TJMuir

finished Before the Luck Runs Out. Unless my beta readers come back with more awesome suggestions! this one is more standard epic fantasy. 
          	
          	5 more shorts and novellas to follow, all from the Chanmyr Chronicles 
          	
          	Orphan.  Homeless. Half-breed. 
          	For fourteen years Jedda’s home has been in the shadows and alleys of Tatak Rhe- city of the wealthy, powerful, and corrupt. He scrounges for survival, in dirty clothes that don’t keep him warm. Buried in his blood lies the gift of magic: an invisible hand guiding his life.  Mostly he relies on his nimble fingers to keep himself fed.
          	Cold and hungry, he nicks the coin purse of the wrong man. Karrahk, one of the city’s powerful rulers, looks into the bright green eyes of the tawny-skinned waif and sees Jedda’s hidden heritage. He makes a decision that will change a hungry boy’s life forever.

TJMuir

finished Before the Luck Runs Out. Unless my beta readers come back with more awesome suggestions! this one is more standard epic fantasy. 
          
          5 more shorts and novellas to follow, all from the Chanmyr Chronicles 
          
          Orphan.  Homeless. Half-breed. 
          For fourteen years Jedda’s home has been in the shadows and alleys of Tatak Rhe- city of the wealthy, powerful, and corrupt. He scrounges for survival, in dirty clothes that don’t keep him warm. Buried in his blood lies the gift of magic: an invisible hand guiding his life.  Mostly he relies on his nimble fingers to keep himself fed.
          Cold and hungry, he nicks the coin purse of the wrong man. Karrahk, one of the city’s powerful rulers, looks into the bright green eyes of the tawny-skinned waif and sees Jedda’s hidden heritage. He makes a decision that will change a hungry boy’s life forever.

TJMuir

i have successfully defeated the dreaded NANO monster! i reached the 50k goal this weekend, although i still have a few more chapters to finish up the Cafe sequel!
          anyone who wants to beta-read and offer feedback?  greatly appreciated! 
          right now... it's time for wine and chocolate:)

stpolishook

Thanks so much for following! You are an animal trainer AND a shaman??? You are so cool! Love the title of your book btw. Im fascinated by the hungry ghosts in buddhist mythology ( even wrote a short play using them as an allegory for people with eating disorders). The description of the book sounds really cool too. Good luck with it!! :-)

stpolishook

Yeah I actually took a fair amount of anther classes myself. Oh the religion is made already. Its just specific initiation rights and practices i need to hash out in the second book. Both religions in this world are loosley  judo christian, but one contains more pagan/ polytheistic elements as they worship the Fae ( believe in one god but also these imortal beings of the earth). As the book goes on it is clearer that these fae are real, but the question of the god still goes unanswered... Im on wattpad only ( i mean i have fb). Actually starting to fear i should remove my book due to the fact i want to traditionally publish. I only have 25 chapters up right now. An yeah! lets start a club thread!! ( know how to do that? cause i don't;-)). Im 31;-)
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TJMuir

this message may be offensive 
@stpolishook very cool.  I was actually an anthropology minor in college, with a good bit of comparative religion included, as well as medievval lit and history-- which were interesting until i had the massive realisation that it was all doom and gloom in terms of their cosmology-- and every bit of (theoretical) every day living...ie.. didn't seem to stop people from doing dumbass things.. clearly... or else there wouldn't be so much fuss about it all-- one thing i learned in anthro-sociology.. you can tell what is going on in a culture by looking at the laws... if there is a law-- you can be pretty sure it ISN'T actually happening lmao:)...
            
            btw- re developing religion for story.. i'd suggest.. decide what they are afraid of, how they view the world.. and what is a scarcity-- power and mysticism build up around those aspects...:)
            
            so are you just on wattpad,, or on FB/GR etc?
            
            we should start a club-thread... are you over 30 lol:)
• Reply

stpolishook

Very cool. I actually just tested in quarterstaff, but did part of the test with ratan. No question fight training is fun to blow off some steam;-) 
            
            I was a religion minor in college and have dabbled research in MANY types of spiritualism and such. I have studied in japan and kinda love shinto and buddhism ( thus the interest in hungry ghosts). Im kinda just stealing from lots of traditions to make my own. Thus writing fantasy;-) Means i can research but don't have to be 100% accurate on any of the time periods of history, nor cultures, nor religions I am taking from since I'm making my own ( just have to worry about being consistent with my own system;-)).
            
