sabrecrane

[sabrecrane]

Winter by Sabre Crane

The months of cold are a comfort to many,

But to an eight year old boy it’s simply a misery.

With split parents and tight finances,

He only gets socks and clothing for Christmas.

His friends receive phones and drones,

His cousins are given new quilts or even beds.

His friends asked what he was hoping to get,

He couldn’t say much more than 

‘Hopefully, a new vest.’

His dad tries his best to give his son something else,

Something more than the experience of watching setting snow.

He brings him to a park but regrets the decision,

For his son prefers to watch and listen,

As the kids at the park play with sleds.

The father secretly mourns the bright little boy

He had come to know.

Meanwhile the boy avoids questions at school,

Waiting impatiently for the time to go home.

The boy’s mother worries for his mental health, 

Watching as he slowly withdraws and hides into himself.

No longer would he happily talk about school,

Sticking to sitting silently at his desk.

She wished she could grant him more,

A phone, bike, or toys.

Something to get that happy little boy back.

But she struggles financially,

And she’s close to losing the house.

She feels she failed as a mother, 

And so has to listen as her son

Prays for Christmas to be delayed.

The parents decide to come together one last time,

Working long hours to buy the only gift

their son had ever wanted.

With their finances finally improving,

And the father gaining a promotion,

They soon take a trip to a nearby shelter.

They give the boy his gift early,

A young puppy called Stevie.

No longer would Winters feel so lonely.

I can finally share this. I entered it for a competition but it didn't get through lmao so I'll post it here instead. It's nothing special but gives you an idea of how shitty the UK is right now.

[sabrecrane]

The Ramblings Of A Damaged Man

Above The Surface on Inkitt

Audrien’s Journal

Entry 003:

I completely forgot this thing existed. I’ve been so busy I haven’t been able to spend any time with my son, and if I’m honest, it’s killing me just as much as I know it’s hurting him. I can’t risk staying too close to him though. The scientists have been struggling to contain this odd sickness. It’s so odd and brings out the worst in humanity. My friend, James, who is usually stationed at the bunker’s exit was infected and he’s been spouting so much nonsense. It’s like he isn’t him anymore. The scientists are trying their best to cure him but he’s so aggressive, they don’t really know what to do. – Audrien.

[sabrecrane]

Hey, you! Stop thinking of other books and work on your current WIP. I'm watching you 🫵

[sabrecrane]

What makes my book so interesting?

Without tooting my own horn here or however the saying goes, there is a lot above Above The Surface that I personally believe helps me stand out against other writers. One of those is that my focus in fantasy is never explicably romance. As an aroace guy, my idea of romance is not what many view as the social norm so I tend to struggle with this particular genre. However, I do certainly incorporate it into my books just in a way that I feel it should be incorporated.

While I don't focus on romance I do focus on plots, worldbuilding and most importantly (to me) character creation. All of my characters in Above The Surface have their own values, goals, their own backstories that make them so unique from one another that it has allowed me to plan spin off's for each of them so my readers can hear themselves through the characters they connect with the most. Yes, Kaizen Gold is the main character but he is too focused on dealing with the main plot issue that many other, 'minor' plot issues go unnoticed...and that's where the side characters become the main.

Another thing I particularly enjoy focusing on in my ASTAMICIA series is the corrupted government aspect. The bunker does not work the way ours does in reality however there are aspects of reality in it. For example, a certain someone in my book cheats their way to the top of the command chain. My inspiration for this was of course, Hunger Games, Fourth Wing, Ascendants and the movie Don't Look Up believe it or not.

Speaking of that movie, it brings me to my next point; a hint of sci-fi. My story isn't set in space or anything like that but I fucking love space and wanted it incorporated it somehow so boom. Giant asteroid just hovering outside of Earth's atmosphere that spits down meteors every few days that are full of magic aka ASTAMICIA. Oh, and wait until the series progresses and the reality is expanded upon; there's gonna be wasp aliens. I shit you not, there will be wasp aliens.

Now, what else? Oh! I know. I have a book planned dedicated to a widowed husband and his son travelling the seas of Goleirious (ASTAMICIA world) making friends with pirates and managing their grief in a healthy way. A cosy fantasy-adventure that will be great for everyone of all ages and it's a sharp contrast to the heavy fantasy-adventure and action element of the ASTAMICIA series. Best bit? You don't have to read the main series to read this book!

