those books. I'm moderately pleased with the way the tails and bodies turned out, but the paws and faces were a bit wonky. I'm still not sure how to make the backgrounds seem more integrated. Step 4 is more of a guideline. I like to think of it as steps 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, and 4. This hand-lettered piece was actually someth...

It's time for more snippets from Albion Apparent ! “You are not like my other children, Bryn Skuldsdóttir. You have the heart of a Midgardian, but the spirit and drive of Asgard. I would more of our people felt as you do, that Midgard is a place to know and to love, not just to act.” He pushed back my hair and smiled, an action that reached even behind the eye patch. *** Harry opened his eyes again. “Someone mention me?” “No, dude,” said Merlin. “We were talking about that kid Larry down the street.” *** “Hey, Merl,” Harry said as we came in sight. “Don’t go freeing any more dragons while I’m gone, okay?” “I think we’re fresh out of dragons,” Merlin said, his smile stronger for Harry’s good humor. *** “Do you think one day we’ll die while color coding?” asked Dénsmore. The other two stopped and stared at her for a moment, Darity’s white tresses going straighter than usual, if it was possible. “I’m just saying,” Dénsmore continued. “Of all the things to be ...

I tried a couple of different things in this month's paintings. I used paints from both sets I mentioned last time, and did two sketches on the medium-sized pad I painted Night and the Moon on. The third piece I painted this month was a quotes word art piece with some of my favorite literary quotations. Hipster Tumnus was anachronistic before it was cool. For Narnia, I discovered how truly terrible I am with eyes, and Tumnus ended up with sunglasses. o_O I did feel proud of my rendition of his legs, however. The background isn't half bad, and I was able to try my hand with the scraping textures again. Mortimer and the door from Albion Academy Mortimer turned out well, though not quite as I'd envisioned him. I think my attempts at texture fell a bit short, but that may have been due partly to the size pf the salt I used (sea salt as opposed to kosher or table). I do like the color of Mortimer's skin here, though I wish I could have given it a smokier fe...