Always quirky, sometimes sweet speculative fiction

Current Projects

Are you interested in what I’m writing(or revising) at the moment? Here’s a list of my current projects, a quick blurb and what stage I’m currently at with the piece. Also if I have any sneak-peeks, I’ll put the link there for you to get a taste.

If you want to quickly skip past the novels to my short stories and novellas, click here.

 

Novels:

Storybook Perfect

The first in a cross dimensional epic fantasy quartet.

Series overall: In a land straight out of a storybook, three girls from our world struggle with a prophecy, fighting to return home, but they’ll soon learn even in a realm of fantasy, life does not go storybook perfect.

Volume one specifically: If there is something you must do in this world is there anything that can stop you from doing it? Yui, Brione and Madison wonder precisely that. After nearly drowning in the ocean, they come ashore in a different world and learn that their appearance was foretold as heroes of a prophecy. The young women discover amazing new talents and cultivate them in the hopes that completing the prophecy will enable their return home.
As time passes their thoughts alter slightly: is living in this world really so awful? And as danger looms the question arises: what if a prophecised hero dies before she reaches the day of prophecy?

Where it’s at: undergoing revision based on feedback in an agent’s rejection. Work has commenced on book 2(but is on hold until revision is complete).

 

Written By The Stars

A cross-dimensional fantasy which ponders whether having a pre-determined fate is all it’s cracked up to be. Approximately 80,000 words. ⛎

When faced with the decision to marry her live-in boyfriend or not Fanta doesn’t just run away, she ends up in another world. In this world the Gods choose every twist of fate for every person alive. Convinced she is Alice in Wonderland Fanta joins a group of dissidents in the fight against the Gods for the freedom to choose, giving the mission none of the fear it deserves.

Where it’s at: Self revisions underway

You can get a bit more knowledge about this book by looking at this blog hop interview.

Lovely/Lonely

A coming out/coming of age modern fantasy novel. 64,000 words.

During a spectacular break-up fight Min is outed to the whole school by her (now ex)boyfriend as asexual. The fallout of the fight sends her in a downward spiral until she considers suicide. When that starts to seem like her only option help comes in the strangest form: an anthropomorphic human skeleton.

Where it’s at: Self revisions underway.

 

Keys, Clocks and Quests

(working title)

A stand-alone epic fantasy full of quests and self-questioning.

One sentence: Apprentice knight Hayd joins his master on a quest for their monarchs but there are more problems involved with the quest than he could ever have imagined, not the least of which is the boy he’s fallen in love with.

One paragraph: Hayd, an apprentice knight, never dreamed that when the King and Queen requested his master to gather the greatest heroes in the world for a quest that he would be included. The quest is far from what he dreamed. Forced to travel with the most frustrating man in the kingdom they gather the ultimate magician of all time, only to discover he’s senile, and the next most powerful magicians have died, leaving behind only their non-magical children. Add a child battle-witch, a cursed librarian, and a swordsman turned recluse and you can see why Hayd is feeling disillusioned. However, their quest is far more dangerous and far more important than they could ever have imagined and secrets and betrayals wait around every corner. Even the enigmatic Shain, lurking on the fringes of the world, are interested in the quest.

Where it’s at: first draft completed.

You can get a better feel for it in this post where I answer questions from ‘The Next Big Thing’ blog hop or enjoy a sneak-peak, Battle With A Butengram.

 

Tuuca of the Tides

A stand alone fantasy novel, projected length approx 120,000 words. 2014’s NaNoWriMo novel.

After rejection by her traveling partner of 12 years, Tuuca heads off on her own. She thinks she’s finally settling into a new life with a new job on a new continent when a troupe of strangers appears claiming she possesses an item which can help them.

Back on her home continent natural disasters are tearing the country of Shoheid apart. Unable to take the item from Tuuca she is instead taken along, expected to learn mastery of her item’s powers so she can help contain the disasters. But no one seems to have considered why the disasters are occurring.

Where it’s at: 50,000 words into first draft.

 

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Short Stories:

Dressed For Success

A magic realism short story set in modern day Australia, 6,000 words.

Jessica just wants to work in the same daycare her dad did, oh, and for all the people who come into contact with her to not be filled with lust by her succubus powers. How hard will she fight for her goals and what is success?

Where it’s at: shopping for a home.

 

Charming Rivals

A Retailored Fairy Tales novella, part two of the Charming For Hire series, 19,000 words.

James has a competitor in the Charming for hire business and he’s losing all the contracts. When his cousin is kidnapped by brigands who’ve uncovered her secret, there’s no one he can turn to except his rival. Can he keep his kingdom’s economy afloat, save his childhood companion, and find a way to eliminate his competition?

Where it’s at: copyediting.

 

Foxworth

A modern fantasy short story, 5,000 words.

A family of five adopts a dog from an animal rescue with mismatched eyes and a creepy reason why he always ends up back at the shelter.

Where it’s at: shopping for a home.

 

The Ashes

A fantasy short set in the 1800s, part of an intended longer series. 2,000 words.

A mother searches through the burned wreckage of her house desperate to find the bones of her son.

Where it’s at: shopping for a home.

 

Not Human, Not Alien

Science Fiction meets fantasy on a spacecraft where tanuki and kitsune (shapeshifting racoon-dogs and foxes) hide amongst humans. 8,300 words.