            Yeah stage combat is basically studying and practicing real sword techniques but then adapting them so they can be executed in staged fights and still be safe. The swords sound badass. I have used both steel and aluminum. Thats  popular alternative to lighten larger weapons since it looks decent and still rings ( not as well as steel though to my mind). Film weapons are almost always aluminum apparently. I like fighting with steel. But our swords are dulled on the edges and tip ( again safety is a thing since this is for theater_. And yeah i was an actor and musical theater performer in y past life ( also puppeteer). Now i mainly just act out characters on the page ( hence 8+povs in my first book). Still do the sword thing cause its fun and informs my writing.
            
            Sorry the guy sounds like he was a bust...;-p
            
            And yeah you have the pronunciation right. The handle is entirely uncreative ( wasn't thinking when i made it and then i had followers and didn't  feel like changing it;-)). Polishook is my last name. Stacey is my first. Thus i seem like a saint of polishing hooks;-) hehe
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TJMuir

a double-drabble, I suppose.  A short snippet i just whipped up from a writing prompt.  a lot of us are in NANO prep-mode:)
          
           Actually, the coffee is decaffeinated. No one knows. No one suspects. She brags about her coffee and latte's as much as her coworkers. Her real addiction is what else is in the cup. No one knows. No one guesses. Each night she leaves out a cup, outside in the moonlight. Next to the cup she leaves tobacco and a chocolate. Each morning, the cup is filled. She doesn't know what is in the cup. She has done this since she became an adult; when her mother taught her the ritual, the way her mother had been taught- way back through hundreds and perhaps thousands of years. It is a pact between their line and the invisible ones. some call them angels, others call them faeries. They never named themselves. Their name is not important. they always help and answer her requests for help. that sacred connection is more powerful than any drug-- and with her failed kidney, she could never have lived without it. The doctors said "miracle" when she had recovered... they could call it whatever they liked. Whatever she drank, restored her health- when she made that request. Now, she knew she would maintain this for her entire life. she would do it anyway, and pass it along to her children. But for her, her life would always depend on it. There had never been any side affects or drawbacks... but then she also didn't think anyone in her family had been saved from death, either....

TJMuir

not sure where to post this. thought it might be cool to do here- so maybe check this out and enter this event. fun and some cool prizes:)
          
          https://www.facebook.com/events/1616239271959563/1620434358206721/ oct 18-25th
          
          Join us for a week of fun and prizes! Find your next great read! It’s a scavenger hunt that will introduce you to new authors and amazing stories.
          
          Grand Prize - 20 ebooks, 1 paperback and $20 in Amazon gift cards. Second Prize - 10 ebooks and $10 Amazon gift card. Third Prize - 5 ebooks and $5 Amazon gift card.
          
          Full details and instructions at http://wrenfigueiro.wix.com/uncannyquarry
          
          feel free to share it forward:)

TJMuir

A reader asked this, regarding shamanism:
          
           What their main duties are, common rituals, role in the community, that kind of thing.
          
          And kind of a weird question, are shamans kind of like psychics/mediums? That's kind of the impression I have of them as of right now, and I'm not sure how true that is. 
          
          First, the question will vary somewhat, between cultures, and historic versus modern needs.  Traditionally, within the community, responsible for things like making it rain, helping hunters find game etc.  keeping harmony-balance within the community. important points of passage, birth, death, sickness. today- those things can vary- someone needs a new taxi, they may go to a shaman for help manifesting support/ abundance for their business. 
          
          a shaman is not a psychic-medium.  although they may use or be either of those things.  a shaman is much much more. and that is too long of an answer to go into here.