More Sketches

Here's a few more ink sketches for y'all. The dragon-like creature appears in the re-write of BIV of The Legacy Incarnate: Incarnate Key. Just to give you an idea of his size, a human could fit into the pupil of his smallest eye. He is a big beastie!

We have some fairies eating something off of some tree on a cloud. Then we have Sabra stepping triumphantly over a foe. 

Thanks for looking!

Sketches and LI Fan Art

 Long time no post. I've been busy as a bee getting some things set up for my Rover scout Crew, but I'm still working on writing projects. Unfortunately my artwork has suffered, so I've started doing quick sketches and small illustrations in my sketchbook just to wipe off the rust of negligence. I normally do these before I go to work in the evening, although I've managed to do a bit during the day.

Lots of Chronicles of Libera related stuff, but also a Book of Mormon inspired sketch. After I started this page I thought of Inktober, but I've never participated in it, and I'm not counting this towards Inktober. This is just to brush up on my drawing skills. 

Last month I did an art trade with my niece. I didn't think to scan in my half of the trade, but just think of girly succubus with pink leopard-print leggings. She was fun to draw and I got to use some of my colored pencils. 

Here's her half of the trade, which I'm posting with her permission.

This is Caemorr, an elven character introduced in Book III of The Legacy Incarnate: Incarnate Memory. She's a character I haven't drawn much, so it was neat to see someone else's take on her. She plays a much more prominent role in the Book IV rewrite. 

Current Writing Projects

I'm working on 3 projects right now (although I was technically working on 4 at one point during the last three months). I'm still rewriting Book 3 of The Legend of Draconite: E'lsra. Right now Kierra is judging people's character based on their shoes.

The other project is the revision of Book IV of The Legacy Incarnate: Incarnate Key. Sabra has expounded on how she is losing her sense of taste for savory foods, but at least she can still taste hot chocolate! 

The last is an anthology. Remember the post back when about LI BIV.V Incarnate Something? Well, instead of a novella, it's going to be an anthology of stories that takes place between BIV and BV of The Legacy Incarnate. It's been a lot of fun, especially since I'm writing from character perspectives that aren't in the main LI books or have been written about very little. Keep an eye on the blog for more news on the BIV.V Anthology, which I shall dub I.D. 

And that 4th project? Well, I'll wait to announce that for a future time, as it's not among my top priorities right now.

'Divine Wrath' Progress p. 2

Part 2 of my work on this piece. Though this was originally a line artwork, I decided to experiment with realism. In order not to overwhelm myself with blocking in color, I'm doing just one part of the picture at a time, with all the color and shading. Considering I don't do this style often, (and it's a style I want to do more of) I think it's turning out great!

'Divine Wrath' In Progress

Rediscovered this uncompleted piece for Krita, and decided to work on it some more. I'm not sure what I intended to do with this piece, but it was too awesome to pass up, so hopefully I'll finish it soon! Can you guess which scene from The Legacy Incarnate this is from?

Some Things Suffer...

...like the time I have to do art. Life gets busier the more children and projects you have, and it's hard to sit down and focus on one thing for any length of time. 

However, I did manage this little digital sketch today, working out an idea for a future piece of work. I think this is the first time I've settled on a sketch for this idea that I like, but we'll see if it makes it to the final piece. 

I was also given a little netbook for my birthday, and it's good for writing. It'll be nice to have a little personal computer I can carry around for my writing projects. 

Quarantine Adventures

What have you all been doing during the coronavirus quarantine? I've been doing quite a bit, but actually not a lot in the realm of writing, heh.

Foremost, I've been doing a lot  of hiking. I live in Utah, and there are restrictions on going to parks, so an even better outdoor thing to do is to go into the mountains. I'm blessed to live right down the street from a major trailhead, and there are several trails all along the Wasatch Mountains. Once a week for the past 3 weeks I've been carrying my rucksack up the trail to condition my body to backpacking, intensifying the training I've been doing since last September. I plan on doing an overnight backpack hike this summer, so I need to get into pretty good shape if I'm going to carry all my gear. I've been getting my boys out hiking a lot too. I wish I could take them to the park every day while they're home from school, but that's a no go.

Having fun with knots and a tarp.

I also registered as a Rover scout with the BPSA-US. I love scoutcraft, and have for some time, and I'm excited to get involved with an adult-oriented traditional scouting program. I started a blog called Rover Sarah that talks about the scout-related stuff I'll be doing, and I explain more about why I joined. Go ahead and check it out.

Like I said, I haven't done a whole lot of writing. I've done some writing in B3 of LoD, and I've been reading through the LI BIV draft so I can enjoy the (unfinished) product of my work. It's been so interesting writing about Sabra in both series, as they're almost 2 different characters due to personal development through the different story arcs. The Sabra in LI is more mature in some ways than Queen Sabra in LoD, but also less refined due to her life experiences. I have to draw a fine line so I don't mix up the personality traits she hasn't developed vs. has developed.

