A Deck of Cards

On the timeline, Axel and Anissa are 15 years old, and Axel will start his training as the Prince's Elite guard soon. At present, the prince still needs to approve of the others in the team. If everything goes according to plan, the men will leave for the training camp in under a month. If you would like to see more of these characters (which I hope you do), I am writing my first book called 'A deck of cards' which features the following characters and more.      Axel walks inside the house, still feeling the pleasant warmth of the sunshine on his back, going straight to his room to put his coat away. He grabs the small book he hid in his pocket before walking over to Anissa's room. His sister is sitting at the end of her bed in a lovely dark green dress and her hair tied in a careful knot on her head, her body half-way facing the window, a needle in between her fingers and a brown fabric in her other hand. He knocks on her half open door. She turns back to look at hi...

On the timeline, Axel is a child of twelve and going through his school day as a kid of the higher city from Here. In terms of names, Bielo is Axel's father, also First in command of the King's personal guard. Axel's friends are also to be his team mates in his future role (which they all know about. The children of Royal guards -if boys- are to be part of the Prince's guard, as per the bloodline edict). Those are Mateo, William, Liam and twins Maximus and Nicolai. Each will have a specific role in the guard. This short story helps me build on my characters profiles and have a better idea of what makes them 'real' and 'human'. I am currently working on the first book of 'A deck of cards' where my characters live in, in a town called Here.        'Put your books in your trays and get your things. Remember your test tomorrow.'      'Yes Teacher,' each boy in the classroom says in unison.      Axel tidies up his table, aware of...

For the timeline, this moment happens  to ten years old Anissa, Axel and William, who get in trouble but also have each other's backs. It also features Elianda who is William's mother, and mention Laura who is Axel and Anissa's mother. Those short stories help me build my characters, to make them more 'real'. I am currently working on the first book of 'A deck of cards' where all these characters live in.       They stand in Axel's parents kitchen on soggy feet, they clothes wet and muddy, Axel's shirt sporting a couple of holes while his own shirt is ripped on one shoulder. William and Axel face a scowling Elianda, a wooden spoon in one hand and a kitchen towel in her other. They try to appear as innocent as possible, but William isn't convinced that they are doing a very good job.      The mud all over Axel's face may be a give away... Or the state of our clothes.      'Care to tell me what happened to you two?' Trouble. w...

     This is a short story to help me build my characters profiles. I tend to do this when I want to know how a character might react for example. As I am writing my first book, 'A deck of cards', I've been thinking about Zarek's first meeting with Anissa. I've changed it a couple of times until this version, which I feel fits the best. In this short story, Zarek and Elianda are with baby William and go over to Bielo's house to see the two new babies in the family.   Zarek holds Elianda's hand protectively in his, his other arm casually on his knife handle. Elianda carries their son on her back, the strapping made especially for such endeavours. Elianda laughed at him when he saw the thing. His face must has shown his distrust. His animal side was not reassured either. His son, however, oblivious to the tense moment, fell asleep against the warmth of his mother's body.       They walk past the fence of Bielo's house when they hear it: the cries ...

  This short story is set when Zarek and Elianda have been married for about a year. This story is set when their new son is born: William. Elianda is a deer shifter and Zarek is a bear shifter; and as shifters are not allowed to live, they have to keep their shifting ability a secret, because Zarek is the second in command to the King, it's even more dangerous for them. In this story, Zarek mentions Bielo, who is his best friend and the first in command of the King's Guards. Bielo knows about shifters and wants to make sure that shifters can live in peace. Him and Zarek are working on stopping the massacre of shifters, something that's been happening because of the King's father's decree (allowing people to hunt shifters and hurt, rob and kill them).  I am currently working on the first book of 'A deck of cards' where all these characters live in. In terms of timeline, this story happens about seventeen years before the story in my book.        The rain...

        Hi everyone,          I've been working from home since the start of the week and it's been really hard to stay positive. Some people are making things really difficult as my children are little and ask a lot of questions still. It is hard to explain to them why people behave like this all of a sudden, why we need to stay home.         I try to spend as much time as possible with them, but the balance of work and home is not easy. My kids have gone to bed a bit less than an hour ago, and I've managed to write a little. I managed to write a page. Yes, I still need to take the time to write because it makes me feel better. It's a great way for me to put things on paper and feel good about it. Also, it lets my many characters out from the confines of my head onto paper. Crazy right?       Right.       I've made a new friend this year. One who is kind and a piece of sunshine. She ...

Okay, so. World Building.  What is it? How do you do it? Who is it for? World building is a term we often refer to in Fantasy/Science-Fiction novels. It's basically the creation of a world that's different from ours. The differences can vary and, if written well, they can get the reader to very interesting places. What do they cover?   Anything and everything. It all depends on you, the writer. If the weather is different in your book-world, then that's part of your world building. If the religion or politics system is different, then that's the world building part of your book-world.  Do you need it?   That's all up to you. Remember that some of it may need more research. Also make sure that you keep notes, drawings or whatever you think of; it will make it easier to have something constant across your novel.  Personally, I used to keep papers everywhere, in folders and in notepads until I just couldn't find things anymore. Now? I created my o...