Thank you once again for 7k folks!! To celebrate, I'm hosting an ✨🌟ART-RAFFLE🌟✨ RULES: 🔸be a follower 🔸like + repost this post 🔸share your character in the comments (optional; any species!) PRIZE: quick lineart portrait Ends on August 15th! Good luck all 💛

Just thought I'd mention: My books are included in the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale at various discounts. www.smashwords.com/profile/view...

Raina Nightingale

Raina Nightingale has been writing fantasy since she could write stories with the words she could read (the same time that she started devouring books, too). Now she writes “slice of life” and epic da...

smashwords.com

First draft, still full of typos, this is a snippet from Dragon-Mage #4, Embrace of Fire. Hoping to finish it soon, so I can get to work on the cover & final publication steps for #3 AT LONG LAST. Sorry to make you wait so long - & my life is still crazy, so no promises yet.

it is finally here.. ⭐ 2.5k ART RAFFLE!! ⭐ Rules : - Like + Repost 👍 - no giveaway accounts - a follow is not a must but if you like my art and follow then it'd be very appreciated 🫶 📅 1 Winner, and I will roll it on July 1st! Best of luck and thank you for liking my art! 🥰

✨ART RAFFLE✨ ⭐️Win a portrait of your favorite character ✨@ sogolzmr (links in cms) 🎉The winner will be announced on 30th of June🎉 ✨only characters with female featured To enter: Follow me Like and repost you will get a⭐️ if you show me your character in the comments🤭

From X by @midnightrose838.bsky.social : As much as I'm NOT a fan of villains portrayed as all evil, I think [not all villains need trauma background]. My own POV villain is broken from early childhood, but some people seek power over compassion without having suffered more than most everyone.

Also, I am going to have to almost completely remove myself from the internet again ... I might check occasionally, but very little. The temptation sometimes, to respond to certain aspects of current affairs, can be almost overwhelming, but I do NOT want to get into a discussion here.

Skies, this new announcement of a maintanence fee by D2D is a blow to some of us, who've really had life get in our way & haven't been able to continue marketing & writing for a while ... I know $12 dollars doesn't seem like a lot, but it is a nuisance to some of us.

Also, NO IDEA WHY, but apparently right now, in the U.S. market Amazon looks to be selling Kindred of the Sea in paperback for only $2.50! #fantasy #indiesale www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...

Kindred of the Sea

Amazon.com: Kindred of the Sea eBook : Nightingale, Raina: Kindle Store

amazon.com

This book is in the #NarraTessIndie #IndieApril sale Also features illustrations for every chapter drawn by the author (me). (Thanks again for your thoughtful review & your support @tommock.bsky.social indiebook.sale

Raina Nightingale - Return of the Dragonriders is ILLUSTRATED!@areaernovels.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Thanks SO MUCH for this. In a time when life is very hard for me, it is wonderful to see this encouraging, thoughtful, amazing opening-review. 💗💗💗 If you want a link to all/most retailers: books2read.com/kindred-of-t...

Happy Huge-Indie-Book-Sale to all who celebrate! Now's your time to stock up that already overflowing TBR! Hundreds of books from fantastic indie authors either FREE, 0.99 or 1.99! --> indiebook.sale #NarratessSale

#FantasyWorldbuilders The dolphinesque people have echolocation - like dolphins. Don't look a lot about the other species yet. Haven't met any of them. In all honesty, don't know A LOT about the dolphinesque ones either (there's only the one wanderer in Kindred of the Sea).

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 4mo ago

Hello, #AprilWorldbuilders! Does your fantasy species/race have any different or unique senses? Are any of the usual five senses different for them? Do they have any other senses that aren't usually talked about in humans?

I am honored to announce that my novel, Kindred of the Sea, is in the NarraTess #IndieApril book sale - alongside a lot of other indie books, I'm sure many of them are awesome, but I'm so busy this year I don't know which they are. indiebook.sale

#AprilWordbuilders In Kindred of the Sea, on the ocean world Alaer, there are two aquatic species. One is dolphinesque - they can breathe air, but they can spend A LONG TIME underwater. The other one breathes in water.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 4mo ago

We're talking about the biological aspects of the fantasy species/races in our fictional worlds this week. #AprilWorldbuilders, what can this species/race do (physically ) that a human cannot? Or perhaps it would just be very difficult/different for a human?