Ten years ago the Graalsh landed on earth and told mankind they had 10 years to leave the planet or be enslaved. Now, on Japan’s third Ark ‘The Rising Sun’, tanuki and kitsune hide amongst the fleeing humans, hoping to never be discovered as not human. Will the love Masumi(a tanuki) bears for Aki (a kitsune) be the thing to bring their world crashing down around their heads?

Where it’s at: shopping for a home

 

Motherhood

A flash fiction piece.

Jane, 38 and single, just wants a family. An abandoned baby on the roadside seems like an answer to her prayers…

Where it’s at: Shopping for a home.

 

Mermaid In A Jar

A modern fantasy short story about colours, how we can disappoint our family, and, well, a mermaid in a jar. 4,200 words.

On the verge of eviction and bankruptcy Jean is dragged by her sister on a family holiday. While she struggles facing the choice of giving up on her art her niece makes a game-changing discovery.

Where it’s at: shopping for a home.

 

Glass Slippers

A Retailored Fairy Tales novella, 39,000 words.

To keep her father’s business running and a roof over her head Boots, untalented in the family business of shoe making, must do some rather creative marketing to draw attention to the only type of shoe she can make: glass slippers.

Where it’s at: under revision with beta reader feedback.

 

The Wyvern’s Sting

A Retailored Fairy Tales short story, around 8,600 words.

A crown princess, sold into captivity by her step-mother, fights for her freedom and to regain control of her kingdom.

Where it’s at: under revision with critique group feedback.

 

Look Skyward

(working title)

An modern fantasy tale, 11,000 words.

Brian moves to a new town growing up the side of a mountain and meets a girl who loves to climb, but she’s climbing because she’s trying to see something hidden and marvelous, just above the clouds. Can they gain enough faith in one another to fly away from their problems?

Where it’s at: under revision with critique group feedback.

 

Couples Counseling

A science fiction romance(sort of ;p ), 3400 words, inspired by watching Appleseed too many times.

When rifts grow between couples they seek counseling, but is the divide between human and cyborg too great a distance to bridge?

Where it’s at: under revision with critique group feedback.

 

Nothing Charming

The third ‘Charming For Hire’ novella in the Retailored Fairy Tales world. 40,000 words

James returns from his only mission since parting with his rival a month earlier to find Prince Nick demanding his services. Mistakes made in their first mission together force them to work alongside one another once more to avoid a furious giant’s daughter ruining both of their lives. More magic items, adventure, and angst than ever before.

Where it’s at: structural edits completed.

 

Sugar Cane and Swamp Monsters

A modern fantasy short story about who and what a monster really is. 14,500 words.

Outsider, Satou, is invited to go on a play-hunt for the Tuckean Swamp monster by girls who usually avoid her at school. She’s wary it will be a prank , but when danger appears Satou’s hidden heritage may be the key to survival.

Where it’s at: first draft completed.

 

Light In The Deep

(working title)

A ‘What Happened Next’ Fairy Tale novella. 11,000 words

Mahlora, one of The Little Mermaid’s older sisters, suffers from guilt and depression after her sister’s death. To staunch the pain she sinks deeper in the crevasses, until the water pressure makes enough physical pain to help her forget. There, in the abyssopelagic depths, teeth flash in the darkness, but hope may be found even deeper still.

Where it’s at: first draft completed.

 

Disarmed and Dangerous

A short story tied to the backstory of one of the characters in ‘Keys, Clocks, Quests’. 2,500 words

Savrant, drunk and recovering from the loss of his left arm, struggles through the blackest time of his life. What does a swordsman do with himself when he loses his sword arm?

Where it’s at: first draft completed

 

Alone Time

A dark modern fantasy short. projected length 3,000 words.

Aria has six kids and doesn’t even get to pee in peace. While at the county fair she and the youngest two enter the hay bale maze but when the kids unexpectedly split up Aria finds herself… alone. But tonight, in this maze, alone is the last thing anyone wants to be.

Where it’s at: First draft completed

 

Against The Black Knight

A Retailored Fairy Tale short story, 2,700 words

Gaven is determined to defeat the Black Knight that guards the bridge, and armed with the Witch’s braclet which can turn back time he is sure to win, though maybe not on the first try. Tre’s more to both the Black Knight and the bracelet than at first glance though.

Where it’s at: shopping for a home

 

Princess Paladin

A modern fantasy with a strong mahou shojo bent, projected length 25,000 words

Nora has always loved magical girl anime, and an ad on her favourite forum for a ‘magical girl training session’ seems like a fun way to meet fellow fans, until it becomes all too real.

Where it’s at: writing first draft.

 

 

 

There’s many more ideas floating in my head, tapped into the PC and jotted down in notebooks, but most of those are not yet ready to be spoken of, but keep looking back here to see when more appears! Also if anything really tickles your fancy, let me know, you might encourage me to make that project my #1 priority or bring out a sneak peek sooner.

2 Comments

  1. Trish Byrnes

    Hi Kristie,

    Sorry I am not much into romance stories — But I have read your current projects — way to go girl :-). I am glad you are following your dream — I hope you get an agent soon.

    Trish

    • Kirstie

      Thanks Trish, the only thing better than following your dream is achieving it.

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