Many of my characters are pieces of myself put together or are inspired by people I have met in real life. Through the characters, the worlds and the crazy creatures I come up with, I think my personality comes through quite well if I do say so myself. It's important to me for my readers to be able to hear themselves through the characters and their journeys while also getting to know me a little bit too.

Also all of my books have representation in some way. Kaizen has undiagnosed PTSD, depression and anxiety. Eris is having some trouble identifying his gender and struggles with unmedicated ADHD. Favian is having trouble accepting himself. May is autistic AND she's a badass scientist -- love every chance I get to write her lines honestly. Oh and of course there's polyamorous representation.

If you didn't wanna read all that because I do realise I tend to yap a lot lol, lemme break it down!

Breakdown of Above The Surface (ASTAMICIA)

Enemies to lovers

Magic comes from asteroid

Virus that kills some people and gives others powers

Cults and demons

Demons can take over people on the surface

Redemption is possible (think Hazbin Hotel vibes with this)

Soulmates

Reluctant chosen one

Features dark topics (there is a trigger warning list)

It gets so much worse before it gets better

Holy shit the journal is magic???

Wdym the meteors contain magic

Fallout vibes

Corrupted government

Flawed main character

Prophecies

God abandoned humanity so other people came over and picked up the reins. They're trying their best okay??

The veil between the Underworld and the mortal realm is VERY thin. As in if the MC dies the world is fucked

Journal entries (think Fourth Wing)

Free to read

16+ (it got a lot darker than I thought it would lmao)

Enemies to lovers

Magic comes from asteroid

Virus that kills some people and gives others powers

Cults and demons

Demons can take over people on the surface

Redemption is possible (think Hazbin Hotel vibes with this)

Soulmates

Reluctant chosen one

Features dark topics (there is a trigger warning list)

It gets so much worse before it gets better

Holy shit the journal is magic???

Wdym the meteors contain magic

Fallout vibes

Corrupted government

Flawed main character

Prophecies

God abandoned humanity so other people came over and picked up the reins. They're trying their best okay??

The veil between the Underworld and the mortal realm is VERY thin. As in if the MC dies the world is fucked

Journal entries (think Fourth Wing)

Free to read

16+ (it got a lot darker than I thought it would lmao)

Ongoing (at 180,000 words so far)

PLEASE be patient with me, I am also a uni student but plot holes will eventually be fixed as well as grammar corrections and whatnot.

Been in the works for like five years now

Dealing With Grief On A Pirate's Sea

Cozy fantasy adventure

Widowed gay dad and his son

Pirates

Found family

Just adorableness

Not being worked on yet but here's a sneak peak

Scales & Feathers

dragons

enemies to lovers

human prince has to pretend to be a dragon to unlock powers inside of a heirloom

Trials

Dragon academy

Demonic three headed dragon

Fantasy action with quite a bit of romance

Slow updates

Second priority after Above The Surface

Subscribers only

May's Research On Astamicia is basically a crap ton of worldbuilding slides I made and then put into this book lmao. More still to come.

Planned Subscriber Shit:

Artwork

Drafts of old chapters

The origins of Astamicia

Cute little one shots between characters that will be put in a one shot book eventually

Also wanna point out that this post wasn't made to offend anyone in any way. Romance books are of course awesome but I view romance very differently to the books I read lol.

[sabrecrane]

Home

Someday everything will fall into place. It may not be today, next week, or even the next four years. But someday you will find that one thing. "What thing?" Why, it's the thing we call 'home'. "Isn't a home a place?" It is for some; for others it's a person, a motivation or a reason for their existence. We call Earth a home. You just need to find the little piece of it to call your own.

[sabrecrane]

The Ramblings Of A Damaged Man

Audrien’s Journal

Entry 002:

It’s a boy! A very healthy boy, might I add. He’s quite the kicker, it seems like he always wants to be up and about. Esmerelda told me he might become a security guard, but I argued saying he would prefer to be a farmer, just like his mother. Being a security guard isn’t all that, it’s a force made up of the most toxic people known to man. I sincerely hope he never becomes one. I have a meeting with the scientists soon, they wouldn’t tell me what it’s about. I hope it’s nothing serious. – Audrien.

[sabrecrane]

Above The Surface Book Cover

Did a couple of edits for this one too.

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[sabrecrane]

Kaizen still isn't used to his new form yet and woke up from a nightmare, His journal mistook his situation as being under attack and transformed there body which then woke up his boyfriend who got startled and panicked, also thinking they were under attack. The sketch is his boyfriend reassuring Kaizen that he's fine.

