Elijah David

 About a month ago, Paper and Thorns  made its debut into the world. After some delays getting the Kindle edition up and running, I'm glad to say that this series is firmly established. Yes, you read right. Series . But more on that later. If you have missed my previous glimpses into Paper and Thorns , here's a little backstory. I have always loved the story of "Beauty and the Beast" (see also my recent post about the story over at SpeculativeFaith ). Back when Disney's live action remake of the animated film came out, my artist friend Mirriam sketched what she thought the Beast should  have looked like (I'll give you a hint: there were lots of horns and menace going on). The design sparked an idea and I started chipping away at the story of that Beast and what his happy ending might (or might not) look like. After a couple of false starts, Paper and Thorns  really took off. It's a short book (less than 100 pages), and that is purposeful. I tend to str...

This year has been a dry one as far as blog posts go. Despite being home a lot more than usual, I haven't been drawn to post as much here as I have in years past. I haven't been entirely idle. I finished the first draft of the third Albion book. I published  Paper and Thorns.  I have pulled out some old works to edit and started new ones (including a sequel/companion novella to  Paper and Thorns ). I crocheted. A lot. Since last fall, I've made 3 baby blankets, an afghan, a scarf, a throw blanket, and two stuffed Nifflers. Most of that happened after quarantine hit. And yet, this has been a season of doubt, of anxiety, of unease. I have found myself growing more and more restless and dissatisfied with my day-to-day, and even with the media I consume. Sometimes, I will pull out a familiar story just to find some half-remembered peace in its pages. I started digging into my thesis collection the other day. These stories held a special place in my heart because they represen...

Fairy Tale Central is doing some daily challenges on Instagram featuring OTPs (One True Pairings) as part of their celebration of all things fairy tale this month. For those of us who wind up doing these things in blog form, Arielle had kindly shared the full listing on her own blog here . Fairy Tale OTP Challenge: 1. The first fairy tale OTP you shipped      Probably Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin and Jasmine. These are the earliest fairy tales I can remember getting deeply involved in. 2. The cliché fairy tale OTP that everyone ships but you still love      I think I'll probably go with Snow and Charming from Once Upon a Time. Do I sometimes feel like they get too much of the spotlight in later seasons? Yes, but their relationship is wonderful in the first few seasons as we see them fight for each other. 3. Your favorite hate-to-love fairy tale OTP      I'm assuming this is an enemies to lovers trope rather than an ex...

Hello, again! I have been plugging away on some projects (and crocheting away, as I'm due to have a new baby nephew this summer!) -- one of which is to finish a round of edits on Paper and Thorns . I hope to have some exciting news on that front in the next month or two, but for now we'll have to be satisfied talking about other  fairy tales. Today I'm participating in Fairy Tale Central 's blog link-up. Fairy Tale Central is a website dedicated to fairy tales, including their origins, history, and retellings. Every month they feature a new tale, but in February they pull out all the stops and celebrate fairy tales of all kinds. FTC: What’s an obscure fairy tale you love? I always feel like "The Wild Swans" is a bit obscure since it's not one of the "big" tales that everyone knows thanks to Disney and the multitude of illustrated picture books that abound in the children's sections of bookstores. FTC: If you got to choose Disney’s nex...

I've been doing a chunk of reading in the last few weeks, along with finishing "Paper and Thorns" (if you need a refresher on this fairy tale novella, click here for all the snippets and behind-the-scenes posts). If you're interested in being a beta reader for "Paper and Thorns," leave a comment with your email (all comments are moderated, so if you don't wish to have it be public, just say so and I'll delete the comment after sending the story your way). On to the reviews! Bridge of Clay The long-awaited next book from the author who wrote  The Book Thief , Bridge of Clay  is the story of the five Dunbar boys following the return of their estranged father, Michael. He wants them to build a bridge with him, and all of them refuse, except for Clay. As Clay and his father work on the bridge, the oldest Dunbar boy, Matthew, narrates the stories of Michael, Penny (their mother), and their family. We're given insight into the histories of in...

October is almost over, so it's time for more snippets. These come from There's No Place Like Home?  (my NaNo novel from 2015, newly finished) and from "Paper and (T)horns" (my modern Beauty and the Beast retelling). From  There's No Place Like Home?   The kalidahs who had been sent to the front gate had expected an angry mob. Not quite torches and pitchforks angry. More like billy clubs and Molotov cocktails. At the very least, they had been anticipating an unruly assortment of people led by a towering, charismatic man, perhaps wearing a mask, who would shout meaningless mantras over a megaphone. Instead, the leader appeared to be a small girl with a fire in her eyes most of the kalidahs had long since forgotten. Hope. Righteous anger. Determination. Love. While the crowd behind her—and the kalidahs in front of her—grew ever more restless as they waited for something to happen, the girl simply stared into the heart of the Westford mansion with that fiery-eyed...

