Elf Queen 3 Weekly Update 1/29

Hello! It’s JM and this was my most productive writing week in a long time! I’m on a roll and I’ve been living in Palenor in my head lol. I’m also developing a little crush on Hel even though he’s terrible, villainous, mischievous, but he is the god of mischief after all. *sweats a little*

And some other fun stuff. I booked a trip to Florida for two weeks at the end of March- beginning of April.

Considering today in southeast Idaho it’s -1 but feels like -18 with a windchill warning of possible -40! The warning I got on my phone this morning even said a person can get frostbite in under 10 minutes in these temperatures.

BURRR.

Ugh I’m so ready to roll out of this winter weather. We also got a bunch snow a few days ago. The kids and my dog Loki had fun playing in the fresh powder.

But back to Florida, I can almost smell the ocean and feel the humidity on my skin now. We’ll hang out by the pool at our Airbnb, probably hit the beaches.

I will be writing and working while there too. By then Elf Queen 3 will likely be close to finished, for the first draft anyway.

We’re planning to take my kids to Magic Kingdom but that’s probably it for the parks. I don’t think the kids are ready for Universal Studios and it probably wouldn’t be fun bringing them. My son is 3 ½ and he doesn’t really like crowds and at the fair last summer he wouldn’t go on even the slowest of rides, so it will be interesting to see how Disney World goes. My daughter who is six is excited to see Disney princesses, of course.

I’m also scoping out the area to see where I might want to live. I’ve wanted to move somewhere warm and tropical for years and with writing being my full time job now, it’s an option.

My sister moved there last year and loves it. It will be hard to leave my parents and other family behind here though.

If you know of anything In Florida that’s a must let me know!

Elf Queen progress

So this week went great for me. I wrote over 14k words! Wahoo! Last week my total on Elf Queen 3 was at 45k words and as of today I’m a bit over 59k words, and on chapter 24.

Interestingly enough, many books range from 60-80k words and for some, this would be close to being finished, but since we know I like long books, I’d say we’re not even halfway at this point.

I feel like there’s still a lot that needs to be explored and the story is just beginning lol.

Longer books, to me, make the world more immersive and it makes me feel for the characters more as long as I stay interested. Almost all my favorite books are series with 500 pages + each.

Since I didn’t give you any lines or snippets from Elf Queen 3 last week, here’s a long one.

If you don’t want to read any spoilers or scenes from book 3 then obviously, don’t read further. It’s just a little bickering between Thane and Tif but really nothing spoilery. pure entertainment.

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“Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking everywhere. You know how long it takes me and my little legs to get around this castle? And the stairs, oye, I could lose my extra fluff, and I can’t have that. I’ll need extra dessert tonight.” She patted her round belly and stopped beside Layala and raised the envelope. “I was wandering around thinking about what I’d like for a snack, but sticking to the shadows to avoid the jumbos, you know, like I do, and I smelled delicious cinnamon rolls. But Mage Vesstan snuck up on me just as I was about to take one off the plate, tapped my shoulder and told me to give this to you. He said that if I got it sticky or lost it, he’d turn me into a toad so thought I better wait on the rolls. Anway, can he really do that?”

Layala took the envelope and shrugged. She wasn’t sure what Vesstan was capable of, though from his feeble appearance, not much.

“He most certainly can,” Thane said with a sly smile. “I should have had him turn you into one at his cottage when you ignored my rules.”

Her big brown eyes widened and then she stamped her foot. “I listened plenty good. You were just a grumpy ol’ turd.”

“Excuse me,” Thane balked and put his hands on his hips. “You do realize I’m the High Elf King.”

“I’m not a dumb dumb.”

Thane looked at Layala and raised his eyebrows. “Will you get your lady’s maid under control before I toss her out a window?” He glared down at her. “From the top floor.”

Tif gasped and slapped her stubby little hand against her chest. “How could you use my worst fear against me? I knew there was something rotten about you.”

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If you remember from* I think* book 1, Tif worries that she’ll be tossed out a window and left broken on the ground and the guards would walk by and laugh at her demise. Dramatic little thing, and of course Thane likes to patronize the little gnome as much as he does Layala. Hehe

In other news

I have a couple artists commission for some Elf Queen art! It just takes forever with their busy schedules so it’s still a couple months out but they’re going to be FIRE. And then I’ll put them in my etsy shop as like a 5×7 print or something so you can put them on your bookshelf. Also maybe stickers?

I need to take pictures of the merch I have so far and get the items listed in my etsy shop next week for you all too. I’ll make an announcement when they’re ready!

Alrighty I think that’s it for today. I’ll post another update next Sunday. Hope you’re all doing well.

JM Kearl