Takes place after the events of book one lol.

[sabrecrane]

Ramblings Of A Damaged Man

Above The Surface on Inkitt

Audrien’s Journal

Entry 001:

Esmerelda is pregnant! I can’t believe it, after all these years of trying and finally we’re expecting a child! We’re not sure what the gender is but whether they’re a boy or girl, I couldn’t care less. If our child is born happy and healthy, I couldn’t care less about their gender. I’ve decided to start this journal to document my child’s life, and hopefully I will be able to pass this journal down to them so they can see just how much we love them. – Audrien.

[sabrecrane]

Above The Surface on Inkitt

When God abandoned humanity.

What it's about: A teenager named Kaizen Gold joining the SAA (Scavenger Adventure Agency) to leave the bunker and discover for himself whether the surface is safe or if everything he has come to know was a huge, fat lie.

What Kaizen didn't expect to discover on his journey: A cult called Salvation run by a guy called Deirious, having a demon attach itself to his body, gaining a virus that grants him mysterious magical abilities, finding a weird talking journal that fuses itself to his chest, discovering he was 'chosen' for some weird prophecy, finding himself forever connected to his best friend and Deirious via a soulmate bond and finally, adopting a puppy.

What I, as the author, give you:

Side characters who eventually get their own spin off

The start of a 4-5 book fantasy series

Magic that comes from an asteroid (no I am not shitting you)

You are able to read the worldbuilding as humanity rebuilds itself from the ground up

Magical, completely made up creatures that I created/ or evolved

Hurt, comfort, found family, crazy amounts of lore

Target audience:

15+ (pls read trigger warnings)

LGBTQIA+

Tropes:

Enemies to lovers

Polyamorous relationship

Reluctant chosen one

Flawed main character

TW list:

Mention of cult

Underage pregnancy (no adults remain in Salvation to teach the kids the do's and don'ts and Deirious is only eighteen himself with shitty friends. My guy is doing his best with what he has okay)

Explicit mention of physical and emotional abuse

Demons

Gore

Word count so far: 180,000 words (and still ongoing)

Where you can read for FREE: Inkitt

[sabrecrane]

How to Introduce and End Flashbacks

Introducing a Flashback

Through Sensory Triggers A sound, smell, or physical sensation can catapult a character into a memory. Example: The faint scent of jasmine wafted through the open window, pulling her back to her grandmother’s garden. She could almost feel the warm sun on her back as they planted flowers together, her grandmother’s laugh ringing in her ears. Sensory cues are especially effective because they feel immediate and relatable.

Using an Object or Photo Physical items are natural prompts for reminiscing. Example: He picked up the crumpled letter, its edges worn with age. As his eyes scanned the familiar handwriting, the years fell away. He was 16 again, reading those very words for the first time.

Dialogue That Sparks a Memory A conversation can easily lead to a flashback when a particular word or phrase resonates. Example: “You always overthink everything,” she said, laughing. He froze. Those were the exact words his father had thrown at him that night, before slamming the door and leaving for good.

A Character’s Internal Reflection This works well in introspective or emotional scenes. Example: As she stared at the divorce papers, her mind drifted to the first time they’d met.

A Sudden Triggering Event High-emotion events often cause memories to resurface. Example: The screech of tires on asphalt sent a cold shiver down her spine. In a heartbeat, she was back on that icy road, watching headlights careen toward her father’s car.

Dream or Hallucination For a more surreal tone, a dream or hallucination can segue into a flashback. Example: The dream unfolded like a reel of film, showing her the beachside house they’d once called home. She saw herself, small and wide-eyed, chasing the waves as her father’s voice called out in laughter.

Abrupt, Emotional Break For intense moments, an abrupt flashback can mimic a real-life flood of memory. Example: The argument escalated, he slammed his fist on the table. The sound echoed in her ears, morphing into the memory of her father’s hand hitting the dining room table, his voice booming in anger.

Ways to End a Flashback

Tie Back to the Trigger Return to the sensory cue or object that initiated the flashback. Example: The scent of jasmine faded, and she blinked, back in her office. The garden was gone, replaced by the gray walls and the cold glow of her computer screen.

Return to Present Action Use a sharp, present-day event to jolt the character back. Example: “Hey, are you even listening?” Her coworker’s voice snapped her out of the memory. She turned, realizing she’d been staring at the clock for minutes. OR “Are you okay?” His voice cut through the silence, pulling her out of the memory. She nodded quickly, hiding her unease.

