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I read Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr a few months ago, and it was kind of a wild ride.

If I'm being completely honest, I would not recommend this one if you are a newbie to fantasy. It's an easy read, so to speak, but there are some old-school fantasy themes that do not read well with a modern lens, and it can get unexpectedly dark especially with the almost optimistic tone that it's written in.

That being said, I went ahead and bought the next 3 books in the series because as a fantasy veteran, I had an absolute blast with this one. I'd like to draw more of the characters when I continue the series.

Oil Pastel on 7x10" mixed media paper.

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Faern, High King of the Eldrena.

He will be in my short story graphic novel that I'm working on. He's the best friend of the male main character. I originally had his story planned first which takes place before the one I'm working on now, but a really intense bout of inspiration hit me with the current story and I've been rolling with it ever since. I have half a mind to finish the short story graphic novel, and hold onto it to finish Faern's story, which will be much longer, and release in chronological order... I also probably have too many plans for stories but it's one of my favorite pastimes.

I had a lot of fun painting this one because I didn't put too much pressure on myself to render a ton of detail. I might end up doing portraits like this for the other main characters.

One of my goals this year is to make more art more frequently, and try to curb some of my perfectionism. Do you have any goals for the year?

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This little piece was done in acrylic, with very minor touch-ups in colored pencil and digital. I keep getting angry at using acrylics on canvas, but when I use them on paper, the paint behaves exactly how I want it to behave. I think I'll just make an unofficial switch to reserve my canvases for oils, and my cheap watercolor paper for acrylics.

I was in need of a Christmas romance read around the holidays rather than a silly Hallmark movie so I went with Mad About Yule by Genny Carrick. It was super sweet, funny, and heart warming. Carrick has such a strong ability to write characters with great chemistry and believable dialogue.

Next time you need a contemporary rivals-to-lovers romance with a Christmasy atmosphere, I recommend this one.

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Watercolor on 9x12" watercolor paper.

Another little scene from A Turn of Light by Julie E. Czerneda. The villagers are nosy and are eager to learn about Jenn's new friend(s?) since their little Marrowdell never 'welcomes' visitors. And poor Jenn suddenly feels overwhelmed by their stares and finds solace in the stranger who helped her in the river.

I'd love to make as many pieces from this book as I can while I'm on my re-read. The story is one of my absolute favorites, and it never fails to completely transport me while I'm reading.

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I was needing a bit of comfort read so I went and re-read Faceoff by Mari Loyal. I just adore her writing and characters <3

I played with some different brushes in Clip Studio trying to get a more somewhat-traditional art look but I was too detailed here and it didn't come out quite as I had hoped. I'll keep experimenting more until I get a look that I'm satisfied with without totally changing my digital painting process.

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A little study of some characters I want to include in a large piece sometime in the future.

Oil on 12x16" canvas

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Acrylic and Oil on 12x16 canvas.

I finished this piece a couple of months ago for a little show at my work. I really like how it turned out; I think it's one of my favorite oil paintings as of late.

I've been changing up my usual process to help speed up my painting time, and it's working so far.

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I had the privilege of receiving yet another ARC from the wonderful Mari Loyal for her newest romance Mistlefoe. If you are interested, I will post a little review down below.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Friendly reminder that I have commissions open~

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Mistlefoe by Mari Loyal

5/5

I have never been one to read Christmas-themed books, but I absolutely had to read this one because the amazing Mari Loyal wrote it. And I am so glad I did! I was absolutely giggling and kicking my feet while reading this. Our MMC is Connor (from Face-Off) who is a retired pro-hockey player, and our FMC is Sierra, a fiery baseball fanatic. As usual, Loyal writes such amazing character chemistry. The banter and tension between these two is simply *chef's kiss*. They both develop as characters in such a cohesive and believable way. This is a pretty light-hearted story: in other words, there isn't a lot of drama from outside forces, or unnecessary rivalries between the women in the workplace. This really felt like a breath of fresh air. This is a perfect read if you are needing something soft, warm, and a little Christmasy in your life. As always, this is a closed-door romance with some steamy kisses, but nothing explicit.

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I've been re-reading one of my favorite books, A Turn of Light by Julie Czerneda, and I am having the greatest time. There are so many little scenes and moments that I want to illustrate and just need the time.

In this particular scene, our main character is making her way to the river with a friend to see Wen Treff, a side character that nobody seems to understand and tends to leave her to her own devices. Wen here is having a very important discussion with the fish, and our main character waits patiently for her to finish before inquiring upon her request.