✍️ Writing time! #QOTD: Which chapter of your life was interesting? Reading Kindred of the Sea by @areaernovels.bsky.social after I write today 🤗 I'll be going live at around 5:45 - 6:15pm BST Link to #Twitch in my bio 👆 See you there! 🖖 #WritingCommunity #books #vtuber #streamer

a rooster is standing next to a man in a sweater .

ALT: a rooster is standing next to a man in a sweater .

media.tenor.com

Thank you for this opportunity! I am honored 💚

ObservingIntrovert - Twitch

The introverted insomniac of an author of Across This Nostalgic Multiverse, Darkling, Don't Disappoint Me, and many other dark, emotional, NA stories. Creator of safe spaces and voice for the quiet on...

twitch.tv

Observing Introvert 🖤⚪@observingintrovert.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Hoping that Raina and her novel will be the first of many I can support in the writing community 🙏 If you're an author who'd like to hear part of your story read aloud on Twitch, I'm more than happy for you to DM me about it 🤗 #WritingCommunity #books #vtuber #streamer

Hoping that Raina and her novel will be the first of many I can support in the writing community 🙏 If you're an author who'd like to hear part of your story read aloud on Twitch, I'm more than happy for you to DM me about it 🤗 #WritingCommunity #books #vtuber #streamer

Raina Nightingale - Return of the Dragonriders is ILLUSTRATED!@areaernovels.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The lovely Sakinah @observingintrovert.bsky.social will be reading the first chapter of Kindred of the Sea on her twitch stream 5:45 to 6:15 BST tomorrow (April 4), if anyone is interesting in joining! www.twitch.tv/observingint... #fiction #fantasy #reading

The lovely Sakinah @observingintrovert.bsky.social will be reading the first chapter of Kindred of the Sea on her twitch stream 5:45 to 6:15 BST tomorrow (April 4), if anyone is interesting in joining! www.twitch.tv/observingint... #fiction #fantasy #reading

#AwesomeCharacters This DEMANDS the actual snip of the dumbest thing Rush has ever said to Lara in a lifetime of dumbness around her. And it has #fool so I’ll offer it to #WIPSnips too even though I’m technically off there awhile for sanity’s sake.

🌱🫜 Charlie (Chelizabeth) Delta 🦊🪻@charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters It is April Fool's Day, but I would never try to trick any of you! Instead, tell me about a time your character felt like a fool! Was it their own fault, or another's? How did they respond? #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

#AprilWorldbuilders Frelin is an elf city in Kindred of the Sea. It's situated on the beach, at the bottom of a cliff, & its architecture involves buildings made of tarps strung between trees, stonework, & things in-between. It's a quiet, idyllic place - when the Valor Alliance isn't attacking it!

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 4mo ago

Welcome to another month of worldbuilding with #AprilWorldbuilders! You can join any time or sit some out if your worldbuilding doesn't apply. Please, only reply if you have an interesting answer! This week, pick a town/city/etc. in your world. Today, tell me a little about it!

#MarchWorldbuilders It is for my novels, and it largely occurs in the process of writing them, even if some of it isn't made explicit in the novel itself. First I write one story, get to know one thing, then I feel the urge to write another story about someone else, & see another side of things.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 4mo ago

#MarchWorldbuilders What is your worldbuilding for? Why do you do it? Is it for a book? A TTRPG? A game? A comic? Or just for the pleasure of worldbuilding for its own sake? Which, I argue, is a perfectly cromulent hobby and don't let anyone convince you otherwise!

#MarchWorldbuilders Kindred of the Sea - in the Valor Alliance, morality comes from the gods & requires obedience to those who speak for them. In Elethri - well, how you see these things is a private matter. From your own heart? From God? Still private to you as long as you respect other's rights.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 5mo ago

Hey there, #MarchWorldbuilders! How is morality derived in your fictional world? Do they believe in a god who decrees morality? Does it come from the laws of a king or other high ruler? Or is morality something which one can only decide with their own heart?

