Phew, have not done a writing update in a long time, so this is well overdue!!! But hello, everyone!!!! Welcome back! Isabelle Knight here again with a writing update on my current WIP project, Island Keepers, a middle-grade fantasy adventure series!!!! So let’s get going!
So, as some of you may know, I’ve been working on a brand new book!!! It’s called Island Keepers and it’s a middle-grade fantasy adventure series that’s inspired by a bunch of stuff, but mostly the cover of Adrift by Tanya Guerrero. You’ll know why once I reveal the book blurb. ;D
But yeah! I am currently sitting at around 8K for my new project, Island Keepers, book three, and I’m trying to pace myself so that the book doesn’t end up a total, rushed, disaster like the previous two books. 🤣😆
Which would be totally funny if not for the fact that AAARGH revisions are gonna be a huge paaaain!!!!!
I finished book two recently, and while writing that book, I also met… DA VILLAIN!!! Or not really the villain… I have to say, the villain…
She wasn’t what I expected.
At all.
I thought she’d be this huge, evil villainous sorceress like Ravena, scaring everybody.
Instead, she’s funny, sarcastic, rather charming, and doing the right thing. Sort of.
So, you know. Just the usual writerly business. And today was a MARVELOUS sunny day, and it’s spring here in China!!! HURRAYYYY!!!! (throws confetti) The Lunar New Year passed a few weeks ago, and I had the marvelous opportunity to celebrate it with two author interviews, which is AMAZING!!! Eeek!
And it also means that spring is here!!! Woohoo!!!
Now, I don’t know how it is for other cities in China, but where I live, it’s getting sunny!!! And the tourists are piling up… -_- But on the plus side, spring and summer are marvelous times for my creativity! That’s often when I get to just stay up late, huddle underneath my covers, grab my nightlight shaped like an owl, and just scrawl down random ideas and brainstorm!!!
I actually got a very rough plan for book three, which is good, because now, I’m thinking that yes, indeed, I do need a MILD plan. Emphasis on the word MILD. The way I have it right now is just like this: 1/4 of the book: some exciting thing. 2/4 of the book, lots of dramatic stuff. 3/4 of the book. DA TWIST! 4/4 of the book, climax and conclusion.
And no, I did not write down vague things. I wrote down the scenes, BUT I am not sharing them with you right now, I’m afraid. But yeah! My main character just got a letter, and she and her griffon are off an adventure!!! She’s already gone on lots of adventures now… I’m so proud of her!!!
But the real dramatic one is yet to come…
Especially with the island’s revenge….
Oops, was that a spoiler? Well, it’s a mild one, since you guys don’t know what the book is about yet, but… XDDDD
All shall be made clear in time!!!
And of course, I am also busy revising Enchantria book four. Honestly, it’s been a WILD ride with this book. For one thing, it’s dramatic, there are character deaths, blah blah blah. For those of you who have begun to think, “Oh phew, maybe Isabelle isn’t the kind of writer who’s gonna kill of my favorite character,” THINK AGAIN!!! 😈
Okay, sorry to sound so ominous!!!
It’s not that ominous!
Not really!
Though that emoji certainly does make it SOUND ominous… 0_0
One problem I’ve found popping up in the book is that is sounds more YA than MG. YA is basically young adult, and I don’t want that!!! But apparently I’m diving ‘too deep’ into character despair and all that… (sighs forlornly) I LOOOOVE character despair!
But I’m going for middle-grade because I don’t want to just write dark and scary. I also want fun!!! Which is gonna be hard to get in book four, but I guess we’ll see!!! I’ve also received word from the amazing Courtney Denelsbeck, my beta reader, that Elenora is sounding a tad bit whiny….
Oops.
So I’m gonna see if I can convince her to try more instead of just moping about.
One thing I tried was adding a bit more… determination to Elenora’s character instead of just having her frozen with fear while Ravena did some evil spell. I would say that helped a LOT. I do need to work on the pacing, since I do drag things out a bit, and according to some of my reviews, the writing can be repetitive sometimes. 😬 Not that great.
But I think adding determination definitely helps a lot. Along with some playful banter and a few snarky remarks from Carlisia. 🙂 I was actually laughing while revising a scene today. LAUGHING. All while Ravena prepared to destroy the world. And the reason I was laughing is because well… Let’s just say, Carlisia is good at annoying people. More specifically, she’s good at annoying Ravena. XDDD
This is what I wrote today and yes, I’m giving you a sneak peek at book four in the series!!! 👏👏👏 Woohoo!!! Enjoy! ;D
~ ~ ~
You have to stop her! Ariella mouthed.
Elenora gritted her teeth. “Don’t you think I’m trying?” she muttered. Her feet were still stuck to the floor, her limbs frozen, but she thought she could feel just the slightest tingle of magic in her veins now.
But then, the door creaked open.
Elenora glanced up, tensing.
A tall, dark-haired girl stepped in, her dark eyes cold as ice. Io. Behind her, she led a girl who Elenora recognized immediately.
“{Name redacted for security purposes}!” Elenora exclaimed. “{Name redacted for security purposes}, are you alright?”
“She won’t be soon,” said Ravena coldly.
“What do you-” Elenora broke off as she realized. {Classified information removed}
“You’re going to {removed by order of Queen Rosaleen}?” Carlisia cried in disbelief. “Sheesh. Dramatic much?”
Ravena’s eyes narrowed. “{Classified information removed},” she snapped. “{Redacted for security purposes}” Before Elenora could react, she said, “I just need one final ingredient. And lucky for me, it’s not that hard to get. {Removed by order of Queen Rosaleen}.”
“You’re gonna-” Carlisia broke off, staring at her aghast. “That’s not any better!”
Ravena sighed in exasperation and clenched her fist tight. “I can’t wait to be done with you all,” she hissed. “Enchantria-”
“Will fall,” Carlisia interrupted. “And all that boring villain monologue. We get it!”
Ravena clenched her jaw. “Insolent teens,” she growled.
Ariella mouthed something at Elenora, but Elenora furrowed her brow. “What?” she whispered to herself. What was she saying?
Finally Ariella gave up, exasperated, and managed to hiss, “Distract her!”
“Distra- Oh,” said Elenora. She blinked. Distract Ravena? How was she supposed to do that? But she couldn’t let Ravena {Access denied by the creator of Enchantria}. Though she was pretty sure getting Ravena’s full wrath turned on her couldn’t be much better.
Ariella shot Elenora a glare. Do it! she mouthed. Now!
“Um… You won’t get away with this!” Elenora shouted, in a weak attempt to distract the villain.
It didn’t work.
~ ~ ~
You may have noticed a lot of stuff removed from that bit. Really sorry about that, but I just wanted to share a snippet of my writing without giving you guys a whole bunch of spoilers. And of course, there is no way you guys are finding out what’s behind those REDACTED stuff until book four comes out.
Anyway, I am also working on another WIP that honestly, I don’t know if I can pull off or not. It’s like the Newbery Honor books, the kind of book that I want to be really deep, powerful, and meaningful and yaargh!!! I don’t know if I can pull it off!!!
So it’s gonna remain secret for now.
But yeah, that’s what I’ve been up to these past few days!!! And I really need to wrap this up instead of rambling on and on and ooon, because I need to go do some dreadful math homework (yes, even not-so very glorious authors must do math homework), but I’ll see you again in the next post!!! Thanks for much for coming!!! Byeee!!!
Isabelle
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