anathemafiction

Rise — Alessa

You don't know exactly what is wrong. You just know that it hurts.

It hurts. It hurts as you've barely felt before. Pain lacerates you; it crashes against you; it swallows you whole like a tide that just keeps rising and rising until it sweeps over your mouth, and you have no more air to breathe. You cannot breathe, you can barely think. Pain, red and hot and all-encompassing, spreads fro...

Progress Report

4k Words!

Just barely, but look, the count does not lie. What a wonderful end of the week this is! Especially since I couldn't write a single word yesterday (´༎ຶ ͜ʖ ༎ຶ ). My Thursday was full of meetings and house chores and it left me no energy to type away at the computer.

...

Pulled From the Depths — The Pirate King & Neia

He has memorized the pattern of your breathing.

Your chest moves up and down, just barely, while soft air drifts in and out of your parted lips. The Pirate watches as moonlight comes to kiss the ends of your eyelashes and paints white stripes down the side of your body, laying over the red duvet of his bed.

Your ribs expand again...

And The Pirate knows instin...

So, November's a challenge?

I've heard about NaNoWriMo again and again in my short-lived online writing career but, honestly, I never quite understood what it consisted of. The goal is to write 50k words, but there's also a website? Do they hold a competition? Are we supposed to share the work? Is it regulated? 

This year, I decided: what does it matter? 

I'm doing the challenge for myself and sharin...

Lingering Glance

You take a step closer, studying all the knives spread around Alessa. They're arranged in a semi-circle with the tips pointed at her while the hilts face outwards. It reminds you of a steel crown, its spikes so sharp, they cut the heavy head who dares to wear it. 

Whoosh.

You count eight knives. "How many of those do you have, Alessa?" you ask. They're all identical. T...

Progress Report

Two days later!

But, there was a part I really wanted to finish before writing this progress report, so instead of Friday, we meet on a lovely Sunday. The good news is that I just reached that part, and I still have a few hours planned to dedicate to writing before the end of the day. So, this Sunday morning got off to a good start. 😊

This week's progress has been nice and steady...

Found Adrift — The Pirate King (Mature)

Nine fingertips roam the skin of your stomach.

You close your eyes as warm fumes kiss your eyelashes and warmer lips kiss the side of your neck. Each touch sends a wave of slow sparks down your spine, like molten rock rolling down a grass hill, which makes your limbs tense and your fingers clench on the edge of the deep bathtub.

You tilt your head to the side, giving those lips furt...

Not a romance writer but...

Today Neia has me like: 😍

Saturday's my rest day, but I was itching to write something, so I finished her part of next month's scenarios, and... she's so dreamy. I think I'm finally getting a hang of her character!!!! I can't wait to feature her properly in Book Two. 

Her scene in the first game is much too short for my liking. 

Actually, I get like this every tim...

Progress Report

When it rains, it pours.

It seems almost unbelievable, but fate has decided not to give me any rest. Or, worst yet, not to give those I care about any rest. This is very hard for me to say, but my father had a seizure on Wednesday night.

I woke up to the worst call of my life, my mother sobbing on the other end. Thankfully, he's recovered completely. The doctors did...

Nightmare — Alain & Ysabella

Alain gazes at the ceiling above.

It is nicely painted, with gold streaks on the corners and charming little reliefs along the edge. He gazes at it, lips plucked, eyes half-lidded, and limbs stretched lazily on the plush mattress. His whole body tingles with a heaviness that uplifts instead of weighing down. His nerves are alight, but not to induce a frenzy, they... they ...

Sneak Peek

You give her a cheeky grin. "Cheap? Now, you've done it. You've cut deep, my fair Alessa. You did," you say, a dramatic hand on your chest, a desperate air to your eyes. "I don't know if I can ever recover. Cheap? Truly?"

Alessa's fingers on your chin clench, and you grimace when she pulls you in, your grin growing twofold. "You are a fool," she accuses you, trying and utterly failing to ...

Progress Report

1k words!

Such a modest count for the day, but I'm so terribly happy because I finished the scene!!!!!! 😭😭😭 It had so many variations, I had a whole notebook page of choices and text that I needed to go back and fill in. But I can throw that page into the bin too. So lon...

Of Carrots and Turnips — Hadrian

Sweat covers your brow in a feverish glow. You're hot, your skin crawls, but as much as you dig your nails in, you can't get deep enough to satisfy the itch. Your limbs are heavy but restless, and you can't think straight, but sleep evades you too. From the depths of your closed eyes, colors twirl against a black that should be soothing.

You can't sleep, and you can't stay still, but you ...

A small nod

Character: reveals something harsh they've dealt with in the past.

Romanus:

I didn't write the line word for word, but the nod to Avatar is there. 😄 The opportunity was just too tempting to pass. Zuko's line is iconic. 

Sometimes all you can say in support is... that's rough, ...

Neia, the Dawnseeker

Here's Neia by the incredibly talented Lydiaalin (Tumblr | Twitter). Just look at the details on her face!!!! I am in love. She looks better than I imagined her in my head ...

Progress Report

3k words!

It's not the most impressive wordcount, but it's a small victory I'll willingly take nonetheless. Today I had a really good writing session, especially since this last branch of choices wasn't in the first sketch at all — it was completely new material which, natu...

Different sides of the same prism

Me after writing all the Relationship Variations:

Tiring, but it feels so good when I have them all filled up! I really want to take the time to make the Rose as interactive with your past choices and relationships as possible. I want to try and make the characters fee...

Haunted — Hadrian & Alessa

Moonlight filters through the window, the pale beams of light falling across the ceiling. Hadrian stares at them.

His head pulses, his back aches, and he has long lost any feeling in his right arm. His body begs him to change position, but he can't. You're sleeping nestled against his side with your arms around his neck, and Hadrian refuses to move.

You, however, ha...

Progress Report

A week has gone by.

And what a week it has been. Once again, we find ourselves meeting on a Saturday instead of a Friday — I think, at this point, I might as well change the Progress Report posts to Saturday. 

But while last week's reason for the delay was a positive one, this week's less than a happy one. I had to rush to the hospital emergency room with my mom at 4 am, and ...

Regarding the Art Vote...

Hello! 

So, the Pirate King won the poll for my next commissioned art, however, an AMAZING artist recently opened commission slots, and, to my amazement, I was fortunate enough to be able to secure one of them!

I've been dying to see Neia in her style — I think Neia was born to be drawn by this artist. 

Her slots go extremely fast, so I couldn't wait for t...

Throw it in the bin!

4k more words!

And I finished a pretty intense variation! AHHH I'm so happy! It feels so good to cross tasks off a to-do list, I may be addicted to creating lists just so I can eventually cross them all. 😄

The end result is a mess of a page, but alas, it's going to the r...

Sleep Talking — Hadrian (Mature)

It started slow.

Almost unintentionally so. Sunlight filters through the window of your bed chambers, resting like a warm blanket on top of your skin. The afternoon is painted in orange, the kind that softens your muscles and makes your eyelids grow heavy. You tilt your chin towards the ceiling, soaking the warmth like a cat on a windowsill, and your lips curl with the quiet satisfaction ...

Billing Change

Hello, everyone!

So, Patron pushed a very welcomed update, and I wanted to share the good news. Starting now, Patrons will be charged on the day they join my membership, and then monthly on that same date. This means that, for example, if a patron joins on the 10th, they’ll be charged on that day, and then monthly on the 10th.

This is great because it will stop th...