Hopefully if you're stuck inside a lot you'll be able to find things to keep yourself busy and sane. Have a nice day!

Book IV.V: Incarnate Something

Rewriting Incarnate Key created a bit of a conundrum for me as the storyteller. The original Incarnate Key took place over a period of 6 years, whereas the rewrite took place over less than a year for my poor, abused characters. Book V: Incarnate Truth, now takes place about 15 years after the current Incarnate Key.

So this got me thinking that I need to explain a little of what happens in that rather long period of time in the form of a novella. I don't have a definite title yet, although I have a general idea for the story.

I also have an art piece to share. My son Devin took great interest in it, and I gave him a general idea of what was going on in it. It's based on a scene from Incarnate Key, the first time the reader encounters Sabra's mysterious dream companion, the "golden owl," in this story. It was done in Krita with the Wacom Bamboo tablet. I've been studying and sketching great horned owls in order to draw this character correctly, and I'm pretty pleased with the result. Obviously he's golden instead of earthy-colored like regular great horned owls due to his magical nature. And he glows. And Sabra feels pretty happy around him.

It's kind of funny. I went back and reread this scene after finishing this piece, and there are some inaccuracies between the scene and this picture. Oh well. I may go back and fix it later. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

E'lsra and Incarnate Key Book Pages

Hello everyone. I've added the official book pages for Book 3 of The Legend of Draconite: E'lsra and Book IV of The Legacy Incarnate: Incarnate Key to Xenithar's Lair. I've also moved the chapter updates that were on the side of the website to those pages so you can have delightful snippets of what goes on in the chapters.

As you'll be able to tell from the Incarnate Key chapter updates, I have finished drafting this story. Over the past 2 weeks I was on a huge inspirational high for the story, and so I pounded out the rest of it quickly. I felt so giddy with the amount of writing energy I had, it was like the energy I had during high school while writing. Now that it is drafted, I think I'll be able to focus more on E'lsra and getting it drafted.

Alas, I was trying to get it drafted by April, but that won't happen. At this point, I can't even give a guess as to when I will finish drafting the story. However, I do have it outlined, so hopefully that will make the process at lot quicker, and hopefully I won't slaughter the story or characters in the process.

Something else I've added to the side of the main page is a link to my Ramblr, one of the few social media sites I even use (I've become very disenchanted by much of social media, but that's another story). Ramblr is a site for hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts to track where they go, add pictures, audio, etc., and share it with others. I love to hike and camp and share what I see and know on the trail. If you look, I hope you enjoy.

I hope with all the corona virus craziness going on that everyone reading this has enough food, water, and supplies that they need to endure. Things will get better!

Legacy Incarnate BIV Excerpt

My New Year's gift to y'all, an excerpt from my other work in progress, Incarnate Key. It's been so interesting rewriting this story, but one thing I wanted to keep from the original was the strong bond Sabra and her friend and ward Xenta develop in their journey together. I hope you enjoy reading about their friendship!

~~~~

Spring in the Forest of Trio brought with it an unbearable humidity. The sun evaporated the Winter rains, and that combined with the increasing heat made Xenta feel like he walked through a lake wherever he went. When the humidity covered every inch of him in water and sweat, he finally removed his shirt. Some of his male friends did the same as they took a break in the shade. At least it hadn’t grown so warm that not even shade could offer relief from the sun.

Xenta lifted his bow, made from a local wood that could better withstand fluctuations in temperature and humidity than a Tyrellan bow, and ran a piece of beeswax along the sinew string. Therridan had been talking to a few of the other guys, but he came over and nudged Xenta’s shoulder.

“It’s your girlfriend,” he whispered saucily. Xenta chuckled and turned. Caemorr was limping onto the range, and her face lit up when she spotted him. He trotted over with his bow, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, before guiding her to the shade.

“I’ve wanted to show you this place for a while,” he said.

“I have spent much time just trying to stay cool,” she said, glancing at the others as they stood with interest around them. “But I have enjoyed the ranch. The brooders are amazing.”

“Want to give her a shot?” Xenta said, lifting the bow. Caemorr blinked, then looked at the range. There were six targets, each sat at varying distances. Several other people stood shooting already. “I’ve been practicing for the competition at Caravan Days. I’m going to win it this time.”

“I’ll try,” Caemorr agreed. “But I will need to sit; I can’t stand and shoot with the crutch.”

They located a small log and rolled it onto the range to the closest target, a thirty yard shot. Caemorr avoided looking directly at his friends, only sending them odd glances, before she lifted the bow and arrow and pulled back. Xenta ended up watching her rather than where the arrow would go. She needed to work on her stance, even though they had set the log sideways so she could better draw, but she looked absolutely beautiful wielding that bow.