It's almost NaNoWriMo time, which means that Cait and Sky are hosting a Beautiful Books link-up in place of their usual Beautiful People link-up. I've decided to join in with a post about Paper and (T)horns . Two things to get out of the way before I dive into the questions: first, I am NOT doing NaNoWriMo, although I will be working on this story for the foreseeable future; second, this is not intended to be a novel (I am aiming for a novella, no more than 30,000-40,000 words). What inspired the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea? My friend Mirriam redrew the Beast from the live-action Beauty and the Beast film to make him more frightening, and I enjoyed her take on the character. In fact, I realized that I kind of shipped him with Maleficent, and thus the idea for Paper and (T)horns took seed. This was back in April of this year. Describe what your novel is about! A young man meets the girl of his dreams, only...

As of last night, the first draft of Albion Apparent is complete! The last month has been a rush of finishing chapters and interludes with a speed I haven't had most of the year. It's immensely satisfying to reach this stage with a book. So what's next? For me, I'm taking the next month or so to work on things other than Albion. The book is set to go to beta readers, after which I'll take their comments and use them to draft a better version of  Albion Apparent . My hope is to spend October finally hammering out the last chapters of There's No Place Like Home?  and maybe even finishing "Paper and (T)horns". I'm also planning to try Inktober, a month-long drawing challenge similar to NaNo but for drawing instead of writing. This also means that this Saturday's snippets post will be the last for  Albion Apparent . (I will still post snippets of what I'm working on in the interim.) For you, my friends and readers, this means that ...

I mentioned on Wednesday that I had a couple of worlds populated with characters who might or might not have made it into the sketchbook. Since I've mentioned a couple of these projects before, and since most of them have Pinterest boards, I thought I'd lay out what the larger universe (or multiverse) looks like, beyond Albion Academy . Note that most of what's on this list exists either in rough draft or (more commonly) as ideas and outlines. So far only Albion Academy  and some of the John Valley stories are published. Our World Or at least, a fictional version of it. Home to wizards, cyborgs, vampires, and a great deal of things that fall into the cracks in between. There are 4 main sub-series set here. The Albion Quartet - 4 books dealing with Merlin Pendragon, magic, Albion Academy, and the Faerie Court; there are also some short stories set in this timeline, along with a novella about Robin Goodfellow; Book 1 ( Albion Academy ) is published; Book 2 ( Albion Ap...

Just like last month, I've got snippets from Albion Apparent  and "Paper and (T)horns". From Albion Apparent : Aaron Faust sat in his SUV outside the perimeter emergency services had erected around Buckley High School. He wasn’t the only parent who’d conducted an impromptu stakeout in the last few weeks, but he was the most persistent. The police and fire officials appointed to patrol the perimeter knew him on sight. Though they ought to have kept him under careful observation to prevent his sneaking into the cube of darkness, Aaron knew they would slip eventually. He tapped out a text message on his phone. A call would be faster—if she answered—but he couldn’t bring himself to hear her voice. Not even with Gabriel trapped behind a wall of darkness with a bunch of— *** “Are you ready?” I asked Corrine. She stared at the unbroken surface of the water. Her breaths were shallow, controlled. “What if it doesn’t work?” I shrugged. “Then at least we t...

I actually have snippets from two projects this time. First, a couple from Albion Apparent . “I wouldn’t expect an answer right away,” said Bill. I turned to see him standing at the door where he’d left me. “He tends to let us learn patience along with prayer.” Bill stepped forward into the wan light, his pulled-down hat making the covered eye seem like a deep pit. “I don’t think there’s much time for patience,” I said. “Most people don’t.” He stopped at the end of the pew where I was sitting. “It doesn’t change His timing.” *** “Who are you talking to, young Merlin?” “Nobody.” “I’ve heard that’s one of the signs of insanity,” said Robin. “Then again, it’s not nearly as fun as hallucinations, so I think it shouldn’t even count.” *** I clenched my fist, then relaxed it. I hadn’t realized mortals could read my emotions so easily. “You know I’m a Valkyrie,” I said, “and what that means.” He nodded. “Except I’m not anymore, not really.” I broke eye conta...