If you read fantasy for the magic, the world-building, and the occasional moment of dark humor—I write that. One urban fantasy series, one epic fantasy series, both set in the Fractured Arcana universe, with more coming. My newsletter takes you deeper into the worlds, the characters, and what's next.
What Comes After Thaumatropic Roots?
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I've been having a lot of fun creating things lately. Not just books. Shoe shelves for my wife. Reels. Sometimes even novels. 🙃 I finally figured out how to tell a story in under thirty seconds. If you're curious what I've been experimenting with outside the books, here's my latest attempt: Every second she fights, another elf dies — and she can feel each one go dark. This is the cruelest trap in all of urban fantasy. Book 1 free on Amazon Prime for a limited time — link in bio.#FantasyTok #UrbanFantasy #ContemporaryFantasy #FantasyBook If you're a writer and would like occasional emails about the marketing side of my author journey—ads, newsletters, direct sales, social media, and all the mistakes along the way—reply and let me know. I'll add you to that separate list. Want to see what comes next after Thaumatropic Roots? I've posted an early draft of the opening chapters of Father of Stones for newsletter readers. I'm leaning toward Thaumatropic Fractures as the series name, though I'm still not completely sold. Let me know what you think. You'll get a flavor even from the early chapters... darker than Roots.
Progress has been slower than usual. Partly because I needed a short break, partly because I needed to do some marketing, but largely because this series plays with a lot of tough pieces. It is book-ended by both Thaumatropic Roots and Guardian League, which constrains it. Partly because the storyline is complicated and some of the "payoff" scenes don't happen when they should in terms of story timelines. I'm also testing the waters on just how deep into the dark I can push my comfort zone. But, it is moving forward, if not at the pace any of us wished. I had a delightful video call with another Urban Fantasy author (half of an Urban Fantasy team): C.G Harris. They've got a completed 5-book series out, centered around a dead underworld agent who spends his time secretly trying to right the wrongs perpetrated by his nefarious employer, Judas Iscariot. (They have more books than than this one series.)
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Steven J Morris
If you read fantasy for the magic, the world-building, and the occasional moment of dark humor—I write that. One urban fantasy series, one epic fantasy series, both set in the Fractured Arcana universe, with more coming. My newsletter takes you deeper into the worlds, the characters, and what's next.
In this one: an old friend from way back, 20k words of progress, and a new reel from Thaumatropic Fractures. Last newsletter I asked for some accountability help. A few people reached out. One was someone I think of as an old friend from high school. But I've got to tell a little story about him. Way back before high school, in 5th grade, I transferred into a new school roughly mid-year. In one of my classes, the teacher insisted I do a placement test. But the placement test was this set of...
Hey Reader, Quick fun bit before today's update: the polls from my last email are in. I'd asked how many of you had actually read the three portal fantasy books that made me want to write the genre: Mordant's Need: 14.3% have read it The Darwath Trilogy: 0% have read it War of the Flowers: 14.3% have read it Almost nobody has read them, which tracks. They're buried treasure. If any of them ended up on your list because of that email, I'd love to hear how it goes. Okay, the actual update. I...
Hey Reader, I was ~sixteen when I first read Mordant's Need by Stephen R. Donaldson. A woman gets pulled through a magic mirror into a medieval kingdom that desperately needs a hero—except she isn't one. No power, no destiny, no idea what she's walked into. What Donaldson does with her arc stuck with me, particularly the moment she finally understands the game being played around her, finds her place on the board, and chooses to step into it. I try to replicate that in my storytelling. That...