"Wen Treff stood bent in the shallows, skirt hitched to her thighs, her mass of brown curls dusted with cobwebs and pollen. Her gaze was fixed on something in the water."

I'm not super comfortable working with oil pastels just yet, but I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with them, and love the impressionistic style you can achieve with them. I did some very minor digital touch ups, but tried to keep the everything as traditional as possible. I think it's good when things aren't always perfect.

P.S. I've updated some of my commission info which you can check out on my website.

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Had the privilege of reviewing Cinnamon Roll Set-Up as an ARC, and adored it! If you are interested, I'll post my full review down below.

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Cinnamon Roll Set-Up by Genny Carrick

4.75/5

This is a closed-door romantic comedy about a girl trying to set-up her best guy friend up on dates but he is secretly in love with her.

I had an amazing time with this book! Friends-to-lovers remains one of my favorite tropes, and this book is part of the reason why. The angst, the pining, and the emotions are all so beautifully written.

He's been in love with her for ages, and she oblivious (until she's not). He owns the bookshop they both work in, but they have a very strong friendship outside of work so the "power dynamic" doesn't feel icky at all. She's also a part time illustrator but loves living and working in their small town. This book is a part of standalone series set in the fall, but none of the books are connected so you can really pick up any that you want and read it as is. The fall vibes in this one are also immaculate.

All the characters and their motivations are very believable. I felt totally immersed in this little town, and now I'm gonna have to read the rest of Carrick's books that take place here. There's also a very lovable side character that I was rooting so hard for, and was so excited to see his little side story.

This was such a fun little read apart from my heavier fantasy books that I normally partake in. If I was a fast reader, I would say this was a great afternoon read. Unfortunately I read slower than molasses so this took me a few days. But I had a great time!

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A little study of my original characters for my novel I've been slowly working on. I had the idea to make into a graphic novel instead, but am having doing the actual writing part so I'll more than likely keep the written version for myself and send the graphic novel out into the world <3

I have a backlog of pieces from 2024 that I always forget to post here so I will do my best to catch you up.

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I always forget to post sketches on here, so here's a little piece I did a few months ago after reading and then re-reading Overtime by Mari Loyal. This is one of my favorite scenes in this adorable book <3 If you like college sports and closed-door romance, I would definitely give this one a try.

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Sometimes I just think about him <3 He's honestly one of my favorite male leads in college sports romance books because that's apparently a genre I read now :D

Acrylic and Oil on 8x8 canvas

Aran Rodriguez from Overtime by Mari Loyal

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My OCs I created several years ago! I've been thinking about them recently because I've been wanting to write their story in a graphic novel once I finish the one I'm currently working on.

From left to right: Werther (he), Cam (she), Kelvin (he). They went to high school together, and have 2 other friends in their friend group who grew up together. Their story is gonna focus on each of them, and be a mix of a slice-of-life type of story with some intense drama thrown in. I want it to be like a New Adult, Coming-Of-Age story so we'll see how it goes. I'm still plotting things out and getting details before I start the actual writing process but I'm having a good time <3

Friendly reminder that I have prints available in my shop and my commissions open!

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Soft aroace - Submitted by Anonymous

#fa7a3d #fab97a #fde3ce #7288fa #4f3ceb

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I yet again had the chance to read an ARC from Mari Loyal of her new book Shutout. I'll post a full review down below if you are interested! I also posted an abridged version on my IG as well.

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Shutout by Mari Loyal

5/5

I absolutely loved this book. It is the final of this amazing hockey romance trilogy, and the most satisfying of them all.

We follow Liv, the youngest sister of Luz and Aran, who's been in love with her best friend since they were kids, and Brooklyn who very suddenly falls for his best friend unbeknownst to each other.

Character writing is amazing as always; their feelings and motivations feel so real and believable. The way their friendship slowly evolves is so beautiful. I cried at least twice while reading this because some of the angst felt a little too relatable. I've loved that throughout these books, there's something in the all of the characters that I can relate to which speaks a lot towards how good the writing is.

After finishing this trilogy, Mari Loyal is on my "Instant Buy" list, which currently holds only 2 of my favorite authors. She's a master of balancing angst and humor through her writing that keeps readers hooked. I can't wait to see what she writes next.

I absolutely highly recommend picking up this trilogy if you love a good college sports romance, closed-door but with some slight steam, and need something to escape the weekend.

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"Tell me a tale."

"What would you like to hear?"

I re-read my favorite book every year, and I have so many scenes I want to illustrate but never enough time.

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