Reinforce the Emotional Impact Show how the flashback has affected the character’s current emotions or decisions. Example: The memory left her hands trembling. She wiped her eyes quickly, unwilling to let the tears win this time. She had a meeting to face.

Transition with a Parallel Action Use a seamless flow between the past and present through similar actions or emotions. Example: In the memory, she had dropped the vase, its shattering echoing in the quiet house. Back in the present, her hand hovered over a similar vase on the shelf. She hesitated, her breath shallow, before carefully setting it down as if the past might repeat itself.\

Narrative Reflection Let the character or narrator explicitly acknowledge the memory and its significance. Example: She exhaled, shaking off the memory like dust from an old book. It didn’t matter anymore, she told herself, but her heart still felt heavy.

Anchor to the Setting Bring the reader’s focus back to the surroundings. Example: The memory faded, and she was left staring at the cracked pavement under her feet, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows over the street.

[sabrecrane]

Creative Non-Fiction

One of my modules is focusing on this topic and honestly, I was dreading it until my lecturer went into more detail about it. I have always written fiction because I struggle writing creatively in a setting that already exists. Hell, we had one of these assignments in secondary and I did a memoir type thing and was told it wasn't creative enough. After that, I basically gave up on developing my skills regarding non-fiction and now I'm starting to regret it.

Why am I regretting it? Well, a lot of knowledge can be taken from both reading and writing creative non-fiction. From reading autobiographies and memoirs to even writing essay based on conspiracy theories, there's so much to dive into in THIS reality that I could potentially take inspiration from for future projects. I also realise now how stupid it was to let one teacher's opinion dictate my skills as a writer lmao.

So, how can we develop these skills?

Well, my lecturer showed us some prompts we could try. Let me list them below:

Write about conspiracy theories. This allows you to dive deep into the minds of other people and gives you an interesting perspective on things that may have been ignored by the public. Yes, some of these theories are completely absurd, but you gotta admit some of them are quite interesting. Plus, you can take inspiration from them for a future project.

Write about a hobby/interest. This could be you focusing on writing about how you felt when a new console or game came out or even you deep diving into a game you simply can't get enough of. Also, you could write about writing. How did you start, what inspired you, etc.

Diary/Journals. I have plenty of these laying around and yes, they are creative non-fiction.

Autobiographies. The difference between diaries and autobiographies is that the former focuses on your personal feelings about a situation while the latter has a narrated approach so to speak.

This is a relatively short post because I don't have much experience in this area and will need to read before I can expand on this. But have a go at these prompts! Happy writing!

[sabrecrane]

Feedback

By far the hardest thing I have ever had to do and experience in my uni degree is workshopping. It's needed of course and certainly incredibly helpful but when you're a very reserved person who prefers keeping things to yourself it can feel like a nightmare. Unfortunately, it's something I'm having to face as much as I hate to do so.

I attended a lecture today ran by a lecturer who is also a fiction writer and she brought up many good points that I'm going to share here. During the lecture she had us access a website where we were asked to answer a couple of questions and I'm going to share a few of them and my answers below.

What motivates you to write?

Reading stories that don't necessarily focus on a specific subject I wished it focused on such as dragons, etc as a main plot point. Knowing I have the ability to make the stories I wished were out there encourages me to develop my skills as a writer.

Describe what it's like for you to sit and write something

It's a chance to wind down and reconnect with fragments of myself that I gave to my characters. An odd sense of therapy I guess.

Do you have a daily writing practice? What does it involved?

I write a bit as soon as I wake up even if it's just outlining a chapter. Then after I've done my stuff for the day I sit down and write from 6pm to 12am sometimes later. I like to get at least seven A4 pages written.

Now you're probably wondering why I shared these questions from my lecture with you and the short answer is, I think it's important to reflect on your skills as a writer. Writing means different things for everyone and every writer has their own motivations, dreams, and stories they wish to get across. But to even be able to do this you need to be able to accept criticism and feedback in general.

Something I found incredibly reassuring was when we were asked how confident we felt about sharing our writing with others ninety percent of my class had admitted they didn't feel confident at all. We were also asked how confident we felt about giving feedback on other people's work and these results were more mixed. Some were afraid they would be too critical and hurt the writer's feelings while others were confident in giving criticism but not receiving it themself.