#MarchWorldbuilders - Kindred of the Sea In the Valor Alliance, marriage & sexual relations are ONLY between a man & a woman, & marriage must be contracted before a priest of a recognized order. The elves of Elethri do NOT CARE what you do with your private life & mutually consenting adults. 1/4

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 5mo ago

#MarchWorldbuilders, hello friends! What does your world's moral philosophy say about marriage, sex, and deviant acts? Is marriage between one man and one woman only, or are they queernormative? Answer for fiction only! No real world unless your story is in the real world.

#FebruaryWorldBuilders Kindred of the Sea - in the Valor Alliance, the State & Religion are completely interwoven. In the elven nation of Elethri, there is no public or official religion - elves tend to be very private about such personal matters - so I would say ... complete separation hehe

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 5mo ago

#MarchWorldbuilders, what's the status of 'separation of church and state' in your fictional world? Are they separate at all? Does one control the other? Are they one and the same entity? And if they are connected, how has that impacted policy?

#MarchWorldbuilders In the Valor Alliance (Kindred of the Sea) - no, for all its flaws, the Valor Alliance is surprisingly unbound by social classes. Valor Knights can & DO occasionally come from the very lowest of classes & the poor, though most are nobles' or merchants' sons. 1/2

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 5mo ago

#MarchWorldbuilders, good morning! How does your scifi/fantasy world's religion impact social classes? Are people put into specific classes or castes based on the teachings of the religion? How does this affect your characters?

#WritingCommunity Even when there's a lot of violence, I almost *never* go into any detail that isn't strictly necessary (for example, Epoch of the Promise: Dawn Unseen features a huge amount of violence, war, massacre, etc, but almost NO detail AT ALL). Other novels are very tame.

Rebecca E. Reyes@rebeccareyeswriting.com · 5mo ago

How violent are your books? How much detail do you go into? #WritingCommunity #Authors

#MarchWorldbuilders This question is too vast to be answered in an essay! Maybe even a book. Short answer: different people & religions have different gods. Some of them exist. Some of them are very unlike what their religions say (others may be). Some don't care about the religions. Others do.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 5mo ago

Hey there, #MarchWorldbuilders! Who are the God(s) in your fictional world and what does the church say about them? Are they feared and worshipped? Or are they distant entities who need not be acknowledged? Do people worship them all equally or do they have a 'patron' god?

#MarchWorldbuilders In DragonBirth, Kriela wants to start a cult for a historical "ascended goddess." In the Valor Alliance, there are lots of prayers & ritual worship. IF I publish A Bond With No Vows, you won't see any directly but you'll learn about some of the things Valor Knights do.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 5mo ago

Hello, #MarchWorldbuilders! This week is for the organized religious aspects of our worldbuilding. As always, keep it relevant to the religion as depicted in your fictional world. Irl religions only if that's what your story also depicts. What are some prayers or ritual acts of worship performed?

#MarchWorldbuilders If a ritual manhood hunt counts then - definitely yes, I have several hunter-gatherer peoples who have such or similar rituals: for some, it's just 'adulthood' regardless of gender. The presentation of a Valor Knight to a gryphon hatchling might also be considered a ritual.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 5mo ago

Good morning, #MarchWorldbuilders! Does your world have any rituals involving animals? This could be a religious ritual, a festival/holiday, anything! (Note: there IS another day for religious rituals in general tomorrow!)

#MarchWorldbuilders In RotD / DragonBirth - dragons are considered demons & hunted (or were, until they become all but extinct) but I don't know if that counts. Gryphons, drake-lizards (& dragons) are all telepathic animals that will hunt for / with their friends. And in Alaer - the dolphins!

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 5mo ago

Hello, #MarchWorldbuilders! Today's fauna-related Q: Tell me about the animals in your world which are either hunted or which accompany people on a hunt. Do your people even hunt at all, or is that taboo?