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Starting anew
Life sure has thrown us all some curves over the last couple of years. I was no exception. In a lot of ways it feels like I’m starting everything over completely. You see, my plans all fell apart just before Covid in 2020. I was born and raised Catholic, and in 2019 I entered religious…
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What revising your draft and working out have in common
I have recently gotten myself back in the habit of working out every other day after work. I don’t enjoy it, but I need to be doing it, and I’m glad I’m doing it. It got to me thinking, somehow, about what writing and working out have in common. (That’s how my mind works .…
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Doing the grunt work feels thankless . . . but it’s actually magical
Preparing for the June 15 launch of “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope” has definitely been a marathon. I feel pretty spent physically, emotionally, and psychologically right now. And there’s still a week before the stress, joy, tears, and memories of launch day itself. Now, this is not to complain at all. It’s to…
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What the pícaro?
(Hopefully this title grabbed your attention!) What is a pícaro, and what does it have to do with a blog dedicated to creative writing? I’m here to tell you! Picaresque literature, it turns out, was an important inspiration in The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope, releasing June 15! THE TRADITIONAL SPANISH PICARO I very…
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A look into an author’s mind a week before launch day
Launch day is basically a week away for my YA fantasy sword and sorcery epic adventure, and I wanted to take stock here and make a log of all the crazy thoughts running in and out of my mind . . . Anyways, that’s what’s going through my head right about now! It’s a circus,…
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What the graveyard scene in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” taught me about high stakes action scenes
The graveyard scene at the end of the fourth Harry Potter book is one of my favorite scenes in the entire series. I cannot describe how gripped I was, reading it for the first time at the age of fifteen. I had never read or experienced anything quite like that in fiction. It was amazing.…
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Character Spotlight: Zalski Forzythe, because everyone loves a good villain
Zalski Forzythe (ZAL-ski FOR-zithe, last syllable like scythe) is definitely my favorite villain–and one of my favorite characters overall–in my entire series. He’s one of those characters who absorbs all the focus in every scene he’s in. Every editing pass I made through The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope, I could feel the anticipation…
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A second editorial review for “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope”
I have a second editorial review that I was sent over for my June 15 YA Fantasy / Sword and Sorcery release, and I wanted to pass it along! I’m so excited about it! “Everyone reaches a crossroad in their life where they have to choose between doing what is right and doing what is…
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Kora’s first raid, part 2: Excerpt from “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope”
This week’s excerpt continues last week’s action-packed raid by the Crimson League on a group of sorcerer Zalski Forzythe’s elite guardsmen, hoping to discover his long-term goals and what he has them searching For. What will they discover? In the meantime, Menikas had helped Ranler hoist the other man to his seat for Lanokas to…
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Why is it so hard to “let go” of a WIP?
You never “finish” a work of art. There just comes a point when you stop working on it. There comes a point when your novel truly is ready for beta readers, and then truly ready for an editor. After that, there comes a moment when you DO need to send it to the proofreader, and…
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Editorial Review for “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope”
It’s release month, and I am so stoked to share this editorial review with y’all for my sword and sorcery action-adventure tale! It just makes my heart sing! “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope by Victoria Grefer is a riveting fantasy story with a firm footing in all that makes traditional fantasy great. This…
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Creative Writing with the Crimson League 