In response to this my lecturer brought up some really helpful points:

When I had a beta reader they were so scared of telling me what they thought I should improve on that they ended up complimenting a lot more than giving criticism. This helped me feel confident but at the same time I wasn't getting the criticism I think I needed. Eventually though, they brought up a section of my story where I dove into a backstory of a character. Instead of saying it wasn't necessary, they asked if I thought it was necessary. And I thought about it and ultimately decided that it was fundamental to the story and insisted the plot wouldn't make sense without it otherwise. As a writer you know your plot in and out and ultimately, criticism is there for you to pick and take. While my beta reader thought the book was strong enough to work without the backstory, I disagreed and felt it was necessary to add. After I explained my reasoning, they understood and let it be.

Feedback is necessary as a writer. Without it, you can't sharpen your skills and your beta readers are more likely to capture little plot holes or odd sounding paragraphs than you would be because they are reading your work for the first time.

At the end of the day, this is your story. Try your best to not let criticism discourage you. You know your plot and your characters, feedback is there for you to pick at and either accept or dismiss.

I can't believe I didn't cover such an important topic sooner. Unless I already have and forgotten. Anyway, I hope this helps all of you! Happy writing!

[sabrecrane]

Magic

When it comes to fantasy, you'll notice that every book has their own magic system. Some use runes, some use magical orb things, some make it so humans already have magic because of their surroundings and learn to cast it in schools, etc. There is one thing I struggled with though -- how do I make the magic for my world unique?

First, I thought about everything I enjoyed in media. I liked end of the world movies, I like post apocalyptic shit, I love the idea of dangerous magic that could kill people and I also loved any books that had demons in. Keeping this in mind, I began worldbuilding.

In this post I'm going to be talking a lot about my book Above The Surface which is book one of the ASTAMICIA series just to give you an idea of how you can make literally anything work in your fantasy world, no matter how far fetched it may seem.

MAGIC BACKSTORY

Astamicia is the name of the magic that originates from the asteroid hovering just outside the Earth’s atmosphere. When parts of the asteroid break of, each part contains Astamicia within it. When it enters the planet’s atmosphere, it unfreezes and spreads throughout the land upon impact. The reason for the asteroid remaining as stationary as it does is currently unknown. 

This is actually a chapter from a worldbuilding book I made explaining in detail how the magic in the ASTAMICIA universe works in the form of a journal belonging to one of the side characters who is a scientist. Here I introduce the backstory of the magic but don't give its origins away. This is the prologue to my book and as you can see I added some of the things I enjoyed; end of the world vibes, post apocalyptic, corrupted governments (sort of), etc. What the readers don't know is the origins of the magic itself so for all they know it could have been a natural occurring thing. I love the type of magic that has a history, a story behind its development, something I can build on in later chapters if I don't necessarily want to write an action packed one. In a sense it can work as filler but still carry the plot.

Different energies

PE - Positive energy is naturally in the world, in every living being, tree, and creature. It’s created from positive memories, experiences, and life itself. 

NE - Neutral energy, the balance between both PE and DE. Combined it keeps plant growth at a minimum and prevents the spread of deadly vines. 

DE - Demon energy. Made purely from negative emotions, abuse, bad memories, everything negative. This stuff poisons the land, creatures and people, sometimes creating disgusting individuals. If someone is completely corrupted by this energy, they will lose themselves to sinful behaviour, allowing a demon to take over the host’s mind. 

Another chapter from my worldbuilding book. Adding different types of energies allowed me to incorporate demons in a way that made sense. So when it comes to creating your magic system potentially have it so different powers exude different energies. Hell, your main character could have the ability to cast multiple types of these energies but don't have the right body to do so.

But don't just focus on the magic system. Also think about the issues the magic can bring, the corruption, the change in command, the arrogance, the downsides of having too much of the stuff. Oh, and don't worry about rushing to explain everything immediately in the first book, especially if it's a series. Give hints, make your readers doubt the theories they come up with, etc, but don't treat them like idiots -- let them see a scene and remember something you had foreshadowed before that makes them go 'holy shit', you know?

If you want to focus on an action packed fantasy book then maybe a backstory to your magic isn't necessarily something you want to focus on which is, of course, perfectly fine!

However, if you're going with a more adventure, slow paced book that you hope to turn into a series then backstories for most things is a good idea.

Fantasy action books allow your readers to instantly connect with characters and it'll make them eager to read the battle scenes. Fantasy adventure with a side of romance is where you want to slow things down at first and then pick up the pace as the story goes on. Keep your target audience in mind also, just to make sure you're staying on the right track.

Hope this has helped somewhat, happy writing!

[sabrecrane]

Redesigned The Scales & Feathers Book Cover

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