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.
I promise I’ve made progress on Father of Stones (FoS). Here's a screenshot to prove it: click the photo to get to the live data showing progress But... I have put a little time elsewhere. I want to invite you to try this web-game I’ve been building out. It was meant to be a role-playing game around Thaumatropic Fractures, but ended up being focused on Thaumatropic Roots. https://tfrpg.sjmorriswrites.com https://tfrpg.sjmorriswrites.com The game will ask you to use your email to associate...
I built a tracking page for Father of Stones (FoS) this week. I did not, notably, write very much of said book this week. There's a joke in there about creative avoidance and I'm not going to pretend I don't see it. Anyway — here's what I made instead. Word Count Over Time A live chart of Father of Stones' progress since late June. I'm not smoothing over the slow weeks. There's a very flat stretch from June 'til August where I worked on the Eigenthrope story, then another flat stretch through...
Yesterday I needed to remember exactly how a character destroyed a dragon artifact three books ago. I didn't dig through my own novels to find it—I asked an AI I built to search them for me. It's called the Grimoire: a mini-AI system I put together with Pinecone that I can ask questions about my own books—hair color in a different epoch, a side character I want to bring back, a detail I'd otherwise lose momentum digging for. It keeps me writing instead of hunting. That's the quiet way AI has...